Flower Power

It has been a fantastic year for wildflowers in the Park, their profusion propelled by above-average snowpack last winter. 140% of average snowfall was measured at some USGS stations. Yellowstone lies east of the drought region that has the West Coast in its grip.

 

Grasshopper Bend, June 8th

Yellows, pinks, purples, blues, and whites brushed the landscape everywhere. I wish I could remember their names. Hard as I try, their names leave my consciousness minutes after I hear them. (Strange, I easily remember the names of mayflies and caddis, the aquatic mainstay of a trout’s diet. Priorities perhaps, or finite synapses?)

Roosevelt, July 10th

Elevation change is the second natural feature of Yellowstone that aids this long period of blooms. More than 3,500 feet of elevation separates the lowest point in the travelled parts of the Park (North Entrance) from its highest (Dunraven Pass). The balsamroot (I do remember that one) that adorned the sagebrush slopes of Grasshopper Bend on the Madison River on June 8^th is the same flower that commanded the slopes of Mt. Washburn almost two months later.

 

Lower Madison, June 21st

Being witness to this long succession of blooms is a perk of spending an entire season here. Right place-right time happens more often when you are somewhere for four months rather than one week. 

The most stunning encounter with the Park’s flower power occurred on July 15^th. Ending a weekend spent fishing up on the Lamar, I left Ted’s cabin at Roosevelt right about sunup in order to return to Old Faithful in time for my work shift. Grand Loop Road goes up and around massive Mt. Washburn. There on an east-facing slope of the mountain, I came upon a vast sea of yellow balsamroot in full bloom. It was over a mile long and probably half a mile deep (note the diminutive glint of a single car in the photo, nearly lost in the field of flowers). Countless blossoms tilted in phototropic unison toward the brilliant early morning sun rising in the east. Mother Nature’s solar collector was going full tilt.

 

Mt. Washburn, July 15th

Conifers, king tree in most of Yellowstone, lose their grip in the north of the Park. Trees are the mortal enemy of flowers, their high branches casting shade which denies flowers access to the sun’s energy. That won’t happen on the broad sage covered flanks of Mt. Washburn. Flower power rules there!

Dunraven Pass, July 26th