Visiting Wyoming--Wildflowers of the Snowy Range

It's early spring, a few plants are flowering but lawns are still brown and trees are leafless. So let's take a walk from a June trip into Wyoming almost three years ago. I was passing through, so these are easy stops along the highway. Wow!

The Snowy Range sits along Wyoming's southern border. You drive west out of Laramie on secondary roads and there it is. The park you see on Google maps is Medicine Bow National Park. By either name a glorious place. Summer is short, the elevation is above 8,000 feet, rising on those mountains to over 10,000 feet, so the plants burst forth in profusion, mostly quite short but brightly colored.

Walk with me and look. Yes, we could work out the names of the plants but today, let's just enjoy them.

Leaning closer to the next flowers

And these, small but lovely

White mustards, cresses probably, looking like sweet alyssum,

This low spot was still full of slushy ice.

and then a whole wet field of them

and.. wow, lilies!

Between the meadows, mountain lakes and streams

It's time to plan a summer trip to the mountains!

The route we took is described on the Wyoming Travel site link

Comments and corrections welcome

Kathy Keeler, A Wandering Botanist

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