In my previous "meandering" post, I mentioned a visit to Blue Mesa Reservoir west of Gunnison, Colorado, as well as a trip back to Montana for a 50th-anniversary celebration. I have a few photos from each to share now.
Months ago, the 1970's-era bridge across Blue Mesa Reservoir (Highway 50) was found to be unsafe due to a large crack. It was built using a bridge style common during the late 1960's through early 1970's, but has fallen victim to its 50-plus years of age, metal fatigue,
enormously increased traffic volumes, and today's much-heavier average weight for vehicles (giant campers and RVs, toy haulers, semis, as well as cars and pickups). However, the bonus is that our favorite campsite is just a couple miles from the closure -- and on our side! -- and that meant a lack of traffic and competing campers, along with peace and quiet.
Red Creek Road (Gunnison County Road 723) has become our favorite exploration in the area. At one point, I was so taken by the incredible biodiversity along this road that I started dictating just some of what we were seeing there and near our campsite into my phone. (Of course, the phone's voice recognition couldn't figure out some of what I was saying, so the file ended up a bit garbled. For example, Curecanti became Kurt Kent, and I ended up with a couple other "guys" named Show-a-Purple Astor and Chuck Cherry.)
Here are just a few of the wildflowers we noted: Subalpine buckwheat, Gunnison's mariposa (or sego) lily, yarrow, giant red paintbrush, wild hollyhock, lupine, shrubby cinquefoil, Richardson's geranium, hellebore (or corn lily), wild rose, showy purple aster -- as well as some other asters I couldn't identify; also yellow sweet clover, Timothy grass, and multiple bunch grasses I don't know. Trees and shrubs included narrow-leaf cottonwood, willow, at least two species of juniper, Gambel oak, Ponderosa and limber pine, and several other evergreens, chokecherry and rabbitbrush, plus at least
three species of sagebrush. And that was just the plants! Animals we observed included deer, elk, foxes, a coyote, marmots and ground squirrels, tree squirrels, chipmunks, a hawk, and the birds whose nest the hawk raided. Actually, we mainly heard those birds; we never saw them well enough to identify them.
My favorite wildflower seen on the trip was the gorgeous and regal Gunnison's mariposa lily (Calochortus gunnisonii). It's the most beautiful of the mariposa and sego lilies I've seen, with its royal purple and bright yellow center, and the hint of pale violet on the veins and edges of the petals. These lilies are usually found at higher altitudes than other species; we were above 8000 feet when we saw them. This was also the most prolific I've ever seen these plants -- often we see a single stem or two scattered across a wide meadow, but this year they were all over the meadows. Mariposa comes from Spanish for butterfly,
possibly from the wing-like shape of their petals. They're also called sego lilies from the Shoshone word that means "edible bulb" because they can be eaten either raw or cooked.
Another wildflower I spent some time researching was the subalpine buckwheat (Eriogonum subalpinum, or Eriogonum umbellatum var. majus) shown above. Again, they're a higher altitude plant and also edible. In fact, the stems can be eaten raw or cooked, the seeds can be ground and added to flour; medicinally, they're useful as a gargle, eyewash or tea, to name just a few benefits. These were also thick in the meadows we explored. It required some research on my part to properly identify these because the yellow sulphur-flower buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) is more commonly photographed and written about; there is far less information available about these high-altitude, pale pink flowers.
Then, our trip to Montana was for the 50th anniversary of friends we've known for almost that many years. It was great to catch up with people we hadn't seen in so long. The best part of the evening was when the wife and kids surprised the husband with a 1929 Model A Ford!
While we were on our way home, we stopped for the night at a campground that's become one of our favorites for the quiet and lack of people. The next morning, we took a detour to explore a road my husband had seen
on a map and wanted to know more about. It leads across the Wyoming plains toward Laramie Peak; however, it didn't appear to be going in a direction we wanted to explore much further.
The side excursion wasn't a waste, though. I got this cool photo of the road, lone tree and Laramie Peak, with what I imagined as a jet-powered goose in the cloud shape. And we ran across a good-sized herd of bison, consisting of 50 or more individuals, along the way. The calves were old enough to have lost their pale red baby hair, and all were in their sleek summer coats. I did feel a little sorry for the bull I took pictures of; he moved as if
he hurt, but I have no doubt he could have put on a burst of speed if he wanted to.
American bison are commonly known as buffalo, although they're not a true buffalo in the scientific sense. If you want to get really scientific, the American bison (bison bison) is split into two subspecies. The wood bison (bison bison athabascae) are native to Canada as far
north as Alaska, but are listed as "threatened" because only about 2500 individuals remain. They're larger and heavier than their plains cousins and their habitat tends to be more forested; they have several adaptations to survive in the harsh, cold environment of northern Canada. The plains bison (bison bison bison, and yes, that is correct! Someone lacked imagination), are common to the prairies of the American West, and range in size from around 5 feet at the hump for cows to over 6 feet for bulls. A bull can weigh a ton, is capable of a sprint faster than 35 mph, can spin on a dime, jump fences, and swim rivers. These animals only look large and placid, which has gotten multiple "tourons" in trouble for misjudging their size, weight, speed, and irritability quotient. They remained calm for us since they're not too concerned by vehicles, and we stayed inside ours.
We'll be making trips to new locations during the next month or so and I'm planning to get new images posted. In the meantime, I hope you'll check out the rest of my website, www.denisedethlefsen.com, for images for your home, office or commercial space. I'm available if you have questions, comments, critiques or just want to say, "Hi." Please use the Contact page, or enter your email in the Sign Up to Stay Connected space. I'd love to hear from you. #art #interiordesign #interiordecor #interiorstyling #wallart #photoart #artforsale #buyart #photography #NaturePhotography #interiordecorating #homedecor #metal #canvas #prints
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