North Fork Greenery and Flowers Times Two
 Two different days, two trips to the Highwoods, but slightly different routes. Since it rained and hailed, the Crown Butte hike had to be postponed but ladies wanted to hike anyway--so the Highwoods were a perfect choice. On Saturday, we stuck to the trail and enjoyed the flowers along the way. On Sunday, we ventured off trail, hiked a peak and followed the ridgeline until we regained the trail adding about a half-mile to the three-mile day. On Saturday, we got out just in time to catch a large hail storm that pelted Gail's car and kept us from driving very fast. We also saw a huge coyote feeding on a road-killed deer on the side of the road. At first, we thought it might be a wolf it was so big, but a picture proved the nose and ears to be that of a coyote after all. The wildflowers were really showing their faces: sugar bowls, clematis/Virgin's bower, chickweed, larkspur, spring beauties, arrow-leaf balsamroot, Jacob's ladder, Canada violet, blue violet, yellow violet, yellowstone draba, pasque flower, shooting stars, holly/Oregon grape, service berries/saskatoons, strawberries, penstemon, bluebells, biscuitroot, golden pea, prairie smoke/old man whiskers. I am sure there were even more that I don't remember. And the green was everywhere with a bit of snow still dotting the tops of the peaks. We only ran into one motorcycle and he was on a trail below us, so that was nice too. What a nice way to get spring hiking under way. Who went: Saturday: Mary N, Maria, Bonnie, Katie; Sunday: Cathy, Linda, Brenda, Mary S, Catherine, Katie |
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