Waterfalls, Flowers, Wildlife Stun Gals on Rocky Mountain Front Hike
 Two groups traveled to Willow Creek Falls. The first group led by Jo Ann and Gail left Great Falls at 7 a.m., and Shelly met them in Augusta. We were delayed a bit by road construction. The second group led by Sara and Viki left Great Falls at 8 a.m., and Viki met them in Augusta. The sky was partly cloudy with temps in the 70s. Perfect hiking weather. Upon arrival at the trailhead, the private property owners were exiting the gate and gave us permission to go through, nice that we did not have to climb under the barbed wire fence. Immediately, we were rewarded with a field of wildflowers and took lots of photos. When we arrived at the creek, we were pleased that our water shoes were not needed; someone had placed logs for crossing. Wildflower identification (64 flowers) and photography continued the entire hike. Shelly looked for fossils and the elusive heart-shaped rock. At lunch she and Karen spotted fossils on rocks next to where they were sitting. Jo Ann and Karen each removed a tick from their clothing. Shortly after lunch, on our return, we met the second group. They stopped for lunch; then headed down the trail and arrived at the parking area about five minutes after the first group. The second group arrived a little late to the trailhead as Sara, who was driving, took a wrong turn at Scoutana and continued on the road to the Gibson Reservoir. After we stopped to talk to some bicyclists, we realized that we had to turn back. It added about an hour to our drive, but now Sara know the way to Willow Creek! Only three of the 11 hikers had hiked this trail. All were impressed with the stunning mountain scenery, the waterfalls, and the wildflowers. Who went: First Group – Jo Ann, Gail, Catherine, Karen, Shelley. Second Group – Sara, Viki, Cathy K, Bonnie W, Heather, Paula P. | WILDFLOWERS WE SAW Alum Root, Roundleaf Anemone, Cut-Leaved, creamy white Anemone, Cut-Leaved, Pink Anemone, Cut-Leaved, Yellow Arrowleaf Balsamroot Biscuit-Root, Nine-Leaved Bluebells Buckbrush/ceanothus Buckwheat, Suphur Buckwheat, Wyeth's Chickweed, Mouse Eared Chokecherry Cinquefoil, Shrubby Clematis, Purple Virgin's Bower Collomia, Narrow-leaved/Tiny Trumpet Daisy, Cutleaf Dandelion, Mountain Dandelion, Salsify Death Camas, Common aka Meadow Flax, Blue Gential, Green aka Monument Plant Geranium, Sticky Pink Geranium, Sticky White Groundsel, Wooly Hound's Tongue (noxious weed) Indian Paintbrush-Red Iris, Missouri Jacob's Ladder Kinickinick Larkspur Lousewort, Parry's Lupine Meadow Rue, female (no males) Milkvetch, Drummond's Miner's Candle, Northern Oregon Grape, Creeping Parsley, Fern-Leaved Desert Penstemon, Fuzzy Tongue Penstemon, Slender Blue Penstemon, Shining Phacelia, Silky Phacelia, Silverleaf Prairie Smoke and Old Man Whiskers Pussytoes, Alpine Pussytoes, Rosy Pussytoes, Tall Pussytoes, Woods Raspberry Rockcress, Nuttals Saxifrage Serviceberry aka Sarvisberry aka Saskatoon Solomon's Seal, False Solomon's Seal, Star Flowered False aka Wild Lily of the Valley Stonecrop, Lance-Leaved Stoneseed aka Gromwell aka Lemonweed Strawberry Sugar Bowl Townsendia, Parry's Violet, Blue Violet, Canada Wallflower Yarrow Yellow Owl's Clover Yellowstone Draba |
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