I enjoyed photographing the prairie plants around Canyon Ferry Lake. At first glance all you could see was brown grass with the occasional sagebrush and juniper. But looking closer, the sagebrush was flowering:
and wildflowers like these blazing stars were hidden in the grass:
I'm not sure what these next plants are, they were about four feet high with "furry" leaves and grew closer to water, not on the dry prairie.
You had to watch where you put your feet since there was a lot of cactus in some places. Mostly prickly pear like these
It was past flowering, but there were some fruits left.
These next cacti weren't as common and were often half buried making them harder to spot. I'm guessing some kind of Escobaria or pincushion cactus, maybe spiny star.
Lately I've been trying to find some blue gamma grass to photograph. These were the only ones I spotted.
The heads curl up attractively after the seeds are gone:
After camping we spent the night at the historic Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks to get cleaned up. The next day we went for a short hike at the nearby Missouri Headwaters State park.
Anyone know what these next flowers are?
We also went for a hike (actually more of a bushwhack) in the Lewis and Clark National forest where the Indian Paintbrush and other wildflowers were blooming.
On our way home we spent a night in in Great Falls and went for a walk in Gibson Park where there were lots of flowers.
even some blue globe thistles:
For more of these photos, see all 32 as a slideshow or overview
and wildflowers like these blazing stars were hidden in the grass:
I'm not sure what these next plants are, they were about four feet high with "furry" leaves and grew closer to water, not on the dry prairie.
You had to watch where you put your feet since there was a lot of cactus in some places. Mostly prickly pear like these
It was past flowering, but there were some fruits left.
These next cacti weren't as common and were often half buried making them harder to spot. I'm guessing some kind of Escobaria or pincushion cactus, maybe spiny star.
Lately I've been trying to find some blue gamma grass to photograph. These were the only ones I spotted.
The heads curl up attractively after the seeds are gone:
After camping we spent the night at the historic Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks to get cleaned up. The next day we went for a short hike at the nearby Missouri Headwaters State park.
Anyone know what these next flowers are?
We also went for a hike (actually more of a bushwhack) in the Lewis and Clark National forest where the Indian Paintbrush and other wildflowers were blooming.
On our way home we spent a night in in Great Falls and went for a walk in Gibson Park where there were lots of flowers.
even some blue globe thistles:
For more of these photos, see all 32 as a slideshow or overview
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