A hike with Jennifer

My sister took very good care of me on my visit to her home in Medford, Oregon. She set me up with a birding outing on Saturday morning, took me to a couple of plays, drove me to Mt. Ashland for a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, and paddled a canoe with me in the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.

I'll just show a few pictures from the hike on the PCT. That's Jennifer with her dog Faye.


The PCT is a National Scenic Trail, and the view of Mt. Shasta was impressive, though there was a layer of clouds around the volcano's peak.


This is Faye, and as you can see, there is still snow up in the mountains. Faye also found a leg of a deer. Good job, Faye. Now, put it down.

I liked to see the wildflowers, like this Trillium.

This is the Yellow-rumped Warbler, and because of the yellow throat as well, it is the Audubon's subspecies.


And a Lazuli Bunting.

This field of leaves was sprouting in a wet meadow. False Hellebore (Veratrum viride).

A gorgeous yellow lily. In fact, flowers used to be my passion, now it is birds. So, I can understand when someone just accepts birds as a beautiful part of the natural world, and don't feel the need to stop in their tracks and identify every one. Nature can be appreciated on many levels, and there's nothing wrong with just experiencing it.

After I wrote this I got curious and had to look it up ... perhaps it is Glacier Lily (Erythronium grandiflorum). I found this description on Wikipedia: "Erythronium grandiflorum is a species of flowering plant in the lily family which is known by several common names, including yellow avalanche lily, glacier lily, and dogtooth fawn lily."

One knows one is at elevation when the heather (genus Erica, family Ericaceae) can be seen. OK, this one I could never forget the Latin name. I think both Heather and Erica are beautiful names, and they are both the name of this alpine plant.