Botanizing, Grand Targhee Ski Area

The Grand Targhee Ski Area opens its lifts in the summertime so mountain bicyclists can take their bikes on the lift to the top, and ride the trails down for that adrenaline rush all speed junkies crave.  Cyndi and I went on a field trip with the naturalist, to view the alpine wildflowers.

Small-flowered Penstemon

Penstemon procerus

Sulphur Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja sulphurea

Alpine Milkvetch

Astragalus alpinus

Colorado Blue Columbine

Aquilegia coerulea

Shooting Star

Dodecatheon conjugens

Desert Parsley

Lomatium cous

Green Gentian or Elkweed

Frasera speciosa

Alpine Wildflowers

Grand Teton

Alpine Wildflowers 

including the orange Wyoming Indian Paintbrush

Castilleja linariifolia

Pika

Ochotona sp.

Parry's Primrose

Primula parryi

Rodents

Here's a quick salute to Idaho's diverse rodent population. I thank them for turning the soil and helping things grow. They make great food for the Swainson's Hawks, too!

We have squirrels and chipmunks, and there is more than one kind of squirrel. I enjoy seeing this dark brown kind with the white eye rings.


There are lots of ground squirrels. I've heard people call them "Columbian Ground Squirrels" and in the mountains I think there is a "Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel".

It sure is funny the way they sit on their haunches!

The next photo is a mink. It was playing in the rocks by the Boise River.

And, a Long-tailed Weasel. What a jumper.

The omnipresent Badger. Those can be scary when they charge! But I've never gotten attacked, just scared. Mostly I mind my own business, and they go about theirs. This one is smirking for some reason.

And, my favorite rodent photo ... a Pika. They live at high elevations, harvesting and drying grasses to store for the long, cold winter ahead. They're related to rabbits and can throw their voices. I often hear them in alpine areas, and they can be hard to see. This one was uncommonly trusting, perhaps because it lived by a nature trail at Craters of the Moon National Monument.