I have been botanizing and photographing mountain flowers for the last three days. Wednesday I drove over Tioga Pass from west. There were many flowers out with the lots of Mt. Pride Penstemon along the road. Touloume Meadows was still early. There were patches of Shooting Stars but most of the meadow was pretty sparse.
Yesterday I drove up White Mt. The roads are open all the way up and flowers can be found all along the way. I especially enjoyed photographing the very tiny belly flowers around the Patriarch Grove parking area.
Today I drove the road from 395 to Rock Creek. There were a number of very flowery spots and some flowers all the way to the parking area at Rock Creek Trailhead. It was especially good after 8000 feet to a little over 9000 feet.
I have put detailed plant lists and some photos on my blog:
http://naturalhistorywanderings.com
Sandy Steinman
Natural History Wanderings
http://naturalhistorywanderings.com