Afternoon Stroll

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A stroll up the trail on a November afternoon. Will it be warm will it be cold, sunny or cloudy? Probably all of the above.

The trail was covered with a light layer of snow yet the creek flowed freely.

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Mountain Ash berries glowing a brilliant orange seem to scream “hey birds…what are you waiting for.”

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Temperatures warmed along the way as icicles glued to moss began to thaw.

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…and what started a cloudy day become much less so on a slow and quiet afternoon stroll.

Into the sunset

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Two mule deer fawns head off into the sunset through fields of sunflowers and balsam root with grasses just tall enough to easily slip out of sight when need be. They were not alone this evening as Mom was just ahead leading and teaching these two little ones the ways of Mule Deer life as they quietly slipped off into the sunset.

Fresh from the fields

While strolling the fields to see who’s there we found a handful of newcomers that will be gone in the blink of an eye.

Some in small patches and some stand alone. Some out in the open while some hide along the forest edge.
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A nice patch of Parry’s Townsend Daisies seem to shine even without the sunlight on a cloudy afternoon.

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This beautiful flower (identified with the help of troutlily57) is a Death Camus. All parts of this wildflower contain toxic chemicals (alkaloids) said to be more potent than strychnine…yikes.

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I think this small beauty is in the Phlox family. Yet the specific species needs further investigation.

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Finally a beautiful Chocolate Lilly. These are always somewhat sparse and this year the flower seem unusually small.

All beautiful finds and fresh from the fields close to home.

Purple

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Today is Purple day. Don’t ask me why…it just is. So on that note a smattering of purple wildflowers seen on various hikes not too far from home.

Above a field of Lupine sparkles on a rainy morning walk.

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A purple Monkey flower added to the bouquet.

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A Purple Pulsitila hanging just right.

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And to top it all off Larkspur is another fine addition to the collection of local wildflowers blooming this time of year.

Many different shades but all of them say purple to a tee.