Red Rocks Trail

I monitor some plants over at Mathews-Winters Park so I took the opportunity to cruise the Red Rocks Trail on Friday.  Lots of low wildflowers coming out over there, and it's surprising what  a difference a few miles makes.

Geologically the two areas are very different.  Green Mountain is made up of sandstone, conglomerate and a little shale.  It's a real hodgepodge and isn't very fertile ground.  On the west side of the hogback everything is made up of weathered granite--the Fountain Formation of Red Rocks is a deposit  formed in the Pennsylvanian Period (~250 million years ago) when the granite-cored mountains were eroded.  Often on the Red Rocks Trail, you're walking on the granite itself.  Soil made up of eroded granite is much more acidic and provides soil for a wider variety of plants.  

Hiking north, the first mile or so is pretty warm and dry.  You'll see Cranesbill and Yellow Alyssum all over like a ground cover.  As you get into the drainages, though, lots more spring flowers can be spotted.

There were lots of Spring Beauties, a few pockets of Easter Daisies, and even a couple Pasqueflowers, which Ive never seen on GM.  Another plant that is really uncommon on Green Mountain is Grape Holly, which is blooming in abundance on the Red Rocks Trail.  There were only a couple of the Sand Lilies I talked about last week although they're all over Green Mountain right now.

I'll leave you with a couple Eastery flowers.  Enjoy the Spring weather!

Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla divaricarpa)

Easter Daisy (Townsendia hookeri)

Good Early Season Trails

As I sit here watching the snow blow, I'm reminded once again that it will still be a few weeks before all the trails are reliably dry.  I thought I'd be smart one day last week and run on the south side.  The first half-- up from Florida trailhead-- was dry, but coming down toward the Utah trailhead I hit some spots that were pretty sloppy.  

This time of year, staying low seems to be the best bet since all the ravines higher on the mountain can be shady and stay muddy for a week after the snow melts.

One of the best, and easiest places to check out the early wildflowers is the connector trail between the Utah and Florida trailheads.  This short segment  was realigned a couple years ago and cuts right through one of the best areas for diverse blooms. If you continue east from the Florida parking lot, you can do an out-and back with great views of the city and some different wildflowers than you'll find on the sunnier south side.  

A little warm weather really spurred the flowers to come out in the last week.  Most of the blooms are just getting started but I've seen Easter Daisy, Golden Banner, and Early Purple Vetch along with a bunch of Sand Lilies.  It looks like we'll be warming up slowly over the next week.  That'll encourage the flowers to come out but not bloom and drop the way hot weather can make them do.  

Sand Lily (Leucocrinum montanum)

Golden Banner (Thermopsis divaricarpa)

A New Year!

It's been a long winter and we're all  ready for Spring.  Hopefully we've seen the last of the white stuff, but there have been enough steady snows that Green Mountain should have a good base of moisture to bring us a great wildflower season.  

The tiny Yellow Alyssum (Alyssum simplex)
The four petals tell you it's part of the Mustard Family.

This is a fun time of year for me because things change so fast on Green Mountain.  Last week there were a few Yellow Alyssum and Storksbill, but they're all over now along with some other more noticeable flowers.  Especially along the lower parts of the trails on the south side, some Golden Banner and a couple Early Purple Vetches are adding color to the trails.  If you look under the sagebrush you can find a few Yellow Violets, too.  I even saw a few lupine leaves coming up. They won't bloom for another 6 weeks or so, but I like seeing the signs!

Enjoy the great weather over the next week and try to avoid the mud!