Flora

We’ve gone today through stunning mountains, alpine tundra, mountain meadows, foothills, switch-backs galore, dead-straight-aways through wide open prairie/rangeland, and back to mountains again. Amy was surprised by how much she loved the mountains, but particularly loved the meadows, until we got to the open rangeland, perhaps her favorite of all.

Perhaps the most interesting ecosystem has been the super flat meadows in the valleys between the mountains. Teeming with animals and plant life. Often with a stream or creek running through. Sometimes a little pond or lake. Beautiful.

We’ve noticed many different tree types as we drive around and take the occasional foray out of the car. Multiple long needle conifers (predominantly Lodgepole), and short as well. Deciduous trees appear to be mostly Aspen (they look at lot like our birch trees in CT). There’s a strange, scrub brush in the grass (looks like sage but no odor), it’s kind of a grayish color. Part of the washed out, dry look is due to a lot of ground that looks like beach sand.