Small pleasures under the big sky

We didn't hit peak wildflower season in Montana (I think we were a little early in Glacier and a little late further south). But there were still lovely blossoms to see alongside many of our trails.

If I were a good blogger, I'd spend some time and identify all of these photos for you. However, I'm not only lazy but also will be busy with other projects the next couple of weeks, and I am bound and determined (not only to be cliché free) to finish up my Montana blog posts before Labor Day.

This may be the longest I've taken to document a trip...perhaps evidence that it was one of the best, and most varied, in recent memory! And the flowers were a delightful micro-counterpoint to the macro scenery that surrounded them.

So, unidentified (but located), here are my best flower photos...

First off, I didn't get good photos of Undine Falls, in Yellowstone, so it wasn't included in my waterfalls post. But I was luckier with my shots of flowers near this pullout...

On to the other locations...

one of many yellow flowers along the Aster Park Trail
near Two Medicine Lake, Glacier

white blooms were also common...this beauty was on the Pine Creek Trail
north of Yellowstone

blue beauties, too...these were near the top of Beartooth Pass

more tiny blossoms above treeline, near Beartooth Pass

floral shyness on the Pine Creek Trail

near the top of the Aster Park Trail

another Aster Park lovely

lupine (?) on the Maud S Trail on the outskirts of Butte

near Sunrift Gorge, Going-to-the-Sun Highway, Glacier

on the short trail to Trick/Running Eagle Falls, Glacier

on the trail we almost didn't find to McDonald Falls, Glacier

more on the Aster Park Trail...

...and more...

...and more! This trail had the most flowers of any we hiked

perhaps berries later on for some hikers near Sunrift Gorge?

along the Maud S Trail

gorgeous specimen on the trail to Running Eagle Falls

along the Pine Creek Trail

blooms in profusion near Running Eagle Falls

Whew! I didn't realize I'd seen so many great flowers! Maybe we were closer to peak season than I thought.

On to bigger scenic views next time, as I try to convey the overwhelming majesty of Glacier National Park, the "crown of the continent."