Double Bladderpod Creeper on Eldorado Canyon Trail
Francoise and Tara kindly invited me on one of their weekly wildflower spotting hikes. Despite warnings that their botanical proclivities would make for a day of rather stop and start hiking, the three of us managed to hike up the relatively steep Eldorado Canyon trail in just over an hour and a half (6.2 mi/3.1 mi ea. way). Several wildflower stops did ensue, but it is till a bit early season this year for the wildflowers on the canyon’s south-facing slopes.
It was interesting to actually be learning something on my hikes–it is clear to me that despite growing up here and hiking more here than elsewhere, I know much more about the botany in Oregon, Costa Rica and Arizona than here–probably because when I lived in all of those places I didn’t take them for granted like I do here at home. Also, in Oregon and Costa Rica there was lots of tasty plant matter worth stopping to graze upon, while in Arizona the cacti are so distinctive and unusual–not to mention sharp and prickly–that learning the plant names mattered more to me. I guess this hiker marches on his stomach.
Note that the title of this entry refers strictly to the name of the wildflower pictured, and is by no means to be read as a commentary on the day’s hiking companions. (Though I do recall a certain debate about whether a certain flower was good for urinary tract infections, where one companion facetiously inquired as to whether she meant good for treatment or for causing…)
Photo Credit: Francoise Cooperman.
