The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Wildflowers of Northern Utah

This past summer I lived in Park City, Utah, lying at 7000 ft elevation east of Salt Lake City. Known mostly as a winter skiing center, in summer it attracts outdoor adventurers, including mountain bikers, climbers, and hikers. Both my brothers visited to share with me some of the great mountain scenery and trails of the Wasatch and Uintas ranges. I tried to capture the amazing landscape in some of my photos, but often the Idaho, Oregon, and California wildfires obscured the view. At times hiking in the smoke was so unpleasant that I retreated indoors to my reading chair or to the local sports club to swim.

Ultimately, the real stars of my photography this past summer were the amazing diversity of wild flowers. A few were captured with my Panasonic Lumix, but most were taken with my Samsung Galaxy camera phone. This blog highlights 38 of the 81 flowers I identified with the help of the PlantNet app as well as some websites and flower guides. A few landscape photos are interspersed amongst the flora, and some fauna shots provide a coda. Enjoy!

Calochortus nuttallii. The Sego lily, state flower of Utah. A fave of mine only a few steps from my condo.
Erythronium grandiflorum. Avalanche lily. The only specimen of this beauty I spotted all summer.
Primula parryi. Parry’s primrose gave color to otherwise gray alpine landscapes on my way to many a mountain summit.
Gymnadenia odoratissima. The only orchid I saw, and this one by chance as I was photographing another (since forgotten) flower.
Twin Peaks from Butler Forks loop in the Wasatch
Aquilegia pubescens. Colville’s, sierra, or alpine columbine, the more frequently encountered of the two columbine species I saw in northern Utah, and one to always bring a smile to my face.
Hackelia floribunda. Manyflower stickweed. For the longest time I thought this plant was a forget-me-not, but now I’m fairly certain it is in fact a stickweed. Still beautiful whatever its taxonomy.
Lupinus argenteus. Silvery lupine, very common in this area, but a beautiful addition to any meadow nonetheless.
Ipomopsis tenuituba. Slender tube skyrocket. Closely related to its even more vibrant cousin, scarlet gilia.
Naturalist Basin stream in the high Uintas in the early morning light.
Wyethia angustifolia. Narrowleaf mule’s ears. An early bloomer, it brightened many hikes this past June.
Pedicularis groenlandica. Elephant’s head. I had missed this distinctive flower since my last visit to northern Utah five years ago.
Aconitum columbianum. Western monkshood enjoys riparian areas. Toxic though it may be, I find its morphology fascinating.
Rudbeckia occidentalis. Western coneflower. Understated for sure, but oddly I always checked for the dimunitive yellow flowers that did not survive long into the summer.
Polemonium foliosissimum. Leafy Jacob’s ladder. I only spotted this rarity the one time, on a local Park City hike!
View southeast from Park City Hill summit
Argemone pleiacantha. Southwestern prickly poppy. Native to Arizona and New Mexico, it seems to be spreading northwards as the world warms.
Iris missouriensis. Rocky Mountain iris, listed a a weed in some areas of California since livestock find it distasteful. Twisted priorities IMHO.
Monardella odoratissima. Mountain coyote mint, mountain beebalm, mountain monardella or mountain pennyroyal – call it what you will. A distinctly minty odor as its name implies, it was prolific on one early July hike above Brighton ski resort.
Aquilegia saximontana. Rocky Mountain columbine. Not as common as in Colorado, but all the more special for that. Spotted on the eastern slope of Mt Nebo.
Nebo Massif in the southern Wasatch Range, viewed from northeast on a rare clear day in early July.
Collomia debilis. Alpine collomia. I spotted this twice, both times high in the southern Wasatch. I’ve also misidentified it twice, wrongly thinking it was Alpine Springbeauty or Parry’s Primrose. I attribute these errors to the effects of altitude. A stunning sight after a hard ascent, Alpine Collomia surely deserves a Wiki page.
Mt Nebo North Peak summit view back along my ascent route in September
Penstemon venustus. Venus penstemon is the third species I saw in northern Utah, along with Rydberg’s and Whipple.
Verbascum thapsus. Common or great mullein. An old world flower naturalized in the US.
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Erigeron speciosus. Showy daisy or fleabane. An early bloomer, in September it can still be found. One must admire its persistence.
Penstemon whippleanus. Whipple penstemon. A glorious deep wine color, seen on the lower slopes of Santaquin Peak in the southern Wasatch.
Fireweed and burnt trees on the northern slopes of Loafer Mountain
Santaquin Peak summit flag in the hazy smoke that day. Note the mailbox that contains the summit register.
Lynda tending her feet on Santaquin summit
Campanula rotundifolia. Harebell, in the early morning light.
Pedicularis racemosa. Sickletop lousewort. One species that definitely could use some better PR!
Chamaenerion angustifolium. Fireweed, or rosebay willowherb to you anglophiles. One of the earliest colonizers after a fire. It should become even more common here in the west.
Anaphalis margaritacea. Pearly everlasting. This diminutive member of the sunflower family is another of my favorites.
Brassica oleracea. Really not a flower at all, just a head of broccoli in a demitasse.
Castilleja miniata. Giant red paintbrush. The small yellow tapered tubes are the inflorescences.
Mertensia ciliata. Mountain bluebells. Native to the western US, it prefers moist habitat and can carpet large areas of hillside.
Meadow and Mt Watson in the High Uintas, one of the few mountain ranges that run East-West in the United States
Ipomopsis aggregata. Scarlet gilia. I saw these too many times to count – and loved them every time.
Gentiana calycosa. Mountain bog gentians. I took this photo at Notch Pass in the High Uintas back in 2016.
Naturalist Basin and Mt Agassiz (far right) in the High Uintas
Penstemon cyananthus. Wasatch beardtongue, the most common of the three penstemon species I identified in northern Utah.
Castilleja parviflora. Mountain paintbrush. Such a beautiful color. Look closely to see the yellow-green inflorescences.
Polemonium viscosum. Sky pilot. No one ever sees this high alpine species in the wild without earning it. This photo was taken on Mt Baldy in the High Uintas in 2016, though I also spotted it this summer high on Wind River Peak, as I traversed the continental divide above 13,000 ft.
Naturalist Basin from Mt Agassiz ridge in the Uintas
Wind River Peak ascent route from an unnamed lake. Lynda and I did a four day backpack in the southern Wind River Range
Wind River Peak summit view East
Frasera speciosa. Monument plant. Earlier in the summer it was a common sight above the rail trail in Park City.
Park City rail trail view. Beavers were active in the area, and those I saw them several times, never managed a photo.
Rosa pendulina. Alpine rose. These flowers provided a wonderful scent at Brighton ski resort among many other locales this summer.
Brighton loop view from Catherine pass to Lakes Catherine and Mary
Oenothera caespitosa. Tufted evening primrose (aka desert evening primrose, rock-rose evening primrose, or fragrant evening primrose).
Geranium richardsonii. Richardson’s geranium was a frequent sighting in shadier areas in northern Utah.
Triteleia grandiflora. Known by the common names largeflower triteleia, largeflower tripletlily and wild hyacinth. I finally identified this flower that I’d seen from time to time.

While flowers were the primary inspiration for my photography this past summer, I managed a few (less than stellar) photos of fauna to complement all the flora.

A mountain goat on the north face of Loafer Mountain in the southern Wasatch
A fawn watching me at my Park City condo in the early morning. One of the drawbacks of camera phone is that their small sensor size pixilates crepuscular fauna.
A bobcat on a trail above my condo. By the time I got my phone out, she was sauntering away from me.
Kings Peak (left-most peak seen here) from Dollar Lake. Our campsite, off to the left in the trees, was here for climbing Kings and Gilbert Peaks, the highest and third highest, respectively, in Utah.
Big Horn Sheep ewes and lambs on the slopes of Mt. Gilbert (zoom)
A Pika on Gilbert Peak summit. This relative to the rabbit is one of my favorites, and a poster child for global warming. I recommend this wonderful article on Pikas, with an included YouTube video.
Gilbert Peak summit selfie showing the magnificent view

For those interested, about 45 wildflowers I identified can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Currently I am back in St. George Utah, spending much of the time hiking in this amazing place. I have not taken many photos as I lived here for a couple of years and have become somewhat jaded. In any event, it is a wonderful change to simply enjoy the moment rather than trying to capture it for some future time.

As international travel opens back up, as you may imagine I am making future plans. While I will spend most of the winter in the desert southwest (New Mexico and California) and hope to post a couple blogs from those places, in November I will be returning to Ecuador for some unfinished business climbing mountains. Back in December 2015 I had attempted three major peaks, with only one summit (the lower of the two summits on Chimborazo) to show for an otherwise amazing trip due to weather events (a hail storm blew us off Cayambe at 5000m and a volcano eruption closed Cotapaxi). As Ecuadorian food and lodging on my upcoming trip will be superb, it will also serve to provide a good test to decide whether I want to continue alpine mountaineering in the coming years. Trekking is a separate matter and I have already booked a Traverse of the Jotunheimen in Norway for late June. More on that trip and my other summer 2022 plans in a future blog post. Meanwhile, continue to enjoy the outdoors wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

Grand Canyon backpack: Tanner and Beamer trails to the Confluence

The auguries were decidedly propitious when the Grand Canyon Park Authority, in consultation with the Navajo Nation, opened the East Entrance after a year of Covid closure on the precise day we were arriving for our backpacking trip, saving us hours of driving time from St George, Utah. A friend’s cancellation left a spot on Lynda’s 5 day, 4 night permit, which I did not hesitate to take advantage of. Cutting short my recovery from patellar tendinitis by a couple of days, I braced myself (quite literally) for the 4700 ft descent from the South Kaibab plateau to the Colorado River. The following photos highlight a bit of this magical place. Enjoy!

Grand Canyon vista from Lipan Point, 7200 ft elevation. A few miles west of Devil’s Tower, the Tanner trailhead is nearby. Escalante Butte is in the right foreground. The weather was perfect the entire trip, with overnight lows in the 50’s and afternoon highs in the upper 80’s in the canyon.
Lynda at a view point on the Tanner trail descent
A collared lizard. Unlike many we saw, this fellow was quite bold.
Rafters at Tanner camp, sunset day 1. Our descent of 8 miles and 4700 ft took us about 6 hours at a gentle pace.
Beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris) along the Beamer trail to Palisades camp. Our second day was an easy 4 miles along the Colorado River.
Lynda hiking on the Beamer trail, early morning of day 3. In contrast to day 2, our third day demanded an early start for the 12-14 mile round trip hike beyond the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers. Despite online reviews and official park information suggesting a difficult trail, in fact it was an easy walk along a bench several hundred feet above the river.
Temple Butte at sunrise. The bench along which the Beamer trail runs is on the right above the river-level cliffs. Admittedly, we enjoyed a bit of exposure in places.
View approaching the confluence with the Little Colorado River
The Confluence. The bright turquoise color of the Little Colorado is from high levels of dissolved solids, mostly naturally occurring salts. In addition, the radium content of the LCR is very high, rendering it non-potable.
Federally protected Humpback chub (Gila cypha) at the Confluence. Although their humps are not clear in this zoom shot, their deeply forked tails are noticeable. Habitat destruction – not least the construction of the Glen Canyon dam – has dramatically reduced their population in the last half-century.
Lynda floating in the Little Colorado, much warmer than the main stem of the river, which exits Gen Canyon dam at 52F.
Vista of the Colorado looking downstream from the Beamer trail on day 3. Some afternoon overcast provided a respite from the intense sun.
Sunrise from Palisades camp, day 4. Staying two nights at the same camp had meant light loads on our day hike to the Confluence.
Dories on the Colorado River. A 16-18 day dory trip from Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek is definitely on my bucket list!
Another view of the Colorado River. A portion of Tanner Rapids is visible here.
Rather than having a leisurely day 4 and making the complete ascent back to the rim on day 5, we climbed up to a great campsite at about 4800 ft elevation for the final night.
Looking up at the South Rim at sunset from our camp. The small finger of Devil’s Tower is visible.
Scarlet Hedgehog (Echinocereus coccineus) cactus on the Tanner trail, day 5
Detail of the Scarlet Hedgehog cactus
View towards the Tabernacle, Rama Shrine, and Vishnu Temple. This fantastic viewpoint provided a great snack stop before the steep final ascent to the canyon’s rim.

Although I will surely struggle to match the dramatic beauty this trip offered is future blog posts , this year I will endeavor to convey a bit of the amazing western United States. Stay tuned!

The Vagabond Hiker

Day hikes in the California desert

One year ago I wished everyone a Happy New Year from Cartagena, Colombia. At the time I set myself a challenge to reach a goal of 100 countries visited (at the time I had visited 80) by the end of the year. I went so far as to plan no less than eight different trips to about 25 different countries. I managed to visit only three new countries (El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Cape Verde) before the world closed down and my plans all went out the window. So much for New Year’s resolutions!

As the Spanish authorities did not want me to spend this winter in the sunshine of the Canaries, running out of options I returned to the States. Still seeking the sun, I now find myself under a “stay-at-home” order in Indio, California. Fortunately, the lock-down specifically exempts hiking and outdoor (properly socially-distanced) swimming pools. So, I really have much to be thankful for and hope that all of you do, too.

Here are some photos from the solo hikes I’ve been taking in December 2020 and January 2021. I’ve been adding to this blog since I originally posted it on January 1st rather than posting a new blog before I relocate to St George, Utah for the spring.

Stay safe and have fun outdoors in 2021!

The Vagabond Hiker

Looking back towards the town of La Quinta from the Bear Canyon/Oasis trail. It’s a very popular trailhead, but once I was 1/2 mile in I was alone for most of the rest of the 8 mile hike.
Bear Canyon Oasis. California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) are California’s only native palm species – and as you shall see a favorite of mine!
One major advantage of returning to the States is that I bought a car! After four years of renting whatever was cheapest, my new 2021 Subaru Crosstrek Sport is absolutely wonderful. I had this versatile all wheel drive SUV upgraded with off-road wheels and tires and a lift kit installed. I also bought a proper spare tire, shown here in a Thule roof basket. This photo was taken at a remote wash at the southern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park.
The objective of this remote canyon hike was “Carey’s Castle,” in the Eagle Mountains of Joshua Tree. Patty Furbush’s book On Foot in Joshua Tree National Park poses the challenge of finding the site without giving much of a clue as to where it is. My AllTrails app greatly simplified the task.
The inside of Carey’s Castle. Nothing a little TLC won’t take care of. It is safe to assume that Carey, a prospector from the 1940’s, had different expectations for an abode than did the 1st Duke of Marlborough.
Plateau view with yuccas near Carey’s Castle. I love the Monzogranite rock of Joshua Tree.
A great example of Barrel Cactus, snuggled cozily in a bed of Joshua Tree monzogranite
A Palo Verde tree (Parkinsonia florida) in an Eagle Mountains canyon
49th Avenue, Indio, after overnight snow on Mt San Jacinto (on the right here). At 10,804 ft, San Jacinto is the high point of Riverside County. My local walk from the resort I’m staying at is down this pleasant avenue.
View towards Martinez Mountain heading to Boo Hoff trail in La Quinta. A relatively nearby trailhead I’ve had all to myself (since 4wd is required), I hiked the surrounding areas several times. My objective this day was Devil Canyon in the Santa Rosa Mountains, one of the many excellent hikes in Phil Ferranti’s 140 Great Hikes in and Near Palm Springs, although he calls it Lost Canyon.
Ocotillo Cactus (Fouquieria splendens) in bloom against the skyline along the Boo Hoff trail. Very little is blooming at present as most flora are waiting for the winter rains.
Reflection in a small pool, beyond Devil Canyon, taken on another day’s further exploration.
Boo Hoff trail La Quinta. This photo was taken at the high point, near the mid point of the trail.
Lovely morning light at the Monument Mountain “trailhead” along the Pinkham Jeep track in Joshua Tree NP. I had attempted this mountain several years ago as a backpack from a different trailhead (lacking a proper off road vehicle). Running low on water in the desert heat, I abandoned the attempt but vowed to return.
After two hours I reached the summit of Monument Mountain (4834 ft). This is a view NE from the summit. The Pinto Basin and Mountains of Joshua Tree NP are in the middle distance.
My second objective this day was the Cottonwood Mountains high point. My approximate cross country route is shown by the squiggly red line.
Monument Mountain as seen from the Cottonwood HP summit
Magnesia Springs Canyon entrance. This canyon is just west of the community of Rancho Mirage.
A Desert Big Horn Sheep ewe in Magnesia Springs Canyon (zoom). The area is now closed for several months for the breeding season.
Pleasant walking through the Magnesia Springs Canyon palm grove
On a separate hike in the Magnesia Springs Canyon area, I’m posing at a dryfall. Fun scrambling was had in this canyon complex!
The rugged landscape of the San Jacinto foothills is clear from this view from above a side canyon off Magnesia Springs Canyon. Note the grove of dead palms (bottom center). Amazingly, this photo was taken only a few miles from the Rancho Mirage Ferrari dealer.
The Painted Canyon of Mecca Hills. I had never hiked in this area at the south end of the Coachella Valley near the Salton Sea.
Morning light in Painted Canyon, Mecca Hills Wilderness. Ladder Canyon goes off to the left at the break in the canyon walls.
Looking up one of the ladders, Ladder Canyon, Mecca Hills. Volunteer members of the Coachella Valley Hiking Club maintain a series of ladders in these canyons.
Another Ladder Canyon view. This slot canyon reminded me of southern Utah.
Likely Palmer’s Indian Mallow (Abutilon palmeri), Painted Canyon, Mecca Hills. It’s a bit out of focus due to the winds. (I should have shot a short high res video and extracted a properly focused still frame, but was too lazy).
Hikers at the entrance to Ladder Canyon (bottom center), Mecca Hills. My route was a loop hike, which returned to this point.
Monument Mountain a week earlier was a warm up, but it was time for a serious climb. Martinez Mountain in the Santa Rosa’s fit the bill. The Cactus Springs trail heads East here towards the mountain, an 18 mile round trip with 4000 ft elevation gain, partly cross country. I would need all of the daylight hours for this hike.
Horsethief Creek, the only water on the Martinez Mountain hike, and not looking very enticing at that
I took this photo of Martinez Mountain (6562 ft) in the late afternoon on my return hike. My route up Martinez Mountain was by following the West Ridge from the col on the right here (behind the shrubbery). My descent was the more direct route, down the giant Northwest ravine, visible here in the center. It’s not as steep as it looks foreshortened here.
Finally! Martinez Mountain summit block from the summit plateau area. The long West Ridge had plenty of bouldering challenges and “predatory flora”.
Martinez Mountain summit block from the south east. A bit of class 3 scrambling around to the north (right) and I reached the top after more than 5 hours.
The Salton Sea from Martinez Mountain summit
The complexities of the Horsethief Canyon approach to Martinez Mountain are apparent in the middle ground from Martinez summit. Mt San Jacinto is on the right.
An easy Christmas morning hike in the Coachella Valley Preserve to the Horseshoe Palms. Four years ago I started this blog with another oasis hike in the Preserve. Unlike most oases, the Horseshoe Palms are in a line under a cliff, rather than in a canyon. This is from seepage along the San Andreas fault, which is exactly along this cliff line.
Pushwalla Palms Oasis, Coachella Valley Preserve. There was actually some running water here after a light rain the previous day.
A zoom view of the Coachella Valley Preserve’s Thousand Palms Oasis and Mt San Gorgonio (background left). San Gorgonio is the high point of San Bernadino County and indeed all of southern California. Can you spot my Crosstrek?
The Orocopia Wilderness was established in 1994 after OHV (off highway vehicle) users had inflicted some major damage to this area south of Joshua Tree NP. Orocopia Mountain was my final summit objective for 2020. This is a zoom view of the mountain from near the start. Supposedly a 2wd dirt road, I was glad I had my Crosstrek to get through some deep sand to the trailhead.
The actual summit finally comes into view after I mistakenly ascended the wrong ridge and had to traverse around some rough terrain, some of which is visible here. This and the prior photo are rather poor as the summit is due south.
Orocopia Mtn (3815 ft) summit view North to the Eagle Mountains, Joshua Tree NP
The Vagabond Hiker on the summit of Orocopia. Mt San Jacinto is on the far left, with Mt San Gorgonio (11,503 ft) just peeking out to the left of the summit cairn.
New Year’s eve sunset from my deck in Indio. A beautiful end to a challenging year.
Martinez Mountain view from 49th Ave, Indio. January and we’re finally getting some more significant winter rain in the desert.
Lost Palms wash, near the start of my Munsen Canyon hike from the southern border of Joshua Tree
At the start of Munsen Canyon I encountered this unexpected solo Juniper at about 2200 ft elevation, loaded with berries.
A Bladderpod (Peritoma arborea) blooming in Munsen Canyon
Summit Springs Oasis, Munsen Canyon. It took some substantial bouldering to reach this second of two oases in the canon. There were also a number of Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) saplings in this oasis. The Desert Willow is not a member of the Willow Family as are true willows, but is the only species of the Bignonia Family native to California.
Desert Tobacco (Nicotiana obtusifolia) flowering in the Lost Palms Wash, Joshua Tree

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