The Great Adventure 2011 Colorado– 7/3/11

For more pictures, click HERE.

We had an awesome day filled with Ranger led activities! I would highly recommend you doing them in any national park that you go to.

First we met at the East Inlet and hiked with Ranger Kathleen on the Glimpse of Paradise Hike. It lasted until noon and we hiked past Adams Falls which was gushing with water. Along the way, we saw lots of beautiful wildflowers like arnica, paintbrush, penstemon, and wild rose. We also saw a moose along the trail which was exciting for everyone.

Then we went to the Visitor Center where we had a picnic lunch and then watched the movie about the park until our afternoon hike.

This time we hiked with Ranger Mandy and learned about the many blooming wildflowers. In fact, July is a great month to observe wildflowers. When you go to my flickr page of pictures, you will see many of the flowers that we saw.

After that hike we drove up the road and saw some more moose and elk. We saw 6 moose in all today! We also stopped at the Baker Bowen Trailhead and was disappointed to find out it was underwater. There at the picnic table were two US Forest Service guys with two llamas and one guy told me I could pet them but I declined. I told him that I was a knitter and maybe the llama knew it and would be offended. He immediately smiled and told me that he was a knitter too and then told me of a fiber mill called Lonesome Stone right in the town where we are staying. Their alpacas stay at this farm during the winter months. I was so excited! On the way back to the hotel we drove past the farm/mill to see the alpacas and llamas and I looked them up on the internet. I will try to give them a call to find out when their yarn store is open.

What I Learned Today:

· The wildflower Paintbrush is parasitic and eats the nutrients from the surrounding plants.

· Certain pine cones need fire to release their seeds and this might take 80 years.

· Fir has flat, friendly needles.

· Spruce has square, spiky needles.

· The Colorado columbine’s flowers and seeds are poisonous.

· The pink lines in the wild geranium are nectar guides for the pollinators.

· Arnica is found in pine forests.

· Fairy slipper or Calypso orchid is a rare orchid.

· Paintbrush is only pollinated by hummingbirds.

crossposted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: Mt. Baldy by Pat Hensley