Rock, paper, scissors

Last Saturday, I joined the Mt. Shasta Trail Association on their Seven Lakes Basin Hike from Gumboot trailhead to Echo Lake.  We had a large and lively bunch of young and old walking a three-mile portion of the Pacific Crest Trail that gave us views to Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen, the Trinity Alps, Castle Crags, the Seven Lakes Basin ... and SO MUCH MORE!

I, for one, saw two dragons (one rock, one wood) and lots of pretty flowers, some so small they qualify for the term "belly-flowers" cuz you gotta get down on your belly to see 'em.

Here's one dragon:

For more dragons and a sample of flowers big and little, please go to my photo album at 

Picasaweb.

A CNPS hike up Black Butte

What can I say? I'm a sucker for Western dogwood (C. nuttalli) and this one catches the light like the snow on Mt. Shasta.

The Shasta Chapter of the California Native Plant Society planned a walk up Black Butte, so we joined them on Saturday.  It was wintry-windy-cold, so Jeff and I didn't go all the way to the top.  But we went far enough to be rewarded with some stunning penstemon (P. newberryi) ...

and stands of mountain maple (A. glabrum) were showing off their beautiful scarlet seeds.  We also noted some canyon larkspur (D. nudicaule) and star-flower.  At the trailhead we found boo-koo Shasta lily and wild ginger, not yet in bloom.  Tobacco brush (C. velutinous) was in exuberant and bee-delirious flush of flower.

For more pix from this hike, go to More Photos