I spent this past weekend camping with friends near Grangeville, Idaho. I was attending the annual meeting of the Idaho Native Plant Society. Meetings in the boring sense of the word occurred, but they were brief. The bulk of the weekend consisted of long hikes on guided field trips. This post is a pictorial tour of a small fraction of the plants I saw on the Coolwater Ridge Lookout trail which is located in the Bitterroot Mountains  – my first of two all-day field trips. From where we were hiking we could look down at the canyon where the Selway River was fixing to meet the Lochsa River to form the middle fork of the Clearwater River. This is a part of Idaho that is basically too beautiful for words. At some point I will have more to say about this particular location, but for now here are a handful of semi-decent photos I took while on the hike.

A view from Coolwater Ridge. Looking down at the Selway River canyon.

Erythronium grandiflorum – yellow glacier lily

Leptosiphon nuttallii – Nuttall’s linanthus

Polemonium pulcherrimum – Jacob’s-ladder

Sambucus racemosa – red elderberry

Phlox diffusa – spreading phlox

Ribes viscosissimum – sticky currant

Senecio integerrimus var. exaltatutus – Columbia groundsel

Synthyris platycarpa – Idaho kittentails

Vaccinium scoparium – grouse whortleberry

Viola glabella – pioneer violet

Cheilanthes feei – Fee’s lipfern

Stay tuned for photos from the second of two field trips. In the meantime, go outside and see some nature.