Most of the United States had a wetter winter than normal and that included Snow Canyon State Park. Lucky for us as we were treated with many beautiful blooms of wild flowers during our two months here.
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| Yellow Cups |
Before writing this entry, I had to consult the wildflower books in the visitor center to try and identify them. Hope I have them identified correctly.
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| Wildflowers and lava rocks |
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| Desert Indian Paintbrush |
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| Notch-leaved Phacelia |
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| Desert 4 o'clock |
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| Yucca |
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| Prickly Pear Cactus |
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| Desert Mallow |
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| Desert Marigold |
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| Scented Beardtongue |
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| Winding Mariposa Lily |
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| Englemann's Hedgehog Cactus |
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| Green Encelia |
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| Mojave Aster |
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| Mojave Indigo Bush |
And the most unusual looking flower with a funny name.....
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| Paper Bag Flower |
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A very determined tree
growing on the petrified dunes!
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We've seen a good number of butterflies too.
One day we went for a bike ride and encountered this guy on the path.
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| Gopher Snake |
Another day we went for a hike on the Chuckwalla trail at the southern part of the park and saw this guy:
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| Horned Lizard |
And, we saw 3 desert tortoises that day. That was exciting since I've been hoping to spot a tortoise while we were here. People were reporting sightings to me while I was working at the visitor center so we got lucky and saw three of them in one day. The first one was within 5 minutes of starting the hike. A couple of women stopped to look at it otherwise we probably would have walked right past it.
I was surprised how fast that actually move.
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| Tortoise tracks in the sand! |
So far our total tortoise sightings are 5 for Nancy and 6 for Al.
On my birthday, I was greeted by this little guy at the visitor center. He was right at the entrance door so I was afraid to unlock the door in case he decided to hop inside with me.
Finally when I couldn't shoo him away from the doorway, I unlocked the door and stepped over him and in to the visitor center. I put a water bottle near him so others wouldn't step on him. A co-worker, Eduardo, was next to come in and he picked up the bunny and carried him inside and put him on the counter. Then Eduardo asked what we should do with him and carried the bunny over to Jake the Snake's cage and started to unclip the cage top and pretend to put the bunny in with Jake. I was hoping he wasn't serious as there is no way I could watch Jake and the bunny together in the cage while working the desk. Luckily he was just playing with me. Eduardo took the bunny outside and placed him in an area of dense brush behind the visitor center and set him free.
I learned later that someone called the visitor center to say that their cat brought the bunny home and they didn't know what to do with it. The Assistant Park Manager told them they could drop it off at the park so that is where he came from.
So this has been the highlights of flowers and animals that we've seen at Snow Canyon these two months. God sure has put on a beautiful wildflower display this spring!
Your pictures of the flora and fauna are stunning!
ReplyDeleteThe gopher snake scares me but the flowers are wonderful.
I just had to download a few to keep they are so beautiful!
You certainly were blessed with such wonderful wild flowers this year.
And I am glad your snake did not eat the bunny … that just would not have been right (or would it)?
Thanks for letting me ride along.
Most if not all of the flower photos were taken by Al. He's the photographer of this duo! Glad you enjoyed them!
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