Mitchell Canyon, 2009

Another plant I was very much hoping to see, and this time I saw it in profusion! There were many tiny plants growing at select points along the higher parts of the Eagle Peak trail, pretty much up until Eagle Peak itself. All no more than 10 cm high, growing on gravelly slopes.

I was really hoping to find Mission bells today, but after passing the spot where I'd seen them before, I figured it was a wash. Put down my bag, grabbed my water bottle, and of course, right next to the backpack, were a couple Mission bells. Hard to see and not exactly easy to photograph either.

Despite the large and somewhat gaudy flowers, this plant is kind of hard to see. However, I think the tall, erect stem and leaves are pretty distinctive. Must remember to look for them and not the flower.

This looked a little different from the other star lilies I've seen, so I was kind of hoping it was Death Camas, but no luck. I think Fremont's star lily probably just looks a little scraggly on mt D.

I thought this plant was poison oak for the longest time, until the good folk of Flickr set me straight. It's actually Western hoptree, and it's just starting to leaf out and bloom on Mt. D. One thing I learned this year was that it smells wonderful! A sweet and surprising fragrance. Between that and the Ceanothus blooming everywhere, it was a very fragrant hike (despite the wind).