Cooper Mountain

Cooper Mountain Nature Park is bursting with late spring blooms.  Pale larkspur, a seriously rare plant, fills several meadows with thousands of tall white spikes.  We wandered down a couple trails we hadn't explored before, and also visited the pond, a favorite spot for spotting snakes and tadpoles before the summer heat dries it up. 

Hairy vetch.

Clover.

Yarrow.

Hairy cat's ear.

Cinquefoil.

Fringecup.

Snowberry.

This is obviously a coralroot, but not striped, spotted or western.  Could it be
Corallorhiza maculata var. ozettensis, a pretty rare find?  Either way it certainly is pretty!

Red columbine.

Ball-head cluster lily.

Pale larkspur.

Pale larkspur.

Bachelor's button.

Bachelor's button.

Yellow parentucellia.

Cut-leaved geranium.

Sharptooth angelica.

Suksdorf's sorrel.

Ball-head cluster lily.

Bachelor's button.

Oregon geranium.

Bachelor's buttons.

Jasper was very excited to catch a garter snake.

Froglet.

Froglet.

Western trumpet honeysuckle.

Cinquefoil.