flowers of Tuckerman Ravine in July

the trails Old Jackson Road, Raymond Path, Tuckerman Ravine Trail

the players flowers, birds, moose, butterflies, frogs, hikers, insects, clouds, water, snow, sun, wind, mountains

time 6 hours and 17 minutes up ( +/- an hour ), 55 minutes down


took a nice stroll up the beautiful Tuckerman Ravine to enjoy the flowers before the trail is closed for trail work...

Raymond Path is my favorite way into the area...nice and quiet...lots to see















this trail is so nice and quiet, even on a Sunday in July.....this young adult cow was grazing the grassy patches in the magic zone; ~2,900' ...here she is after I hung out with her for an hour waiting for cloud cover and observing










noticed she was breathing rather heavily some of the time.....timed her at 84 breathes per minute, even while she was laying down with her eyes closed




birdsfoot trefoil...






goldenrod...






Made it to the Tuckerman Ravine Trail in near-record time; another 1/2 hour spent on the Raymond Path would have done it, but I had to move along...

Near the base of the headwall I had the pleasure of bumping into Erich and Gloria! They were heading up to Lakes of the Clouds Hut to spend the night. Nice to see you both!






Then it was time to really slow down and enjoy this drainage of the headwall, especially all the beautiful plants that live here...

bluets...






violets...





any ID help/corrections from our plant experts would be greatly appreciated




continiued...

speedwell







painted cups...( I call them alpine roses )






mountain avens...





bog white orchis (?)...





headwall...





creature hanging out on rose twisted stalk leaf...






this is so pretty...bilberry ?





false hellebore...






ragwort (?)...






still a big slab of snow and a few smaller ones....trail will be closed for a month for trail work, so it was really nice to enjoy this special place on a fine summer day..

happy trails

Hey Patrick,

Did you happen to take any pics of the leftover snow? I'd like to show my meteorologist friend. It seems a bit later this year.

Awesome pics like usual, and love the moose.

When I heard that the ravine was closing...the flowers were what I immediately thought of...I had big plans to spend a few nights doccumenting the headwall this year. Oh well...next year it is!

Thanks for the teaser...these are great!

Wow!!!!!!!

AWESOME!!!!! YAY for the alpine flowers!!!!! I never looked at them like that before!!!!

You are a true artist with that camera.

Are those ticks all over the moose ?

grouseking said:

Hey Patrick,

Did you happen to take any pics of the leftover snow? I'd like to show my meteorologist friend. It seems a bit later this year.

Click to expand...

I have one, that I took from Ravine Viewpoint on Boot Spur trail last saturday. But I was to far away from the snow and just have had my compact camera and not my reflex with my zoom. I will have a look of it if I can do something with that photo.

And, BTW Patrick, very nice photos.

grouseking said:

...Did you happen to take any pics of the leftover snow? I'd like to show my meteorologist friend. It seems a bit later this year...

Click to expand...

Snow field at base of Tuck headwall, July 9th. Estimate 30 yards long by 10 yards wide by 3 yards tall (at maximum points). Although, since I'm a guy, I probably overestimated the length.

grouseking said:

Did you happen to take any pics of the leftover snow? I'd like to show my meteorologist friend.

Click to expand...

The webcam on Wildcat shows the snowfield: http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/cam/ravines/ravines.jpg

However, you will have to look on a day with better visibility...

Doug

Wow -- neat to see close up what's left of the headwall.

Anybody know what is the latest date its ever held out?

Patrick - these shots are amazing as usual - nice work!

Incredibly beautiful pictures!!!!

bjc said:

You are a true artist with that camera.

Are those ticks all over the moose ?

Click to expand...

Thanks so much!!!! Nope, those are just flies. The winter ticks drop off on their own in late spring.

Gorgeous pictures, what a treat, thanks for sharing!

Really nice! My favorite is the moose flower!

Patrick, this is such a treat!

The yellow "daisy" may be Arnica mollis (hairy arnica), having apparently opposite leaves and is more suited to the Tuck's environment;

The purple twin flowers look like a marsh skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata) - was it near water?

The bristly-leaved blue flowers are still a mystery, but I'll keep trying.

The blue flowers with the bristly leaves and calyces look like a speedwell...perhaps Veronica wormskjoldii (alpine speedwell).