I have to admit that I'm a bit tired after a LONG day of scouting in preparation for the upcoming workshop.
I started my day bright and early leaving from my campsite at Lake Irwin campground, at an elevation of 10,200 feet.
Lake Irwin Campground
My first scouting location was to Robinson Basin. The road starts above Lake Irwin and climbs through some very difficult terrain. The road isn't maintained, and gets worse every year. If I hadn't done it before and knew it was possible, I would have turned around last year. This year the road was even worse, with a few washed out sections and many "streams" running down and across the road from the recent rains.
Road to Robinson Basin
In the "easy" section just above the campground, someone had put a makeshift barricade in the road, probably in an attempt to warn the less prudent not to go that way. Of course I went around the barricade.
I had heard that the flowers were much farther behind their normal bloom schedule this year because of the very heavy (and late melting) snow pack. My drive up Robinson Basin soon confirmed this, and I turned around in search of better possibilities.
Gothic Road to Emerald Lake
I had also heard that the road to Emerald Lake and West Maroon Basin was also closed due to snow, but I decided to see how bad it was. The road was indeed closed, but I decided to go ahead and hike up to the lake. The area surrounding the lake was covered with a profusion of wildflowers last year, but the shoots were just starting to come up through the melting snow. Darn, three of my favorite locations weren't panning out.
I did see some late blooming lupine just outside the town of Gothic that might provide some possibilities.
Lupine surrounding the town of Gothic
But just because the higher elevations weren't panning out doesn't mean it's going to be a bad year. Although they aren't following their "normal" bloom pattern, it is possible to find flowers at the lower elevations, like these on Brush Creek Road:
Brush Creek Road Lupine and Sunflowers
And these further up along Brush Creek:
Brush Creek Wildflowers
Tomorrow I'll continue my scouting at some of the lower elevations, but for now it's time to head up to the campsite and fire up a pot of beef stew.
