Hiking to the trail.
Views from the trail.
Our destination was the snowy peak in the distance.
Treasure Mountain, here we come!
We came across many bivalve fossils around this area.
Scientists examining the smelliness of Polemonium viscosum.
Hiking across some snowy parts.
View from the top.
Panoramic view from the top. To see the larger image, go here.
To see the larger image, go here.
Coordinates and elevation.
More of the views from the top as people ate their lunch.
Descending from the top as dark clouds were forming nearby. We actually got rained and hailed on as we were coming down.
Roscoe, our hike leader.
During the hike, we came across many interesting plant species.
Ivesia (Ivesia gordonii). For a species in the rose family (Rosaceae), this species has very small flowers.
Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus)
Scree Penstemon (Penstemon harbourii). This species is endemic to Colorado and can't be found anywhere else in the world!
Sticky Sky Pilot (P. viscosum). This was the plant people in my lab were smelling earlier because the flowers are quite fragrant but the leaves have a skunky odour, although people's definition of nice- versus foul-smelling can be quite variable.
Colorado Ragwort (Senecio soldanella). The leaves are dark red due to anthocyanin which protects the plant from UV radiation since it is so high up in the alpine tundra.
Interesting lichens with rock colours.
Tiny mite.
A very pale-looking Bombus sp.
And a very dark-looking butterfly.
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