Mount Falcon in June

This week I returned to Mount Falcon Park near Morrison, Colorado for a trail run. I ran from the east trailhead up Turkey Trot to the Castle Trail then up to the picnic shelter. I continued on Castle Trail for another mile so I could enjoy the meadow views and stretch my run to 7.5 miles total. Even though I ran this trail on the morning of Memorial Day, this evening run was memorable for several reasons. The purple Penstemons and yellow Arnica wildflowers were abundant, it rained just enough to cool things off, and the strange clicking sound of insects had me stopping a few times to see if I could see them in the shrubs. I also learned that I shouldn't be so quick about stopping to take pictures of wildflowers when I smell something stinky next to trail.

The picture below is a portion of the Walker home ruins. I am grateful that John Brisben Walker made this open space available to the public. The area is so beautiful, I can see why Walker chose to build a home there and why he dreamed of having a summer White House in this area.

Scattered along the lower elevations of Turkey Trot, I saw clumps of pretty pinkish purple flowers. When I searched for the name of this flower I had some trouble finding a photo until I visited the Kansas Wildflower website for the first time. This site lists wildflowers by color and flowering time; one of the Colorado Wildflower sites I use was patterned off of it.

Purple Locoweed

At the lower elevations I took a better picture of Copper Mallow than I took on one of my earlier runs. Pricklypear cactus were starting to bloom this week. There were several white flower stalks, Miners Candleflowers, along the hillsides. I caught a glimpse of a light yellow flower that I had photographed last year but been unable to name. I was thrilled to finally find the name of this flower, Ten-Petal Mentzelia, on the Kansas Wildflower site after searching fruitlessly on my Colorado links. According to the site, this flower grows on dry, rocky hillsides and slopes and is also known as Chalk Lily and Evening Starflower.

Copper Mallow

Pricklypear Cactus

Miners Candleflower

Ten-Petal Mentzelia

The flower that I stopped to photograph shortly after getting a whiff of what smelled like a dead animal was Bellflower. Imagine my shock when I saw a dead fox right next to the trail! My photo of the Bellflower is blurry so I will try to get a better one the next time. 

Penstemons

I have been keeping an eye out for new wildflowers. I have been rewarded by seeing a couple of flowers in only one place on the trail that I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings - the blanket flower on a hillside next to the trail and a tiny white Mariposa Lily all by itself next to the trail. I also saw Cow Parsnip in an unexpected spot.

Blanket Flower

Mariposa Lily

Hawksbeard (Crepis)

Puccoon