Get Out: June showers bring June flowers

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo,-At Get Out headquarters, when it’s raining, we are inside: dancing and socializing at night, and sleeping, reading or watching movies during the day.

But we have been biking around during the brief periods of evaporation to inhale the essence of springtime, and new beginnings, before the rain rolls back in.
The rain is giving much-needed love to the wildflowers and morel mats that lurk all around Teton County’s soils. Right now the valley is greener than it will be for the next year. Lush emerald-, mint- and dark-green hues beckon to the town-bound and hint of a different world out there.

The first big bursts of sunshine will likely bring a flush of wildflowers and wild mushrooms (yum) but even now, under cloud cover, the wildflowers are going off.
So when the sparse, rolling thunderstorms allow brief windows of sunshine – when walkers and bicyclists make a mad dash from under an awning to get to their next stop – our suggestion is make a dash for your nearest trail to see what’s blooming there.

On Josie’s Ridge, Crystal Butte, Cache Creek, the Wilson Dike, Snow King – really anywhere there is decent soil, there are tons of flowers.
In the grassy butte folds, the balsamroot is waiting to explode.

Pasque flowers and buttercups have bloomed at lower elevations, but you might catch them higher up. Indian paintbrush, blue bells, wild geraniums, shooting stars and many others are in various states of bloom. Grab a wildflower book and get out.

But if there’s been a good soak, be careful of erosion. Cache Creek and the Wilson Dike are great places to go for a flat walk where you don’t have to worry too much about eroding a hillside.

And on Josie’s Ridge, lightning can appear without much warning, so if you see a big dark thunderhead, make sure you’re not the tallest thing around.
The more tangible reward, (you can put them in your mouth), morel mushrooms, will be popping when it warms, but get online and check out public lands maps because private land is not always well-signed in prime mushroom foraging territory, and trespassing is illegal.

And lastly, I can’t ignore the other visual treasure my brief jaunts have recently uncovered: the Jackson tourist.

Last Wednesday, my first finds were Larry, Jerry and Nathan taking pictures of each other in front of the Elk Antler Arches. Larry had missing fingers, Jerry had missing teeth and Nathan “is Steve-o,” Larry said.

Would’ve had a beer with them but had to go catch up with two German couples, all wearing matching cowboy hats, waiting for the shootout.
They didn’t speak much English but didn’t mind posing in their sweet brown leather hats. JHW

Photo by Henry Sweets
Wildflowers on Josi's Ridge


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Get Out: June showers bring June flowers | Planet JH News Article: Sports & Recreation

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