Flora

This Winter/Spring in the Grand Canyon has been one of the wettest in recent memory. As a result, the wildflowers were out like crazy!! Even the rangers were commenting on how they had never seen anything like it for many years.

Here's a few pictures of some of the flowers I saw along the way. Keep in mind these are mostly close ups, but these things were everywhere - covering every plateau and even growing out of cracks in the rocks! It was incredibly beautiful.

Here's a nice clump of.. something.. that I saw on my day hike to Dripping Springs, about a 7 mile round trip. This flower was not in my field guide, so I'm not sure what it is. It could be an invasive plant, not native to the Canyon.

Here's a great close up of an Indian Paintbrush. These are quite common in the Canyon.

A striking clump of Prickly Pear blossoms. So very pretty, but don't touch!!

This is a rather shaded picture of a Weakstem Mariposa which has a wandering vine that crawls along the ground.

It looks rather similar to the abundant (this year) Sego Lily, of which this appears to be a perfect specimen.

Here's a nice Brittlebush, which is one of the most common flowers to see in the lower elevations of the Canyon. It was everywhere! I thought this shot captures a nice contrast between the yellow flowers and the reddish-purple Bright Angel Shale.

A nice close up of a Brittlebush blossom.

Along my day hike from Bright Angel Campground at the bottom of the Canyon up to Ribbon Falls on the North Kaibab Trail, wildflowers were still in abundance. Here's a nice clump of Globemallow surrounded by a few other colourful characters...

Finally, a delicate little Fleabane blossom, which is also a fairly common flower in the Canyon.