Southwest Sampler

Indian Paintbrush in the Coyote Buttes Wilderness, Arizona

If this were a food blog and you saw the title of this post, you would probably be thinking about some delicious enchiladas or perhaps an exotic mole sauce was coming up! Well, we did visit the southwest recently and did have some great Mexican and Native American food along the way. But alas, the sampler here is limited to flora rather than flour, and focuses on a few early blooms as opposed to a local gourmet menu.

Our trip was centered around getting to "The Wave" rock formation in northern Arizona on April 8. That's the day we had a permit to do this remarkable hike. So we planned a southwest loop trip, as getting there from northwest Oregon is a major endeavor. On the loop, we visited Zion, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Four Corners, and the San Juan mountains of southwestern Colorado as well. To see photos of The Wave formation, follow the link below.

For this post, I'll include plants we found in the high deserts of southern Utah and northern Arizona. The elevations and terrain varied from about 3,000 - 7,000 feet in these desert areas, and the natural landscape colors were splendid, causing frequent stops for scenery photos as well as for flowers.

The weather during our visit to this area was mostly sunny and dry, but we did encounter windy days in several areas. Our first days in Zion and Page were nice and warm, but turned much cooler as a cold front moved in. Some strong winds were associated with that front. Fortunately, the weather was mostly favorable for our hikes and travel days.

This post shows our favorite blooms we saw in each area and you can follow the link below to see all of the photos. I was surprised by the sheer numbers of blooms we saw; as well as the plethora of Evening Primrose species and Milkvetch. I had no idea either of these plants had desert cousins.

Meanwhile, I've done my best to identify at least the genus of these plants, but some will take longer, as I learn more about these desert dwellers.

Utah Penstemon and Prickly Pear Cactus
 at Zion National Park

Prickly Milkvetch at Zion National Park

Gooseberry-Leaf Globemallow near St. George, UT

Pale Evening Primrose in the Coyote Buttes Wilderness

Now before I head out to Baja Fresh for a monster "two hands" burrito and Negro Modelo, just want remind everyone of the Cinco de Mayo date that is soon approaching. Hasta la vista!

Links:

Desert Wildflower Gallery

The Wave Gallery