We are covering a lot of ground today. We are going to do the 70 mile Northern loop of the park. We started at Norris Geyser Basin because Sarah told us to look out for the Kalmia microphylla. We were able to find it in two places! There were also some great thermal geysers in this Basin.
We moved on to The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and stopped for lunch in Canyon Village. We started the drive up to Tower Roosevelt when something pink caught my eye (go figure). It was Mimulus lewisii and it is adorable! I do believe I need this!
We raised to an elevation of 8667+ feet and pulled off to see the change in flora. Many of the species were similar to what we have already at this elevation in Teton but we haven't talked about them yet so thought I would include them todya. We saw Allium textile, Castilleja occidentalis, Sedum lanceolatum, and Geum triflorum.
Further down the road we noticed a valley and pulled over to try to see if any new species were there. We finally found Julia's Lupinus polyphyllus! She was so excited she was jumping up and down! We also saw Bistorta bistortoides.
Two pull outs later we stopped by a stream and found Igor’s Betula glandulifera. With arms flailing and a large smile he ran back to grab his camera! It was a cute little shrubby thing that would be nice in our collection.
Of course we stopped at the petrified tree just past Tower Roosevelt where we ran into a rather large stand of Linaria dalmatica. While we know it's invasive here, you can't help but appreciate its beauty (the reason it has been introduced in the first place).
Our last stop of the day was Mammoth Hot Springs. Some very interesting thermal features but other than some new Juniper species we mostly found exotics. It was getting late and we still had to drive an hour and a half to get back to the house so we headed home to prepare for our hike with Heidi tomorrow.
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