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Beautiful Flowers of the Wasatch
By Dian Thomas
The mountains east of the Salt Lake City, Utah are alive with the most beautiful
wildflowers I have ever seen. I have been going to see the wildflowers in these mountains for over 25 years, but because of the heavy rains in June, they are more plentiful than I ever remember.
The best place to see wildflowers is in an area by Alta, Utah called Albion Basin.
My special connection to this land came from my father who was the District Ranger
here for years. As a young girl, I often went with him to explore and enjoy these beautiful mountains. Also, when Brighton Girls camp burned down in 1963, we rented a ski lodge in Alta where camp was held for two summers. I worked at the camp both summers and fell in love with this beautiful area.
Alta, Utah is the home of some of the best snow in the world. The snow is light and fluffy and with the backdrop of rugged mountains, people flock here to ski. In pioneer days, Alta was a mining town where they mined for precious metals. I have been told at one time there were over 5,000 people living in the mountains. Now, all that is left of the mining town are mine tailings that you can see occasionally on the mountain side.
In summer, the hills are dotted with ski lifts and covered with wildflowers.
If you live in Utah or plan a visit soon, take a ride and check out these incredible hills of flowers. You will never forget the time when you saw wildflowers most people never see. If you can’t go in person, please enjoy the photos that I took this past weekend.
This is looking at Mount Superior. The splash you see across the sides of the mountain are yellow daisies.
This is a field of daisies with other wild flowers mixed in.
Daisies and painted cups are the main features of this photo.
Painted cup and Jacob's ladder fill this field.
This flower I have not seen before, but what a beautiful color of pink it is..
Flax and another beautiful white flower make such a pretty grouping on this hill.
Bluebells are flowers that come early in the season.
There are thousands and thousands of these daisies up and down the mountain side. Never have I seen so many.
Indian paint brush has always been a favorite of mine. I love the deep color that always is in blossom.
The blue flower is lupine and the orange is painted cup.
This is a group of painted cups.
The white columbines are some of the most beautiful flower you will find in the mountains.
There are a lot of these colorful flowers. They are called penstemon.
Beautiful white flower.
Aster
Flax and penstemon
Flax
This beautiful flower is found where it is very wet. It is called elephant head. You can see the head of and elephant and be sure to catch the trunk.
These are the names of the flower that I learned from my father who was a forest ranger for over 30 years.
Dian Thomas is the author of several outdoor books including the New York Time Best seller Roughing it Easy. For more of her outdoor ideas go to her Web site at www.dianthomas.com.
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