Mosaic Monday #12: Glory Days

False Hellebore

I miss the light of summer.  Don't get me wrong; winter here delivers bountiful snow and a magnificence all its own.  But lately, I have seen a few posts from you, my fellow bloggers, featuring summer vistas that launch me into daytime reveries about a sun high in the sky.  A sun that dapples everything below it, even revealing the veins of leaves, pulsing with chlorophyll.  A sun that pulls plants out of the earth, turning all flower heads in her direction.  A sun that warms reptiles basking on rocks.

Bog orchid

So, here I am, re-winding the clock to a hike we completed on July 25, 2017 - My Hiking Journal: Entry 17.  As Bruce Springsteen croons: Trying to recapture a little of the glory of … Glory Days.

Clayton Lake (our destination) sits on the northeastern edge of the Jewel Basin Hiking Area (links to previous Jewel Basin Hikes: One, Two).  Since most people access Jewel Basin via Camp Misery and never make it as far as Clayton Lake, this is generally a quiet hike even on weekends in the summer.  Even better when it's a Tuesday!!!   (We didn't see a soul even though there was a van parked at the trailhead.)

Clayton Lake with aged beargrass in the foreground

Cow parsnip

The trail climbs through a more recent burn (the snags are bleached out but are still standing) which has opened up the area for views all around.  It was quite brushy along the trail with elderberry and cow parsnip.

Elderberry

The trail gradually ascends, following Clayton Creek, for almost 2 miles.  After a creek crossing, a couple of switchbacks and a steep quarter of a mile, the trail flattens and meadows open before us with the lake beyond.  Nirvana.  I look back at these meadow pictures, and I tell you that none of them do it justice.  An abundance of wildflowers, in a jumble the defies description or a capture by a camera.  You'll just HAVE to hike it!

Fish jumped at random throughout the lake, but Man with Hat came up empty.  I don't think he minded, too much.

This hike is 4.8 miles out and back, plus 1.6 miles if you go around the lake (which, of course, we did)

A hummingbird flew up to me nearly striking me in the face.  Could it have been my reflective sunglasses that looked like a flower?  Or maybe it saw me as competition since I was spending so much time among the blooms.  

Top: Fleabane and Paintbrush

Middle left: Spotted Frog  Middle right: Unidentified butterfly on Pearly Everlasting

Bottom left: False Hellebore  Bottom middle: Fleabane and Groundsel Bottom right: Willow

Clockwise from top: Fireweed and Man with Hat; Yellow Columbine; Death Camas, Monkeyflower, Groundsel

Showy Aster.  Center: Garter Snake

Lupine seed pods

It's hard to wrap your mind around the accelerated life cycle in these mountains, at these elevations.  In early May, only the glacier lilies are blooming.  But now, 10 short weeks later, some plants have grown, bloomed and are already in seed.  Rock on!

Fleabane and Paintbrush along the trail

Glory days well they'll pass you by


Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye


Glory days, glory days
- Bruce Springsteen

Maggie of Normandy Life once asked me when a walk becomes a hike.  I think it's about purpose and environment - walking to the bus stop is not a hike.  But walking among the splendor of northwestern Montana, to experience the glory of its flora and fauna - that will always be a hike.

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
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