While I’m at it, here is the view that this plant has.

Left to right, South Sister, Middle sister, North Sister, and Three Fingered Jack. Mt Washington, Mt Jefferson, and Mt Hood are just out of frame. Mt Bachelor and Diamond peak are behind us.

i travel vicariously thru the plant hunters ... and i thank you for this tour ...

ken

Maybe a very tight Smelowskia ovalis?

Since no one has replied, I’ll assume that I am correct. It’s the American way.

Here are some bonus pictures and tentative IDs.

Kalmia microphylla

Delphinium menziesii

Senecio triangularis

Polemonium californicum? At 5500’ in the forest.

Viola glabella

Dodecatheon jeffreyi

Ranunculus... not sure which. I thought I knew but after looking closer I’m less sure.

Draba aureola

I see now what you meant by 'tight'. The leaves are so tight I can't see the arangement. I looked up Draba aureola and the picture I saw looked different from yours. Yours looks more like a poppy or buttercup. Beautiful pictures, especially the last one!

Fantastic!

Incredible! Great plants, vistas and photography!

Jay, I think you were looking at the Ranunculus above the name rather than the draba below the name. I’m pretty confident about that one.

Here’s a couple more just for fun.

Calyptridium umbellatum

Boechera lyallii?

Penstemon procerus

A better picture of Dodecatheon jefferyi

I’m not sure if these are two different species of penstemon. They were right next to each other and radically different and flower color. But other parts of the plant seemed generally similar. Right now I’m going with a tentative id of Penstemon davidsonii for both of them.

Micranthes occidentalis

Saxifraga cespitosa?

Claytonia megarhiza

Sunset on Broken top and Bachelor from a low South Sister slope. The illuminated portion is the summit we climbed.

My bad, it was late and I was confused yet again. These last photos are stunning. You really climb mountains with like stakes and ropes and stuff??? recreation or necessity for those hard to find plants on your must have list?

No ropes yet. I’m planning on joining the Mazamas at some point and getting training in all of that stuff. There’s a little bit of hand-to-hand but mostly it’s just steep rocky trail. There’re a lot of mountains around here that are just big hills essentially that you just walk up. Saint Helens as an example.

Stunning pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Ok, last few, I promise.

Oxyria digyna, used to be a Rumex, and lady bug. At 8000’

Amemone drummondii

Sierra Nevada Fox? Just wandering around at 5am...

Cool lichen on a log

Ozmorhiza purpurea?

Platanthera stricta

Im now thinking that my “ranunculus” was really potentilla drummondii?

And last. I think this is Nothocalais alpestris? They are incredibly variable.

I think that’s most of the plants I took pictures of... besides those that weren’t in bloom or didn’t turn out.

Heres the Anemone drummondii with a particularly nice placement.

This is the view off the back of Broken Top. Pretty precipitous.

I wish I could post a video, because the California tortoiseshell butterflies were migrating en masse. By the tens of thousands. You can sort of see all the dots against the snow which are all butterflies.

In addition, there were these Very large Pandora moths (which are nonnative invaders). This one was laying eggs at 9000’ when we found her.

South Sister reflecting in the main lake.

Oh, would someone please explain this... it’s as if mouse snow tunnels got filled with sediment... how would this happen?

cross section

Overview

Again, thanks for posting!

Thank you mac! The migration must have been fantastic especially in that setting.

Delightful. I so enjoy seeing these plants from an area I have never visited.

I am baffled by the ridges, though they do look animal generated.

What a wonderful post! Thank you so much.

Stay tuned. I’m visiting The Enchantments in Washington in about 4 weeks. Lots of things there to see!