Travel Adventure #8

Usually on Father's Day each year the Camas blossoms cover the field at Packer Meadows, about a mile from the Lolo Pass Visitor's Center on the Montana/Idaho border on Highway 12. I decided to go a few days early since the other wildflowers in our valley seemed to have peaked early.  

I found a few other wildflowers close by as well and a ground squirrel checking on what I was doing up there.

I was so glad I went early as half the field had blossoms and some were already wilting at the same time others had not yet opened their blossoms. The Camas blossoms are in abundance and the sound of thousands of bees was totally amazing.  They were having a feeding frenzy with the blossoms.  

I decided to camp nearby overnight.  You can see the early morning fog over the Camas field in the background behind the buck.

WIldflowers in the Bitterroot

On June 4th, I drove up in the hills around here and found some wildflowers but for the most part I was late in my wildflower hunting as most were looking quite wilted already. But I did find some Arrowleaf Balsamroot, some bluebells and some bear grass that looked pretty decent.

On June 5th, I went looking for the Bitterroot blossoms that grow plentifully this time of year on State land west of Corvallis (MT).

According to the US Forest Service the Bitterroots were "a culturally significant plant for several Native American tribes in the West. Traditionally, the roots were gathered, dried for storage, and used for food or trade. The root is bitter, so it was cooked and often mixed with meat or berries. Meriwether Lewis first collected the species for western science in July of 1806, in what is now called the Bitterroot Valley in Montana."  

(https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/lewisia_rediviva.shtml)