Litter Notes for June 5

I couldn't stay away.  Early afternoon Sunday I was back in Turnagain Pass, finishing cleaning up litter behind two long guardrails, which are my least favorite places to walk.

In almost all instances, the ground behind guardrails is steep and uneven.  Sand spread on the roads in winter piles up along the guardrails when the highway guys sweep the roads in spring.  Then they bring in equipment that pushes the sand through the guardrail post, resulting in uneven walking behind the rails.  In a few cases, I have to hang onto the rails when I'm behind them


Sunday's weather called for clearing skies with occasional showers.  I was at the northern end of the pass and watched rain squalls passing across the southern end:

I also found some more wildflowers blooming.

There are Beautiful Jacob's Ladder.

Yellow violets

Behind a guardrail, I saw this little creek running down the still-greening slopes.

On a bend of the creek, I spotted these white blooms about a hundred feet from me..  They look like Arctic Daisy.  If they are, they're blooming more than a month early.

Those persistent dandelions

I had to include these because they are exceptional examples of healthy dandelions, at least a foot high.

False Hellebore shoots.  Very poisonous.

False Hellebore.

False Hellebore.  This is a very showy plant that grows two or three feet high, then sends a flowering stalk up to five feet tall.

And the tiny hoof prints of a newborn moose calf.  The glove is for size comparison.  The tracks are about two and a half inches long.