On Sunday, at Brodie’s suggestion, and because it was on our summer bucket list, our family went for a hike in K-country.
We’ve lived here for eight years, and have not explored very many hiking trails, or the back country, literally out our backdoor, so it’s high time for us to start taking in some of these hikes.
We definitely want to climb Square Butte (Mesa Butte), the namesake of our community and area. But we’ll need to work up to it, so our hike around Curley Sands was a good place to start, to condition our youngest David, so hopefully he can handle the bigger hike later this summer.
The day was cool, which was nice, and the breeze kept the bugs at bay. As we climbed, with an elevation gain of 500 ft, we enjoyed all the beautiful sights of forest, meadow, hills, and valleys. We saw a family of grouse, which was really neat to see, as they flushed up from the forest floor. The brilliant blue of a Robin’s eggshell marked the spot on the trail where David had to stop and leave his stick collection behind, as he could no longer carry all of them.
I loved all the wildflowers in such abundance and variety, that greeted us at every turn on the trail. I’ve been in love with wildflowers ever since I was a little girl. I study them endlessly, pouring over books to learn the names and qualities,of each one.
The riot of colour popping out from the meadows had my shutter finger going off constantly. When we stopped for a picnic, Brodie took an interest in photography (much to my delight) and captured a few wildflower images of his own!
Three Flowered Avens reminds me of Troll dolls.
The lovely purple Wild Bergamot.
I love this Wild Bumblebee on Northern Crane’s-Bill. It’s wings are moving so fast, they are blurred in this shot.
Fleabane
I think everyone loves the sunny yellow Blanketflower! You can’t resist them.
The vibrant reds of the Paintbrush wildflowers popped out at us from everywhere.
My men, checking out a butterfly.
Stunning Wood Lilies rose from the forest floor.
Views from Curley Sands Trail.