Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: alpine meadow

This beautiful meadow of Glacier Lilies was seen along the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail, in Kananaskis Country. Everything has been delayed this year, and these Lilies would not normally still be in bloom this late in July.

Taken on 13 July 2012, when a group of eight of us walked uphill from the upper locked gate to the beautiful alpine meadows of Plateau Mountain. You see the almost flat top to this mountain, a unique area that was spared during the Ice Age. (Location on my map is only very approximate!) "This nearly flat high-elevation plateau is recognized for several unique features. There is an internationally recognized ice cave with ice crystals, curls, sheets and pillars (ice crystals are so fragile that a temperature increase of one degree Celsius can cause melting). The periglacial features (known as "patterned ground") in the reserve include active permafrost, sorted stone circles, polygons, steps and frost boils. The area also contains critical winter range for bighorn sheep." From www.albertaparks.ca/plateau-mountain.aspx There are no public roads in Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve; the road to the mountain top is leased by Husky Oil; to prevent vandalism to natural gas production facilities and to lessen impact on the area's natural features, access is controlled by the locked gate; travel in the reserve is by foot only; there are no facilities on site and overnight camping and open fires are prohibited. Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve occupies the top of Plateau Mountain and the mountain flanks down to the streams in valleys on the north and south ends. The mountain plateau is a relatively flat area from one to two kilometres wide and about eight kilometres in maximum length. The plateau rises gradually from about 2,280 metres in the north to 2,519 metres at the summit near the south end of the plateau. The flanks of the mountain are steep cliffs with numerous block and talus slopes below them to the north, east and south sides. The west slope is gentler." www.albertaparks.ca/media/2741526/plateau_mtn_mgmt_plan.pdf

A friend walking in the wonderful wildflower meadows of the Small Whaleback on July 10th. The purple flowers here are Lupins - adding this after several people mentioned them. This was a long drive south of Calgary, towards the Crowsnest Pass, and just before you get to the Oldman River. This was a botanizing trip, to record all plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc. that we could find. Even a couple of Puffballs, one of which was quite spectacular : ) Later: ha ha, I did about 8,000 steps on the above hike and today I did around 10,000 steps - walking around the Stampede Grounds with my youngest daughter!! Couldn't believe my pedometer when I got home this afternoon after spending about four hours breathing in the greasy smell from the food vendors, getting neck cramps from watching people get flung on a bungee-type ride or the high swings, watching Mom pig feed her 11 little piglets, seeing the most beautiful horses from Clydesdales to Miniatures. It is quite an experience to "do" the Grounds - but I wouldn't want to do it more than one day a year! Thanks, Rachel, for a fun time! Holy smokes - just after 10:30 p.m. and we are having a torrrential rainstorm with thunder and lightning!!

This cute little guy/gal came out of its pile of lichen-covered rocks to check me out. I had been walking ahead of my two friends on Sunday, when we were on Plateau Mountain again. They had stopped to check for mosses and lichens on the ridge we were climbing, when I caught sight of this little Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel. The deep green bokeh is from the spruce (?) trees on a distant mountain side. This was the only wildlife I saw, other than a group of maybe a dozen Mountain Sheep on the distant slope below the actual flat top of Plateau Mountain. I've only ever once been on the flat top and that was about 30 years ago! It's just too far for me to walk to get from the meadows to the flat top, unfortunately. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden-mantled_ground_squirrel Thunderstorm Watch for Calgary - and it looks like it is about to happen any moment now - just when I have to go out to meet a friend for an early supper, ha. And, here comes the rain and the thunder! Quite welcome, though it would have been nice to have had it overnight instead : )

The only reason I'm posting this most uninspiring photo is that I'm hoping that I might just be able to get an ID for this plant : ) Photographed on a sloping alpine meadow at Plateau Mountain, southern Alberta, on July 2nd. Does anyone recognize it??

Having just done some searching on the Internet, I am now not sure just what this flower is. I thought it was perhaps some kind of alpine Anemone, but it seems to have too many sepals (petals?). Photographed on July 2nd in an alpine meadow on Plateau Mountain, Kananaskis (way south of Calgary). Would much appreciate any help or suggestions - thanks! Later: actually, I'm thinking it must be a Drummond's Anemone.

This is just one of the many different views on the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail in Kananaskis, Rocky Mountains. The narrow trail continues off to the right of my photo and leads to a spectacular cirque, barren mountain peaks and scree slopes. I've only ever been here about six times, but it is a favourite place of mine. It's also a favourite Grizzly Bear area, and we saw an area where a bear had very obviously been digging - and it looked very fresh : ) ! It's a steep climb to get up to the alpine meadows, but one is rewarded with wonderful alpine flowers and views. "Elevation Gain: 230 m (755 ft). Ptarmigan Cirque is a high mountain bowl (cirque)above the Highwood Pass in Kananaskis Country. It is billed as an interpretive trail, but the first kilometre is quite steep. But stick with it because the cirque area itself is worth the effort. Besides interpretive trails have those little signs every now and then where you can legitimately stop and rest while you slowly read the text. Once you leave the trees the trail levels out considerably. The landscape in the cirque is quite stark, but the views are fantastic. You can stay on the trail or head further up the cirque along a faint trail. you can also go further up to Mt. Rae from here, but that's a scramble for another time." From www.trailpeak.com .

Not a very good photo (to put it mildly, LOL), but I wanted it to remind me of these pretty Glacier Lilies and their beautiful location. This meadow of Glacier Lilies was seen along the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail, in Kananaskis Country. Everything has been delayed this year, and these Lilies would not normally still be in bloom this late in July.