July 2018 – Our spring travels through Utah, Wymoing, Montana and South Dakota have been awash in deluges of rain for the past few months. But while we camped in Cody, Wyoming, recently we witnessed the most astonishing blossoming of wild flowers that we have ever seen anywhere.
For us, this year, March through June showers have brought gorgeous July flowers!
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After driving the eye-popping Beartooth Highway we decided to check out other scenic drives near Cody, Wyoming. But our quest for beautiful mountain scenery was quickly set aside when we drove into the National Forest and found ourselves surrounded by meadows of fabulous wildflowers!
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We quickly set up shop and started taking pics with our cameras and tripods. What a display this was!
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We have never seen fields of wildflowers like this!
Buddy took off on his own, chasing the grasshoppers and butterflies all over the place.
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There were pinks and yellows and purples and white flowers too. And they were thick across the meadows!
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Wildflowers were blooming everywhere, so we decided to forego the scenic drive for the moment and try some hiking instead. Beautiful flowers lined the roads and trails!
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Buddy posed for a shot with some flowers. Thank you, Bud!
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Most of the colors so far had been yellows, purples, pale blues and pinks, but we rounded a bend to find our view filled with all of those colors plus bright red Indian Paintbrush flowers too.
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Indian Paintbrush.
Neither of us had ever seen wildflowers like this before.
I joked with Mark that when I bought my first house years ago I’d purchased a packet of wildflower seeds that had a photo on it that looked like these meadows. But that packet of wildflower seeds sure didn’t give me a garden like this!
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We entertained ourselves with our cameras for a few hours as Buddy continued to chase butterflies. We were in heaven!
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As we tromped around in the woods, we loved the logs and rocks that were peeking up through the tall grasses. They made for the most beautiful flower arrangements!
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In some places the flowers arranged themselves together better than any floral arranger could do. Mother Nature’s work was infused with a divine and artistic flair!
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Tucked away from the huge splashes of color we found some less common flowers blooming on their own.
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If you happen to be in this area when it warms up after a very rainy spring, head down some of the winding dirt roads and trails that lead off the main highway. The flowers are spectacular!
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The flip side of being surrounded by gorgeous and abundant wildflowers is being surrounded by the flying bugs that feed on them — and on you!! I’m not a fan of bug spray, but the eruption of bugs everywhere we’ve been in Montana and Wyoming lately has been really bad.
I hunted around a little online and discovered that some essential oils can be effective bug repellents. I’ve never been an essential oils person, but I picked up some lavender and eucalyptus, and when we returned to those meadows of wildflowers for more flower pics, I gave them a try.
Mark opted not to try the essential oils at first, and lo and behold, about 10 minutes into photographing the flowers he was ready to quit and run home while I hadn’t been bothered much at all!
The official recipe I found called for 15 drops of lavender and 5 drops of eucalyptus mixed together with 2 tablespoons of jojoba oil in a small bottle. But all I did was put a few drops of the lavender and eucalyptus on my arms, legs and face and spread it around, and it was like magic.
I have found I need to reapply it about every hour or so, and of course it’s not as effective as 40% Deet. But it has been good enough for us and Buddy to romp around in the flowers and be comfortable.
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E&M~~~~An alternate to Jojoba Oil is a product skin so soft. I’ve found that some of this on the hats we always wear keeps the “no see’ms” and deer flies away. Beautiful photos! We hope to be coming up from north of Denver CO on our way to Glacier NP in three weeks or so
Thanks for the tip and kind words, Robert! Enjoy the beautiful scenery on your trip. Hopefully the bugs will have settled down by then!!
Amazing beauty, Em. So much gorgeous color everywhere you look.
Bob
Thanks, Bob. It was just astonishing, and we kept saying “WOW!” to each other as we wandered through the meadows and woods. We’ve never seen anything like it!
Those photos are enough to make me leave my present location just 30 miles outside of the “Wildflower Capital of Colorado,” and drive straight there! …if only they weren’t so fleeting. Gorgeous photos!
They are fleeting indeed, Suzanne, and we were oh-so-lucky not only to be there but to follow our instincts and head out on foot into the meadows and woods away from the highways. We’ve been to the “Wildflower Capital of Colorado” and although we loved it, we were there a week too late. This particular year in this particular area has topped everything we’ve ever seen. BUT we did miss the Anza Borrego CA explosion of color last year. Apparently it was so dramatic it was visible from space. We were in AZ at the time and might have made it if we’d driven straight there, but these things are so fleeting we didn’t want to turn our travels upside down and possibly miss it anyway, so we had to satisfy ourselves with other folks’ photos and their all-caps exclamations of wonder!
Incredible! Such a great mix of colors and styles of different flowers.
That’s what surprised us the most. Usually we see fields dominated by one type of flower, but to see such a mix was extraordinary!!
Photographer’s paradise ! And Buddy’s subdued coat nicely contrasted with the rich palette of wild flower colors ! Perfect demo of taking the road less traveled….
It was definitely a photographer’s paradise. What luck to head into the back country and find such a beautiful display. Buddy loved it too — lots of butterflies to chase!