Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: cohan on June 08, 2011, 12:38:11 AM
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Clearly not 2010, but I think I'll just keep posting here rather than starting another thread...lol
Edit by Maggi..... no, we'll have a new thread for 2011! ;D
First mountain trip of the year, May 31.... around 13 hours, 525km, about 6.5hours driving, a short breakfast in town on the way and a short supply stop there on the way back, the rest divided between around 10 stops....
First full album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011AOnTheRoad#
Not far from Rocky Mountain House, and first views of the mountains...
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First stop, Nordegg area.. some of you may have received seeds from me from this area--lots of interesting roadsides, cleared during road building/maintenance, in an area that would otherewise be forested...
full album: https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011BNordegg#
This little composite, which I think has mainly basal leaves, not sure if I have seen it in flower, was in several seed packets that went out!
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A few things in flower:
Dryas drummondii Oxytropis sericea (presumably) Astragalus? (just starting...)
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Some mats:
Antennaria sp. Dryas
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A quick stop at the Abraham Lake viewpoint...
full album: https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011CAbrahamLake#
On the way there, and the view from there....
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New to me, or not seen often at least... this slender crucifer-- Arabis? with fingertip for scale in last image...
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Sorry, just realised photos were too large in the last couple postings!
Next spot on Abraham Lake; this is where I photographed the Eriogonum etc last fall....
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011DAbrahamLake#
Androsace chamaejasme in full swing...
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Dryas --integrifolia?
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Arctostaphylos uva-ursi someone has been raiding the flowers!
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The Eriogonum androsaceum at this season and Oxytropis sericea again
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Good to see that you have the weather to be wandering again for 2011, cohan!
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Lol--thanks for the re-start, Maggi ;)
Weather has been up and down here-- cold spring, warmish May, now back to chilly and damp--wonder if it will be another cold summer? At least the native plants don't mind, and I think there will be good bloom on many things due to extra snow= spring moisture!
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A couple of unidentified cresses from the same site
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011D3Cress
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The white flowered species can grow to form sizable clumps, though still low growing...
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The yellow flowered thing is super tiny! See fingertip for scale, though that's an extra small individual, none were more than a couple of inches across... I'm not certain whether the linear leaf and wider leaf plants are the same-- I didn't notice those fine distinctions with the naked eye...lol
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Some views and wildlife from the site
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011D2ViewsAndSheep
Usually we only see sheep droppings.. this time the sheep themselves were there.. likely still snow on some of their higher grazing grounds, these montane zones are valuable to wildlife for having moderate snowfall even in midwinter... These guys were not far from the parking area (we were the only ones there) and not even slightly interested in us....
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Some views around the site....
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Last view is up the mountain this toe is cut off from!
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Onwards through the Kootenay Plains, and on into Banff National Park..
full album: https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011EKPToBNP
Typical view of the beautiful wide open David Thompson Higway (in this region--the highway passes through my area, where it is not so wide, with much more traffic!)
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A spot I've stopped before, featuring Primula mistassinica, Saxifraga aizoides, etc.. plants just emerging this time, but the view of the water is still lovely; The soil is presumably deposited by meltwater from above, and seems to be the calcareous soil mentioned as typical habitat for P. mistassinica...
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This school bus was in front of us for a while; we saw them pull into a group campsite, then, on the way home when we stopped at the nearby Siffleur Falls trails, we saw a batch of young teens on bicycles, and saw them return to that campground--nice school outing!
Typical roadside carpets of Dryas drummondii, here as we were stopped to pay the fee to enter Banff National Park...
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Onwards and upwards!
full album: https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011FIcefieldsParkway
Somewhat unnervingly, for a long way the road (following a river valley) traces the base of the mountains, and road signs advise "No Stopping Avalanche Zone" I tell myself this mainly applies in winter, when I certainly do not travel here! But rocks and gravel come right up to the side of the road, and can sometimes be seen on the other side....
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The road suddenly takes a new tack and in one long and dramatic switchback rises up to much nearer the treeline (no views of the road up as I've shown it in past..lol).. There is a viewpoint at the top, and the views are nice, but you know I'm running around looking at plants ;)
Not much in growth yet-- some Salix in flower, and the sunny side of gravel banks, a few Taraxacum and Fragaria--among the first bloomers here too, and in flower from beginning to end of this day's trip!
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At this time of year, there was snow still, in spots, and deep snow not much higher up...
More views on the way to the Columbia Icefield..
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On up the highway to the Columbia Icefield, still on May 31.
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011G1AlpineSpring
I've shown this site a couple of times before, so I wont show too much scenery, but there are more views in the full album, above...
This is the earliest in the year I have visited, and with the snowline not far above this site, and some snow still on the ground at this altitude, I wasn't at all sure what plant activity I would see, though a visit about a month later last year was at the end of flowering of a couple species, so I was hopeful... My biggest surprise was one of my favourite plants, whose identity I had completely mistaken: I had admired the large mats of this 'willow' with its pretty leaves, but apparently had never caught it in flower or fruit to make me realise it was in fact Arctostaphylos (Arctous) rubra!
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The sweet little cream coloured urns it displayed on this visit made me immediately notice my error :-[ Flowers were seen emerging before leaves, but leaves were out on many plants while the flowers were still there..
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And that spring colour, Wow! Visible even from a distance lighting up the gravel... Love this plant more than ever, and will definitely be looking for seeds!
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I looked at several spots, near one another , but clearly at different stages of the slooow re-colonisation post glaciation; this area is below the treeline, and at least many decades out of the ice, yet still has mainly early colonising species.. as you go farther back or up the slopes sideways, which must have melted sooner than the cenral depression (and at the relatively slow rate of melt, metres must be decades-I forget the rates given, but not too far from here is the marker for the mid 1800's!) there are more species and greater density of plants..
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Beautiful plants and stunning scenery, Cohan.
Thanks for sharing. 8)
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The next surprise was a plant completely new to me, or, if I'd seen it in fruit later on, I forgot! So, I was delighted to see these tiny Anemone sp poking up from the mats of Arctostaphylos; not rare, but not abundant, either, and always single flowers in the spots where I saw them. I haven't had a chance to do much digging, and since foliage was barely emerging on most plants, I may not have enough to go on, unless the site is known (surely is, to someone! ;D ) for an id, but my only guess so far is
Anemone lithophila ? Almost certainly, its actually Anemone parviflora--thanks, Lori! my big hang-up to realising that was that I thought parviflora had only lobed leaves with no further division--not so! less divided than lithophila, but not just the 3 lobes....
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Beautiful plants and stunning scenery, Cohan.
Thanks for sharing. 8)
Thanks, Paul! Lots more to come-- apparently one day in the mountains = more than a month of editing and posting! I go the photos all sorted and up on picasa a while back, now trickling them out here and to NARGS, and trying not to post the exact same shots, mostly :)
Not doing much local botanising this year, decided if I ever wanted to make any progress on gardens, I couldn't be out on the bike all the time! Somewhat academic anyway, since it has rained nearly every day for the last 6 weeks! Managed 4.5 hours of digging and mowing today, and got out into the bush on the farm for a walk the other day, and that alone was 300 pics, pre-editing...
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Still in the mounds of till below the Columbia Icefield, but a bit farther back (10-20metres, many years)..
Last year, in lat June, I saw tight little patches of a pea, just finished flowering, so I was hoping I'd be there in time to see them in full flower this year, and I was in luck!
maybe Oxytropis podocarpa?
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Growing here in mats of Dryas -integrifolia?
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https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011G2BirdsAndPeas
I only saw these yellow flowered plants in a couple of spots-- Draba sp? Unless this is a well known plant and someone recognises it, I doubt I got enough details to id it-- shape of seed capsule being important (and too early!)..
This bare spot near a sign was the first place I saw it (then later, slightly upslope laterally in an apparently older plant community..)....
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same album still: https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011G2BirdsAndPeas
I mentioned I was hoping to find the tiny pea in flower, which I did; there was another plant I'd seen just finished flowering last year, which I thought might be Sax oppositifolia (a plant I have not seen in person)..
This one was not to be, since I'd just found the pea when someone started to complain about me being in this immediate area, and I had to finish up the pics quickly and move on to another spot....
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(She?) started doing the usual song and dance- look at me! follow me! stay away from my nest!
I did not want to stress her, much less inadvertently step on her eggs, so as much as I wanted to search for plants in this older plant community, I got out of there... I saw a couple more of these birds (of a familiar class to me, from fields and shores around here, but I have not looked up the species..) in the general area, but I guess I was never as close to their nests, as they didn't come so close trying to distract me... More views of this first bird...
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Cohan,
I love that purple Oxytropis. It is very striking.
The bird is beautiful as well, whatever it is.
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Super pix of a lovely bird, cohan... a type of plover....Charadrius vociferus
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Thanks, Paul and Maggi!
This pea (Oxy or not is still being debated elsewhere ;D note: confirmed Oxytropis podocarpa ) is supposedly as conspicuous in seed, though I think the flowers are quite showy! here's an immature fruit view from last year...
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That's the bird I was thinking of, Maggi-- we call them Killdeer, for their call, but I hadn't checked to see if they range up there, and don't know the markings well enough--mostly know them running ahead in fields, from my childhood!
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last images from this album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011G2BirdsAndPeas
Another undetermined pea-- it seemed to have similar/the same foliage to the Hedysarum boreale common at the site, but only some plants have this tumble-weed like arrangement of old stems;
I checked last year's pics to see if it might be another pea I saw flowering last year-- a maybe Astragalus with similar leaves and sprawling habit and with pale flowers: couldn't say for sure, though there was more sign of old stems in the Hedysarum pics...
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another view of the area, and some stone arranging tips for your garden ;) .....
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All of these photos have been in a rather low area below the glacier, among mounds and ridges of deposited glacial till; For the first time, I went slightly upslope laterally, to an area that seems to have been out of the glacier for a longer period of time: instead of gravel surfaces with spotty to local plant coverage, this area has an almost entirely covered surface.
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011G3IceAndLichens
Many of the same species occur here as below, but there is much more grass, lichens etc between the other plants...
I didn't spend too much time on this surface, there wasn't a lot in flower yet, but also this area seemed very fragile with the carpet of lichens- I walked very lightly and carefully, and still didn't want to wander around too much, damaging this plant community which took so long to establish!
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I showed these Anemones above, now decided to be Anemone parviflora still growing singly among Arctostaphylos rubra here; the second shot shows some of the other common plants- Antennaria sp (with shorter wider leaves than many of our other spp) and Hedysarum boreale
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https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011G3IceAndLichens
Mostly I'd stayed back from the glacier (that's where the plants are!) but we did drive up a bit closer, I wanted to check for Chamerion (Epilobium) latifolium and Saxifraga aizoides which colour the area in mid-summer.. they were just beginning to emerge now...
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The views were still nice..
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There were mats of Dryas (probably drummondii) which colonised quite far through this area (not sure if it still floods beyond the current water line); these with seed heads still from last year, also see the mats in the views above; and farther back, some small willows (Salix sp, a metre or so tall, not the miniatures) ..interestingly, below these were some Pyrolas not yet in growth; I wouldn't hazard a guess as to species without seeing the flowers...first time I'd seen these up here..
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https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011G3IceAndLichens
Last of this site;
Across the highway to the end of the vast parking area, to use the washroom...
Watching for a handout from some parking barriers, was this little person, I believe to be a Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel, Spermophilus lateralis
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some final views..
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Lovely, Cohan.
I fondly remember the one time I have ever seen a Glacier..... in New Zealand more than 35 years ago. Such an amazing sight, but not something we get here in Australia. I love your ground squirrel, the rock arrangements and the Oxy seedpods in particular, although all your pics are excellent.
Thanks again.
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Thanks, Paul.. it is an amazing place--just being up there in general.. though after the first couple of times I don't pay as much attention to the ice itself, just a few shots when I remember to look up...lol
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Still up high, near the tree/snow line, heading toward home, a few views from the vehicle..
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011HStillWinter
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Interrupting pics of the mountain trip, a short walk up the road, the other day..
Lots of Castillejas in flower, never realised this colony, which starts about 1/4 mile up and continues in varying density on both sides for at least a half mile, was so extensive!
Its not quite as varied in colour forms as the other colony I have shown on these pages, but still has a broad range from near white through the common salmony-scarlet range, and a few near true red (not orangey).
Only C miniata is listed for my immediate area, but C lutescens and C occidentalis are not that far, and I have some doubts about how carefully this agricultural area has been surveyed! I've seen questions on flickr about possible hybrids....
just a few here, more in the full album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/July102011Castilleja
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Okay, I thought at least I should finish that May 31 trip to the mountains started so long ago!
https://picasaweb.google.com/111492944361897930115/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011IHildaRidge
On the way home, not so very far from the Columbia Icefield, and still at fairly high altitude- below the timerline, but not by a whole lot---
Hilda Ridge. This is a roadside pullout area, between the Columbia Icefield and where the road drops back down again, going south. Based on the notices posted at the entry to the site, there is some sort of access to skiing from here, not sure where/how.. never been up there in winter, and not likely to do so, driving through a long stretch of avalanche prone roads to get there!... I go there for the plants...
Not a large area, it has fairly steep to steep gravel/stone slopes, treed to varying degrees, which fall down to a river on three sides, and the highway and then higher slopes rising on the fourth side. There are some exposed areas with nice plants along ridge edges and down the slopes, as well as among open trees and bushes on the flat top of the site, and also down into shadier places among denser tree growth and shaded slopes. Shaded areas still had significant snow on May 31, and it was not long gone in the open it seemed...
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Still at Hilda Ridge. https://picasaweb.google.com/111492944361897930115/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011IHildaRidge
Earlier, we were talking about Anemones I'd seen in a few places, including on this trip, a half hour or so (? rough remembering) up the road at the Columbia Icefield. There, what was presumably Anemone parviflora was found, commonly growing through Arctostaphylos rubra. Here, it was growing in mats of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi... Still generally no more than 10cm high...
Anemone parviflora with Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
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Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
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https://picasaweb.google.com/111492944361897930115/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011IHildaRidge
Some little Crucifers; I just don't have enough knowledge of these to attempt names- and I don't think I've ever seen these plants in seed, so no help there.. I presume the yellow flowers (though there are bright and creamy yellow flowers) and the white (leaves also look different) are different species, but wouldn't swear to it!
Unidentified Brassicaceae sp, white flowers, with tiny sedge (Carex sp?)
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Unidentified Brassicaceae sp, yellow flowers
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I lived in Calgary for many years and just enjoyed looking at your pictures - I spent a lot of time climbing in those rockies. I live on Vancouver Island now where I spend time being a beach bum as opposed to climbing :-)
The bird is a kildeer and the way they protect their nest is to act as tho they have a broken wing so you look at them and not the nest. They nest in rocks/stones on the ground and quite often in areas where there's really not much protection. I was down at the marina this year and right on the edge of a public path in some loose stones was their nest. Mom and Dad were madly trying to divert my attention but I saw the nest - apparently so did something/someone else. I did take a few shots and got out of there but there were people walking all around. Plus there's tons of eagles and other predators. Anyway, the next day I went to check again and it was all gone - the babies weren't born and left quickly because there wasn't even a piece of shell.
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Just guessing, but in the first pics could be Draba nivalis and Carex rupestris. The yellow ones are Draba too.
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Thanks Sue and Panu!
We do have Killdeers around here in the semi lowlands, too, typically in cultivated fields- which works if their nesting time is between planting/cultivating and harvesting! Coyotes and foxes must be major predators for them, as there are tons around, esp coyotes...
Being a beach bum is a nice change- esp from an Alberta winter...lol
Thanks, Panu- I'll take a look at D nivalis; I suspected Draba as well, but the keys wanted details I just don't have for most of them- especially seed pod details! Maybe I will get to visit the same spot at a different time and look for pods.. And Carex-- yikes!!! so many! Its quite possible that that area or even that site, have been botanised officially, but I don't have access to those sorts of records-- the Flora of Alberta shows 'dots' for each official location, but I don't know where they are exactly!
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Okay- I am determined to at least finish posting photos from that May 2011 trip in this thread..lol
So, back at it!
full album of this section:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111492944361897930115/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011KHeadingHomeward
From the near tree line elevations in Jasper National Park, we've come back south toward home, eventually crossed back into Banff National Park, then left the north/south running Icefields Parkway for the more or less east/west David Thompson Highway which will take us all the way home! The 'off colour' forest in the second photo is an area which was deliberately burned by park officials a couple of years ago..
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The bear was very close to the road, near the eastern boundary of Banff National Park, and seemingly dining on dandelions-- maybe that's what we need around here ;)
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.. Then we pass through the montane zone and Kootenay Plains- an area I've posted images from in the past-- a rather broad area between mountains, with a couple of rivers and rather dry grassy plains; Due to low precipitation (variably, depending on exposure etc) and the open grassy areas (and the rivers, no doubt!) this has been an important area for wildlife, esp in winter when they can come down from harsher/snowier higher elevations and find grass for grazing with generally shallow snow cover if any. The concentration of wildlife (and easily traversed plains) made the area important to Native peoples as well, and there are still large chunks of land in the region managed by aboriginal people. There was an early attempt at farming/ranching by European settlers in the area which failed (I don't know the history of it, but suspect low precipitation/fragile plant communities in some sections- the grassy areas that presumably would-be ranchers were drawn to- probably made agriculture a dicey proposition!).. now most of the land in the plains is protected...
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more to come from this day, including a stop at my favourite site in the plains... but not tonight!