Zion Wildflowers East Rim Trail

ZION is NUTS! Nuts with wildflowers this year, surprisingly after such a dry fall.

East Rim Trail near East Entrance
April 2022 Flowerwalks

Last year was very very dry. Last year's condition has a lot to do with how this year's bloom will be, in addition to spring temperatures and precip.

When I started studying Zion Wildflowers, I wanted to write a book that would say what blooms where and when... how incredibly naive! I also thought there were only maybe 200 species of flowers in The Park... ha ha ha ha ha. Joke's on me.

Anyway, the East Entrance is not far from my house, so it is a favorite evening hike, and I need to hike. My right arm is in a sling, after re-attachment of my distal bicep tendon so I need to do something to keep from going nuts. Studying the East Rim trail near the East Entrance seemed like a good place to start.

(Most pictures taken with my phone, left hand only. As time progressed, I could also use my right hand, AND my technique of phone close-ups improved a lot.)

Thanks to Andrew Zharkikh and Darrin Gobble for assistance with species identification. Met Darrin out there on the evening of April 26th and he showed me a few things...
April 21, 2022

Due to the dryness, I was not expecting much, and that is what I got. A brief visit on my way home from Springdale, I only picked up on a few blooms on a 20 minute walk...

(Astragalus)
(Boechera plant and flower)

Andrey indicated that examining the calyx hairs on the Astragalus was required to ID the species... so I had to go back...



(FULL POST WITH MANY PICTURES AT LATEST RAVE...)

Pretty!

Nice!
and HOW did you blow up your bicep tendon!?

There I was, just outside of Kyiv, a Russian tank coming out of the woods as I took aim, when a Flanker-E came screaming out of the sky...

Well, it is not much of a story, and I could improvise, but in truth, my distal bicep tendon tore because I am starting to get kinda sorta just a bit old. I was reaching out to slow the slide of a comely lass, and I barely touched her and [*SNAP*]. This was at the Silver Grotto on Day 3 of a Grand Canyon Raft Trip, ironically enough on April 1st. We had medical pros that diagnosed the injury, and while surgery would be necessary, and the earlier the better, hiking out at Phantom would be within acceptable timing limits. Thankfully, my ortho in St George was on it, and surgery was April 18th. I was in a cast for 3 weeks, now in a brace when needed, and range of motion is returning. Next appointment in 10 days and then I will likely start PT. Full recovery expected to take 4-6 months.

Thanks for askin'. Tom

The prickly pear fields about 1-2mi into the Chinle trail area have started a few weeks early this year. Should be full swing by next week!

La Nina sure has been an interesting ride these last months.