We hiked into the Range in the Rockies in late September and were pleased to find a few wildflowers still in bloom.    A few are featured here.

We parked at 1977m and hiked up through the forest to subalpine meadows.   On a partly sheltered south-facing slope were a few wildflowers still in bloom including buckwheat, growing on gravelly slopes.

Sulphur buckwheat (eriogonum alpinum) flowers had turned red and with the onset of the fall will turn brown as the seedheads fully develop.

Western pasqueflower (anomone occidentalis) seed heads were twisted ready for seed dispersal in the wind.

Star-shaped lanceolate sedums grew in the rocky scree slopes below the ridges.

A few low-growing northern gentians (gentianella  amarella) still bloomed in seep zones on protected slopes.

The star of the day was a penstemon confertus growing  on a sheltered slope.  “Confertus” means crowded, referring to the numbers of whorls of flowers.

Harebells are plentiful across a wide variety of areas, but mountain harebells are low-growing and are found at higher altitudes.

We also spotted a lot of fungi along the way, but those will be featured in another post to come.