13 JUL 2010

OH WHAT A NIGHT!!!!! The rain continued and guess what..... by morning it was snowing. THIS IS JULY!


As we stumbled out of the bed to get dressed in our ‘damp’ clothes one has to ask WHY!!!!

Then we stepped outside and saw all the snow coming down, clouds on top of us and we asked WHY!!!!

Next we wandered down to the dining tent to get some warm water and coffee slipping on the wet ground and asked WHY!!!! I discovered a new flower which I took a picture of called the Mountain Poinsetta (otherwise known as a red paint brush surrounded by snow).

After a country style breakfast we sat and asked WHAT NOW!!!. So we decided that it was too boring to sit in the dining tent all day looking at each other and asking WHY!!! So low level hikes were set up...hopefully with views of more than 50 meters.

Wes and I lead a group up South Molar Pass (sorry if you are not familiar with these areas) which lead us by the waterfalls and water flows with wild flowers called Japanese Rock Garden (our name). We climbed up the headwall with incredible flowers all around us – and I wondered how they survived so well since – yep it was still snowing.

We really were out for the walk which every 2-4 year old would have loved since it involved water, mud and rocks. We returned by walking through some meadows and came down through the North Molar Pass trail. The only mishap was me, when I was stepping down on a rock and it was wet. Needless to say I found myself on my back with several concerned faces looking down at me. I was fine.

We had to manage happy hour in a tent (happy hour is exactly what you think it is from 5-6 each afternoon). The cramped place but we had a volunteer at the door offering to hold your drink until you settled on your stool, chair, or coat since we learned that the uneven floor was a challenge for sitting, holding and breathing all at the same time.

When we talked to a Park Warden he told us that the weather would improve by Tuesday. So we went to bed hopeful.

So now you want to know what flowers we saw: Yellow Columbine, Forgetme Nots, Bog Laurels, Heather, all types of aneomes, paint brush, blue violets, etc. Etc. Etc.