Friday Hike – Ballantine Trail

Marilyn, Linda, Nora, and I hiked out about four miles on the Ballantine Trail.  We saw many varieties of flowers along the way.  The landscape had more grasses than flowers, but there was more diversity than normal on hikes during the flowering seasons.

This is a view from the Pine Creek Loop.

Linda identified this as Chia:

A view from the Ballantine Trail after going uphill for quite a long time…

Two deer are running away in the photo below.  Look at the bottom of the photo, just right of center.

This rock is about 2.5 miles in.  It makes a nice turn-around point if you want a 5 mile hike.

The greenery gave this hike a different look than normal.  It’s usually very brown.

Chicory:

Owl clover:

Heading back now.  Marilyn waited for us at about the three mile mark.

Poppies on the right.  I’m not sure what the purplish-blue flowers are.

Nora, Marilyn, and Linda:

Linda researched this one.  She says it’s a Cape Marigold, a non-native plant.  We saw them just above the slickrock area in the Superstitions a week earlier too.