The Alta/Snowbird days of the Wasatch Wildflower Festival happened when we were in Moab, which was more than fine because anymore that's just too many people to deal with for me. The following weekend, however, I really wanted to see how the wildflowers had progressed. On Saturday, after Milton and I did our 6 a.m., 1.5 hour Dimple Dell walk (two friendly dogs and one rabbit that M did not see; we also did not see H, who was out there doing a ten mile trail run), I headed up to Alta for my Catherine's loop*.
Because I did the long walk with Milton first, I didn't get started until 8:30 a.m., which is just way too late (per our standards) on a Saturday in the height of summer. So many people: I passed 37 uphill hikers on my way up and didn't bother to count downhillers. Catherine's Pass itself wasn't too busy but it would be, so I didn't linger.
Critter-wise it was a pretty good hike. I saw a mule deer doe with two fawns, a cow moose enjoying a marshy spot in Catherine's Area and tons and tons of hummingbirds. The wildflowers have kicked it up a notch too. While the lower Albion meadow was getting pretty crispy, there were definitely more flowers up higher than there had been. There was fireweed in bloom and gentian spires that were just beginning to blossom. The coneflowers were blooming now too. I only took a few photos, trying to get varieties that I didn't get last time, but the wildflowers were definitely going off at the start of August.
* Trail data from 2015 says this loop is over seven miles (including an out-and-back to Sunset Peak, which I didn't do this time). Can it really be that long? I did it in under three hours this time. Here's our map from back then, anyway:
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