It holds a special place in my heart as I have fond memories picnicing there while young with my parents, taking my boys there when they were young, and of course enjoying it even more in my "later" years. This is part of the Natrona County Park System and when I was in junior high I had a summer job picking up trash and downed lumber. I didn't appreciate the splendor then but I do now.
The meadow is used extensively for winter sports such as snowmobile races, cross country and of course sledding. In the summer large parties use the pavilions, camping and picnic areas. Wildflowers are abundant as you will see. In early August there is the Beartrap Music Festival which brings in quite a few bluegrass bands.
I have spent hours trying to identify some of these plants, as above.
Geum triflorium-Prairie smoke, Antennaria arcuata-meadow pussytoes with Juncus-above
Balsamorhiza-Balsamroot
More photos to come.
As always the 15h of the month means Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, join Carol at May Dreams Garden to view blooms from around the world.
Plant IDs at a guess: First is Allium canadense, Antennaria arcuata, Geum trifolium, Not sure on the Balsamhoriza. Would say B. sagitatta, but it's too wooly.
ReplyDeleteawesome Susan! your the man, err woman!
ReplyDeleteThat's a big elevation gain. In junior high school, I didn't appreciate some of things I was exposed to either. It's a good thing we grow up. :)
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. I've been to the Jackson Hole area. An artist friend lives there.
ReplyDeleteWY is breathtaking. Lucky you getting to go back there!
The high plains and mountain ranges of Wyoming are so unique. I remember feeling like the clouds were closer. And it sounds silly, but the colors are so vivid! Great place, great photos, great post!
ReplyDeleteCannot comment much on being there, LOL, but I love the pictures and a little insight, playing in snow, pretty foreign idea for us. LT
ReplyDeleteSnow when its fresh and white is beautiful. Usually the second snow is best
DeleteYour photos of the meadow are enticing. How nice to get to visit and recall all your fond memories. Do you recap for your children and grandchildren all the seemingly insignificant (to them) spots where you used to pick up trash, picnic and hike? We do that to our kids when we travel and they hem and haw but I know someday it will be meaningful for them to have that knowledge of their family history. Thanks for sharing such a special place with us.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing that question up about sharing those memories. Honestly, I haven't shared near enough. Photos help, but you have my mind stiring about a get together at Bear Trap!
DeleteI've always said-youth is wasted...on the youth!
ReplyDeleteThe best part of growing older is having the time to appreciate all that surrounds us.
Beautiful photos.
I looked over your photos several time. They are so enticing! I love open meadows. I think there are many things that we don't appreciate in our formative years that are only meaningful as we mature. Nice to see this place is shared through the generations in your family!
ReplyDeleteThe meadow photos are awesome. Love the great outdoors! I have a number of the "wild onion" here in the garden but am careful not to let them take over the place.
ReplyDeleteyes, my wild garlic here in kansas isn't near as cool.
DeleteIt is funny so many say that when young that you can and do miss this beauty, but I always loved fields, meadows, lakes, streams, and forests. Maybe not so much as to care what plant was what, but the feeling in these places that lives on. The emotion is what one tries to recreate in design and why designers often look to the childhood memories to express it in a more mature manner. Why when we get older, it just seems like nostalgia and appreciation go hand in hand. Nice images, and I really like the Allium. What a sweet little plant, especially en mass.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful and it's nice that you have such fond memories. Brings back memories of standing in a field of wildflowers as a child picking a bouquet for mom. Wonderful nostalgia and love the photos!
ReplyDeleteLove the prairie smoke!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful to see a meadow that is thriving! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place! I love that it's a bit wild and not manicured. :o)
ReplyDeleteNice memories and beautiful images-- such a romantic you are Greggo!
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures. I have been to Wyoming several times since I got married, as my wife remembers spending her summers with her grandparents who lived in Evanston, WY. Her grandfather, a locomotive engineer, was into camping and wilderness before it became cool, and took everybody on camping trips, especially in the Uinta Mts. I've gone with my wife to revisit the special places of her childhood summers in Wyoming, and these pictures remind me so much of those places.
ReplyDeletePictures, brilliant as usual Greggo. I expected to see John Wayne ride over them thar prairies. I will be looking for a couple of Bears next time.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful meadow is a garden in its most elemental form, and I have a real emotional response to these wonderful gardens of nature. Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful...just love it!
ReplyDeleteYour writing style is engaging and easy to follow. I was hooked from the first sentence and couldn't stop reading until the end. Well-written!
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