The Wasatch Range peaks are 7000′ higher than the nearby Salt Lake Valley. This has many nice side effects but one of my favorites is that a wide variety of micro-climates is available within a small geographical region. In late Fall or early Spring it can be calmly drizzling in the city, but in the mountains it’s storming like the Himalayas. Before having kids I’d often get up around 5am in July and August to go for a hike. Even on days that are going to be over 100 degrees in the valley, it’s generally pretty chilly at 8000′ at that time of day.

This week the foothills near my house have the most flowers in the 6000′ to 7000′ range. Below this things are starting to dry out; higher up, the snow has only recently melted and buds are still trying to open. As the summer progresses, the band where flowers are found will slowly increase in elevation. The nice thing about this arrangement is that for about four months of the year, there’s somewhere within about a 45 minute drive that has wildflowers at their peak. The density of flowers in the foothills doesn’t approach the wall-to-wall color seen in some of the real alpine meadows, but some of these photos came out pretty well.

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