Colorado Springs, high desert with average elevation about 6,000 feet and average annual rainfall of about 7.5 inches. We have had showers nearly every day since early May, some days raining much of the day. We set a daily rainfall record on June 12 and from January 1 to June 13 our rainfall total is 14.71 inches setting an all-time record. Along with the rain we experience hail, lightening, tornado warnings, and flash flooding. Thank goodness I live on a hill–except for the lightening and tornado warnings 😉 . Pikes Peak experienced an unprecedented blizzard on Tuesday with snow drifts as high as three feet and ice layers up to half an inch thick on the roads. Yes, there were people up there but all survived the ordeal. It has been a very long and cooler than usual spring.
Now for the good news.
Much of Colorado is now out of drought conditions. Here in the Springs the landscape is so green! People who have lived here over 40 years to their entire life have never seen so much green across both mountains and plains. Even the severe burn scar from the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire is showing green (mountains behind the break in the rocks). Oh the wildflowers, every tree vividly green and lush, and all types of mushrooms are popping up. So here’s the beautiful side of so much rain.
Amazing number of new pine cones on the Pinyon Pines.
Where better to see the lush green than against the beautiful red rocks of Garden of the Gods?!
The flowers are popping up ahead of schedule and so many!
Richardson’s Geranium (Geranium richardsonii), also called White Geranium.
Wholeleaf or Orange Paintbrush (Castilleja integra).
Narrowleaf Penstemon (Penstemon angustifolius). I’m sitting really close, but these are very small flowers on stems that can reach 18″ high.
Evening Primrose (Oenothera albicaulis).
Then we have the yucca with flowers galore which is most unusual. These Soapweed Yucca (Yucca glauca) have a long history of beneficial uses. The lathering substances (saponins) in its crushed roots make good soap and shampoo. Other plants have saponins but it’s exceptionally concentrated in yucca roots. The dried leaves of soapweed yucca can be made into baskets, mats, and sandals; and the leave’s coarse fibers can be made into cords/rope. Oh the flowers!
Nice to see the creeks with water. Often they are dry year round as you can tell by all the plants now overwhelmed with water.
Same creek, more rustic areas. The creek beds are typically sandy with sand pouring down from the mountains with heavy rains. All that silt turns the water brownish-red, just like the Colorado River.
With so much rain we have mushrooms! So many and so many kinds. Mushrooms are really tough to identify and often they only have Latin names, so I won’t be giving you many names. This one is about 12 inches across and hidden among other growth as is so often the case. Really need to slow down and look around to find them even when they are huge.
Each is about 2 inches across.
Hooray, I know their name! Fairy Ring mushrooms (Marasmius oreades). About an inch across.
Seeing this mushroom pushing up through the sand/dirt made me think. Maybe we see so few mushrooms as a rule because they cannot push through the rock-hard sand without the help of lots of rain. What’s interesting is that mushroom mycelium, completely underground, is the main part of the fungus. The mushrooms we see are the fruit that helps the mycelium reproduce. Interested? Take a look . . . No, don’t know the insect’s name either. Failing today 😉 .
Tiny mushroom among vibrant mosses.
About 8 inches across.
I’m not sure this is even a mushroom. Have never seen it before–ever, anywhere–and it seems to melt away over time. About 6 inches across.
Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) but just to make things a little more confusing, Lycoperdon gemmatum is its synonym. Yikes, mushrooms are hard to pin down when trying to name them.
Only about 1-1/2 inches across
Now we come to mushrooms we see every year and I do know the name, but this year they are stunning and so many. Shaggy Parasol (Chlorophyllum rachodes).
Each are at least 12 to 14 inches across.
We also see lots of lichen, the yellowish on the rocks. Lichen are an organism unlike any other on Earth. There are about 3,600 species in North America and they continue to find more. Lichen grow almost anywhere but their richest habitats are in open forests, wetland forests, rocky outcrops, talus slopes, and alpine areas. Lichen are fascinating, composed of layers of fungus and alga in a symbiotic relationship. The U.S. Forest Services offers an excellent AND easy to understand explanation: About Lichens.
Oh the GREEN!
Looking south along the mountains, the Springs western border. The lighter green trees are Gambel’s Oak (Quercus gambelii) and they grow everywhere in Garden of the Gods. We have never seen them this lush or their leaves this shiny.
Some days the clouds just come in early.
Even though this trail is very busy, not everyone is in a rush tucked in the foliage. In addition, virtually no one saw her. Here’s some good news. The deer are giving birth as we speak so hopefully babies will soon be in pictures.
We can’t leave without a view of Colorado Springs icon–Pikes Peak. From this view the Peak is about 10 miles away. If the mountains look pinkish it is because they are. Pikes Peak was not a volcano, but was uplifted as much of the Rocky Mountains were. Millions of years of erosion left the pink granite giving us the 14,115 foot wonder we see today. We often find pink granite rocks of all sizes on our hikes.
Wow, the beauty of GREEN over the last six weeks. Today? It turned summer overnight. Clear blue sky, 85 degrees, afternoon winds 10-15mph, same forecast for the next 10 days only higher temperatures. The green will be vibrant for a while, but summer always takes it toll. I can’t help but wonder, is this a one-off, the new normal, or the last hurrah as the heat takes hold of us as the new normal. Time will tell.
Whatever it is, this year it is beautiful and “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” will keep us from exploring and enjoying this amazing creation called Earth.
Until next time my friend!
