Thursday, June 4, a bit before 2 PM. After setting up, I dayhiked to Emerald Lake. Forest at first, then the trails begins climbing through rocky (and botanically interesting) chaparral.

Diplacus layneae (Layne's monkeyflower) is my best guess, but M. nanus or a D. nanus x layneae intermediate is possible too. These are small: the corolla is maybe 1/2 inch across.

Myriopteris gracillima, formerly Cheilanthes gracillima (lace lip fern). Maybe. I'm still early in the process of learning the ferns.

Penstemon deustus var. suffrutescens (hot rock beardtounge), which I saw for the first time last year in the Trinities.

Up the rock steps. Paintbrush and wallflower provide some obvious color. A very close look will show some Phacelia and yellow composites.

Lewisia cotyledon var. heckneri (Heckner's lewisia). I didn't post the picture, but the leaves have teeth. A little higher (5300') than I saw them last year.

Almost to the lake now, with a fine full view down-canyon with the aptly-named Sawtooth Ridge above.

There are various mining-era relics near the lake. Note too the Sedum kiersteadiae (The Eddys stonecrop), formerly S. obtusatum ssp. boreale at the right. Lots of that up here. More Myriopteris gracillima at left.

Penstemon davidsonii (Davidson's penstemon). Lots of these at the lake too.

Emerald Lake. Lots of camps on the rocks. It looked, from a distance, like the best campsite of the lake was in the trees at the far right.

Emerald Lake has an old, no longer functional, dam.

It's held together with iron rods.

Picea breweriana (Brewer's weeping spruce). There were just a few of these distinctive but none-too-common trees by the lake and just below.

Picea breweriana (Brewer's weeping spruce). Pollen cone. The seed cones are more of what one associates with a conifer cone: larger with the usual overlapping woody scales.

More 19th century mining paraphernalia: a pipe fitting and a butterfly valve.

Viola glabella (stream violet) a in low and moist spot near camp as I make my way back down. With the yellow violets, the leaves tend to be more distinctive than the flowers.

Portuguese Camp is right on the Stuart Fork. And even here, it's a big creek.

Hypericum anagalloides (tinker's-penny). Mats of this stuff just a little ways back from the river. Wish I took a better picture with more light the next morning.

Friday, June 5. Time to begin the big climb up Sawtooth Ridge (and then down a little ways to Caribou Lake). I'm at 5000' elevation now. Ceanothus in loom.

Aspidotis densa (Indian's dream, lace fern). Lots of these on the rocks as I began the climb.

Pellaea brachyptera (cliff-brake). On first look, I though this was the same as the Aspidotis growing in a rock crack. I saw them minutes apart. But a close look indicates this is different.

Sedum paradisum, formerly S. obtusatum subsp. paradisum (Canyon Creek stonecrop, CNPS 1B.3), probably, but S. oregonense (cream stonecrop) is possible. Jepson puts the former under 1400m (I'm at 1600m), but otherwise the descriptions fit better.

Emerald Lake comes into view at about 5650'. Lake level is about 5500'. Look close to see the dam breech.

The trail is getting a bit more rocky and the shrub margins more spare, but the views continue to improve.

Lewisia cotyledon var. heckneri (Heckner's lewisia, CNPS 1B.2) at 6400'. Note the teeth on the leaves. I saw L. cotyledon, on and off, all the way to the top at 7450'.