On Friday, May 6th, Herb and I went up to Upper Powers Creek to check our trail cameras. We had only one picture, of a Black Bear.

Wildflowers are blooming in abundance along the canyon rim and the following pictures attest to their beauty and variety.

One of the Arnica blossoms was found to be in the process of being eaten up by some kind of voracious black beetles. Note that many of the beetles are copulating, while the lower one of the pair continues to feed!

The plant that I have labelled Swale Desert Parsley amazes me, as it seems to begin to bloom as soon as it emerges from the ground in the spring. If I have misidentified it, please correct me.

The beautiful little orchid, the Fairy Slipper is a delight! 

Notice the tiny red flowers of False Box. This is a familiar plant to many, as it is a popular shrub for plantings around our homes. But the flowers can easily be overlooked. It is one of the mainstays for foraging mule deer in winter, when they paw away the snow, digging for it in often very deep snow.

I will not attempt to identify this fungus. It looks like a deflated puffball!

Shooting Stars are always abundant in this area; sometimes the wet meadows are pink with them. 

Sticky Currant is blooming in the forest--a low, straggly shrub, a currant without spines. Its black berries have a disagreeable taste and usually not eaten but its pink and white bell-shaped blossoms are beautiful. Yellow Violets bloom in damp, shady areas.

Long-flowered Bluebell.

The last picture was snapped at arm's length, of Herb and me taking a fig bar break, while enjoying the panorama before us--the canyon of Powers Creek with the creek itself out of sight below us, a melt water waterfall spilling over the lip of the canyon from the opposite, Carrot Mountain side, and the valley stretching away to our right, down to Okanagan Lake and the mountains on its far side. Little White Mountain still wears its white winter cap.