In my previous post, I explain the four biotic zones on the east side of the Rockies. The high plains begins out in eastern Colorado and extends to the foot of the mountains, which are just above 5,000 feet above sea level (asl). Above it is the Foothills zone, which goes up to about 8,000 feet. Above that is the Montane zone, which goes up almost to treeline. Above treeline is the Alpine zone, where there are no trees, but still plenty of life.
I have omitted a fifth, narrow zone, the subalpine. It’s the last thousand feet below treeline.
Shots in that post were mostly in the high plains, with two in the foothills. The other zones were still buried under snow. But June arrived and roads into the high country were opening. I mentioned Mount Evans in a previous post. Here are some shots from my second trip up to Mt. Evans:
These were both growing at Summit Lake, at the 12,900-foot level.
July came, and geraniums (gerania?) started blooming in the foothills:
And harebells:
But the real treat was yet to come. One July day, we took the Jeep up to the 9,600-foot level (the Montane zone, if you’re keeping track). At that elevation, it’s still spring in July. And I saw the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.
Colorado Blue Columbines, in an aspen grove. It literally took my breath away.
Blue columbines only grow in Colorado (and a very small sliver, maybe a mile wide, in a certain part of Utah) and I had never seen one before. There is nothing else like it, and finally I realized why Coloradans speak the way they do of their state flower. Here’s a closeup:
Surely the most beautiful wildflower I have ever seen. Certainly the most beautiful I have ever photographed. It only grows in the Montane zone, and therefore only briefly — because there is almost no summer there. It is still spring in July up there, and by mid-August fall has begun. Such a delicate and precious thing.
I was to see many, many more Columbines during my Colorado adventures, but I never lost my reverence and sense of awe for them. Every time, it was as if I was in the presence of something holy.