Wild Bergamot or Purple Bee Balm

Purple bee balm stole the show on one of our summer hikes in Boulder Mountain Park.

Monarda fistula

Also known as wild bergamot.

This was a gorgeous sight on an otherwise rocky and dry trail. Two lush carpets of purple, wild bergamot and purple mountain harebells. What a treat!

This is my entry to Flower Fest's Purplicious.

Mushrooms!

We hiked to Ouzel Falls (9450 ft) from the Wild Basin Trailhead (8500 ft) this weekend. It is 2.7 miles to the falls and the hike is rather moderate till Calypso Cascades Falls, after which it is a steady climb to Ouzel Falls. The next series of posts will have pictures of wildflowers, hillsides, waterfalls and the gorgeous vistas along the way. Ouzel Falls are on the east side of the Continental Divide.

Here come the mushrooms...

We thought it was either a small frisbee or a plastic lid that someone had carelessly tossed away. It was almost 8 inches in diameter and a glorious orange-red.


We spied this curious collection of fungi when we stopped for a brief respite.


Toadstool was what came to mind when I saw this one.


Some more without a stem. Another view of these mushrooms.


If you can identify these, please leave me a comment with more information.