Red Butte Canyon

Over Easter, I took a walk up Red Butte Canyon. I was wrong. I thought Red Butte Canyon was completely closed to the public, when only large sections of the canyon are closed to the public. There is a nice bike route on the North side of the canyon. There is also a day hike along the Skyline Trail on the South side of the canyon that wraps around Red Butte Garden.

For many years, Red Butte Canyon was in the domain of Fort Douglas. That might explain why I had in my mind that they area was closed. Prior to the Olympics, Fort Douglas was consumed by the U. The U turned much of the area into a private nature preserve.

There is only a little section of Red Butte Creek that is accessible. You can see big dents in the fence around Red Butte Garden made by wildlife trying desparately to get to the water.

I will have to try the mountain bike ride. He, he, he I could force Coco to run behind me on a mountain bike. Nah...making a dog run behind a bike is just too cruel.


I got some good shots of Arrowleaf Balsamroot on the walk. Some of the Balsamroot is totally covered by hairy stuff. I suspect that the super hairy plants are Hairy (Hookers) Balsamroot. I really not sure if a gallery of pretty flower photos does the world any good. What is needed are resources to help people identify plants. For that matter, taking wildflower photos next to a botanical garden is not a wise idea. You don't know if your subject is a wildflower or something that escaped from the displays.