Part 2: The Mountain Chase (Late Spring to Early Summer)

If you read my last post, you know that my spring trails in the valley are basically a giant, mental wildflower scoreboard—a tradition that started years ago hiking with my dad.

But by the time late spring and early summer hit, the valley flowers start to run out. The dirt dries up, the green turns to brown, and the game changes. If you want to keep the scoreboard rolling, you have to follow the snowmelt and head up the mountain.

Finding wildflowers in the valley is a fun game of hide-and-seek. But finding them up high? That is the jackpot.

Up in the mountains, everything is more prolific. On the really good years, there is this stunning, almost periwinkle-colored flower that completely takes over certain sections of the hills. My absolute favorite thing in the world is climbing over a ridge and stumbling onto a massive, unbroken field of the exact same blossom, or a chaotic mix of twenty different colors all fighting for space in a mountain meadow.

But if you want the ultimate crown jewel of my mountain flower search, you have to head up toward Navajo Lake.

During the early to mid-summer months, the landscape up there just completely goes off. There are beautiful blossoms everywhere you look, but I have a specific favorite spot. Right where the dirt turns into those jagged, harsh black lava rock fields, the columbines start to bloom. There is something so incredibly rugged and beautiful about a delicate, intricate columbine flower forcing its way up through sharp, ancient volcanic stone.

That’s the beauty of living in the Cedar City area. When summer gets hot and the valley finishes its show, you don’t have to wait until next year. You just pack a bag, climb a few thousand feet in elevation, and restart the game all over again.