Look closely

In the end we hadn't time to see Meek's Cutoff (thanks for indulging my pique, by the way), but we did spend an overcast Sunday in the Badlands, where the terrain is similar to what those settlers encountered. Wildflowers are blooming. I took pictures.*

We also saw lizards, one snake, a pair of Clark's Nutcrackers – who were very upset at our presence – ravens, a hawk and several rabbits. Oh, and gazillions of red ants. We had to eat lunch on a boulder to keep them from climbing our legs.

Tidy tips blooming, cheatgrass in seed

Sand lily

Death camas

I'm not sure if this is a penstemon or
a larkspur. (My mother would be
horrified that I don't know!)

*The internet boasts much lovelier pictures of the wildflowers in the Badlands, but these are representative enough of what we saw yesterday: dirt, mostly, with a few flowers here and there.