North Steens Loop Road

From Kiger Gorge to the Summit

July 15 & 16, 2000

Other than the upper parts of the cliffs on the face of the east rim, the ground on the summit ridge is largely free of snow.

Along summit ridge road above Little Blitzen Gorge:

*Mat Buckwheat: Eriogonum cespitosum viewed at right.

*Wyeth Buckwheat: Eriogonum heracloides var. heracloides

*Prickly Sandwort: Arenaria aculeata

*Alpine Chickweed: Cerastium beeringianum var. capillare

*Lance-leaved Stonecrop: Sedum lanceolatum

*Wax Currant: Ribes cereum

*Prairie Smoke: Geum triflorum var. ciliatum

*Diverse-leaved Cinquefoil: Potentilla diversifolia

*Prairie Lupine: Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii

*Short Jacob's Ladder: Polemonium pulcherrimum var. pulcherrimum

*Silky Phacelia: Phacelia sericea

*Steens Mt. Paintbrush: Castilleja pilosa var. steenensis

*Rosy Pussytoes: Antennaria rosea

*Steens Mountain Thistle: Cirsium peckii

*Orange Sneezeweed: Dugaldia hoopesii

*Cut-leaved Daisy: Erigeron compositus var. glabratus

*Woolly Groundsel: Senecio canus

*Dwarf Mountain Butterweed: Senecio fremontii

*Mat buckwheat: Eriogonum cespitosum

*Oval-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum ovalifolium var. depressum

*Alpine Sorrel: Oxyria digynia

*Pussypaws: Calyptridium umbellatum

*Alpine Chickweed: Cerastium beeringianum var. capillare

*Lance-leaved Stonecrop: Sedum lanceolatum

*Gordon's Ivesia: Ivesia gordonii

*Sticky Cinquefoil: Potentilla glandulosa var. pseudorupestris

*Balloon Milkvetch: Astragalus whitneyi var. confusus

*Prairie Lupine: Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii

*Sky Pilot: Polemonium viscosum

*Steens Mt. Paintbrush: Castilleja pilosa var. steenensis

*Cut-leaved Daisy: Erigeron compositus var. glabratus

Discoid Goldenweed: Ericameria discoidea var. discoidea (Forming flower heads.)

*Dwarf Mountain Butterweed: Senecio fremontii

Photo at right of Wildhorse Lake from the Steens Mt. summit.......July 16. 2000.

*Mat buckwheat: Eriogonum cespitosum

*Oval-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum ovalifolium var. depressum

*Sulfur-flower Buckwheat: Eriogonum umbellatum var. dicrocephalum

*Alpine Sorrel: Oxyria digynia

*Prickly Sandwort: Arenaria aculeata

*Nuttall's Sandwort: Arenaria nuttallii var. fragilis ?

*Alpine Chickweed: Cerastium beeringianum var. capillare

*Lance-leaved Stonecrop: Sedum lanceolatum

*Pussypaws: Calyptridium umbellatum

*Steens Mt. Draba: Draba cusickii var. cusickii (A few still in bloom.)

*Roundleaf Alumroot: Heuchera cylindrica var. alpina

*Wax Currant: Ribes cereum

*Old Man's Whiskers: Geum triflorum var. ciliatum

*Gordon's Ivesia: Ivesia gordonii

*Shrubby Cinquefoil: Pentaphylloides fruticosa

*Diverse-leaved Cinquefoil: Potentilla diversifolia

*Balloon Milkvetch: Astragalus whitneyi var. confusus

*Prairie Lupine: Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii

*Elko Spring Parsley: Cymopterus nivalis

*Prickly Phlox: Leptodactylon pungens

*Silverleaf Phacelia: Phacelia hastata var. alpina

*Steens Mt. Paintbrush: Castilleja pilosa var. steenensis

*Steens Mt. Penstemon: Penstemon davidsonii var. praeteritus

*Small-flowered Penstemon: Penstemon procerus var. formosus

*Yarrow: Achillea millefolium (Both white- and pink-flowered forms.)

*Steens Mountain Thistle: Cirsium peckii

*Orange Sneezeweed: Dugaldia hoopesii

*Discoid Goldenweed: Ericameria discoidea var. discoidea (A few in bloom on ridge to west of Wildhorse Canyon.)

*Cut-leaved Daisy: Erigeron compositus var. glabratus

*Woolly Groundsel: Senecio canus

*Dwarf Mountain Butterweed: Senecio fremontii

1. Horned Larks

2. Violet-green Swallows

3. White-throated Swifts

4. Red-tailed Hawk

5. Numerous grasshoppers

6. Sierra Nevada Ground Squirrel

7. Belding Ground Squirrels