Last fall when I stopped into the Wise River Ranger Station to ask about road conditions, the ranger started the answer to my question by indicating it was too bad that I wasn’t there earlier to see the wildflowers at Vipond Park.  Her statement perked my interested, making me want to come back.  This is the trip going back to see the wildflowers at Vipond Park and adding the Gravelly Range to the trip.  The plans were hatched in fall.  It would be a quick trip; renting forest service cabins seemed to fit the plan for a quick get away instead of taking my trailer.  But I needed to rent the cabins when they came available – six months before the arrival date.  In December I gambled when I picked the rental days, hoping the days would match the wildflower bloom.

Last week the weather forecast included a day with 3-5 inches of snow on the Gravelly Range.  Hum.  I am off – wildflowers or not.

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