Lac du Bois and the hills nearby sit at 873m – 982m (2864 ft. to 3220 ft.) so spring arrives later than the lower grasslands, but when it does, the ponds are full, slopes green up, and wildflowers cover the upper grassland slopes.     I paddled Lac du Bois, enjoying all the birds and western painted turtles, then secured the kayak and hiked up the hills to the east side in the Lac du Bois Grasslands Conservancy.   The ponds are at their fullest at this time, and there were lots of ducks in hidden pockets in the hills.

There were many wildflowers out including balsam root, western spring beauty, woodlands star, shooting star, lemonweed, buttercups, cutleaf daisy, and larkspur.   Some of these are featured on A Wildflower Journal.

Sticky geranium (geranium viscosissimum) will bloom soon, and at this time it is a mass of toothed leaves.

Western spring beauties are small, numerous, and elegant.

Small groves of aspens are clustered around wet spots and on the slopes above, yellow patches of balsam root rise up to the treeline on Clapperton Hill (1157 m  or 3800 ft.)

From the top of the hill on the east side of Lac du Bois a part of the lake is visible, right on the edge of the forest – grassland divide.

Upland larkspur starting to flower, mostly on south-facing slopes.   It will be prolific soon.

This a hike we do several times in the spring, each time enjoying a new phase of the spring renewal.