STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
With the sun making an appearance in the Sun Valley area for more than two days in a row, it’s time to think about getting out and taking in the wildflowers.
Yes, we know you’ve forgotten most of them since last summer. But two organizations are coming to the rescue to help you jog your brain.
The Sawtooth Botanical Garden is again offering its free Thursday Wildflower Walks throughout the summer. And the local chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society will have a special hike on Saturday.
- This week’s Sawtooth Botanical Garden wildflower walk on Thursday, June 9, will head to Craters of the Moon. Walkers should meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden for a trip overview. Plan on leaving at 9:45 a.m. and pack a lunch. Walkers should return by 3 p.m.
The June 16 Wildflower Walk will be at Greenhorn south of Ketchum; the June 23 hike at Boulder View north of Ketchum and the June 30 hike at Murdock Creek behind SNRA headquarters seven miles north of Ketchum.
Questions? Call 726-9358.
- The Idaho Native Plant Society will offer a free hike on Saturday, June 11, on the west side of Dollar Mountain facing Baldy. The area is rife with blue camas, wyethia, mountain bluebells, arrowleaf balsamroot and more.
The walk is considered medium difficulty as it follows a steep path up through the flowers. The walk should be about two miles in length.
Hailey and Bellevue residents may meet at Hailey Park and Ride at River and Bullion streets at 8:45 a.m. set to leave at 9 a.m. Those further north can meet at the east side of Forest Service Park behind the Limelight Hotel by 9:15 a.m.
The group will carpool from there at 9:25 a.m. as parking at the trailhead is “scarcer than a rare orchard,” according to organizers. Walkers will be back at the cars by 2:30 p.m.