One of the great things about the high country of Colorado in July is it usually signals the best displays of wildflowers at elevation.
If you're a hiker at all, you know the splendor of fields of wildflowers in great variety in full bloom at the same time.
This past weekend, July 23, Lee and I took a hike up Butler Gulch, which is off of Colorado 40 above Empire. It's about a 40-minute drive from our place in Denver, and the hike to the meadows at tree line - at least at my stately picture-taking pace - is about two hours.
It is steep in places, but as the accompanying photos she and I took will testify, well worth the effort. Lee is much better at identifying the flower species, but from Mountain Bluebells, Columbine in different hues and Indian Paintbrush in a variety of reds and pinks, yellow Mountain Buttercups, Cottontops, Marsh Marigolds, Harebells, Larkspur and Monk's Hood, you simply can't beat the explosion of color.
If you're going, make it soon. By the time it gets very far into August, the colors will have often faded.