We liked last week’s Round Top hike so much that we invite our friend Grace and her friend Sharli return there with us to hike the scenic loop. The flowers are starting to fade a bit, and with them the mosquitoes, but there’s still plenty of life on display. The curiosity of our guests spurs me to identify a few new things.

Oceanspray, in the rose family, is one I don’t recall seeing last week.

Hoary buckwheat (buckwheat family)

Mountain heather (heather family)

Rock fringe (evening primrose family) – another I hadn’t noticed before

Monument plant (gentian family)

Western bistort (knotweed family)

Happy hikers (hominid family)