Yuhua from Stanford, Anna from Italy, Tom, Daniel and Elisa and Nick (not shown) from ZAC. Anna friend of Luca and Roberto, and an MIT grad, was visiting the USA and Zion from Switzerland, Italy and Stanford. Wait, Yuhua is from Stanford, AND MIT. Anyway, they came here, we rallied a team from ZAC at the last minute, and on like the first HOT HOT HOT day started the hike up WAY too late. It was HOT!

Of course, any walk with Tom in the spring is a flower walk. No exceptions today - what did we find? Utah Daisy - Erigeron utahensis gray Sunflower Family A very common flower in Zion, so common I have no previous pictures of it!

Competing with the Utah Daisy for commonness in Zion: Hoary goldenaster - Heterotheca villosa (pursh) shinn. Sunflower Family

UNcommon in the Park, rarely seen by me until this year - and mostly closed up for the day. Desert Four O'clock - Mirabilis multiflora (torr) gray

The ever popular Spiderwort...Tradescantia occidentalis

I rarely hike Angels Landing in the middle of the day in summer. Today, a large group of schoolkids from New Jersey were on the trail.

This perhaps is Yellow Head - Trichoptilium incisum

And perhaps the 3rd most popular flower in the Park - Palmer's Penstemon - Penstemon palmeri

And this flower shows up often, too, most likely: Varileaf phacelia or Caterpillar plant - Phacelia heterophylla Waterleaf family - Hydrophyllaceae

Also regularly seen: Uinta groundsel - Senecio multilobatus

And a NEW photo for me, though I had seen the flower from time to time: Stonecrop - Sedum lanceolatum Orpine Family Crassulaceae This was found in upper Behunin, on a rock.