Salmon Book

The handiest of a number of guides I considered in various national park gift shops during a recent week of hiking the Sierra Nevadas. Arranged by bloom color, plant descriptions include botanical names (I'm happy), bloom time, habitat and range. A beefy glossary and index wrap it up. It was a joy to haul along and take notes in.... far from complete, as huge volumes could be written about the plants we saw in specific habitats like wet rocky seeps, but a good overview of Western plants largely unfamiliar to me. I am drunk on lupines....so lucky to catch a major bloom time for so many species in Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite, King's Canyon.