Grass, ticks, flowers. Hiking season well underway, but skis not put away yet

We saw tons of Pasque flowers and 10 other blooming spiecies

Lots of angles on the Sleeping Giant

We called this high point "Rattle Mountain" because of Katie's interaction with a rattlesnake there

We hiked on ridgelines high above Holter Lake

Glorious clouds were our constant companion on this hike

I know I shouldn't get too optimistic about the beginning of hiking season.
I haven't put my backcountry skis away yet just in case we get that usual late April or Memorial Day snow storm.
While I haven't filed for a while it doesn't mean I haven't been out.
I skied in the Kings Hill area a couple of weeks ago, and last week had great hikes on the River's Edge Trail North Shore between Ryan and Morony dams, and did a long loop on Mount Helena on the way to Salt Lake City for Easter.
The snow wasn't great for skiing.  It never did seem to set up this year for great winter powder in the back country.
Enough snow has cleared below 5,000 feet that we can comfortably hike.
But, beware the ticks.  They are out.  Between my wife, Katie, and me, we picked up seven ticks on the short Mount Helena walk.
We saw the purple Pasque flowers in a few spots on that hike.
We saw even more flowers on Wednesday as we did a loop hike from Juniper Bay at Holter Lake. We counted 11 different wildflowers in bloom on a 5-mile loop that included about 1,200 feet of elevation gain.
We could look down on Holter Lake, across to the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area, the Gates of the Mountains and Willow Peak, and from high points, the Rocky Mountain Front.
On top a small high point Katie stirred a rattle snake.  It was quite a surprise at this elevation.
There is still plenty of snow in the high country, but this hike satisfied my early season itch to get out hiking.

One of the shelves on the Rivers Edge Trail North Shore

Looking across the Missouri on the Rivers Edge North Shore Trail