Weeping Wall:
The next day we birded
Logan's Pass at dawn to see white-tailed ptarmigan and rosy finch, and we lament to this day that fate separated us by
a mere 15 minutes
from a sighting of a wolverine on the trail. The rest of the day was mostly an auto tour to see points of interest along the
Going-To-The-Sun Road.
Near Logan's Pass is a striking roadcut through the black rock. It is named the Weeping Wall because in the spring and
summer the surface water pours over
the rock face and onto the road, bathing the cars. Lovely, I am sure, but it is an artificial result of the road cut.
I had been told by
Hawkeye Rondeau that Pinguicula occurred on the Weeping Wall, presumably having colonized
the roadcut from populations
slightly upslope. As it was late fall, the water flow was so low that only a few drops assaulted us as we drove past the wall.
I saw a few rosetted plants that looked promising, so a bit further on the road
towards Logan's Pass we found a place to park, and hiked back to the Wall.
This was probably the most dangerous thing we did on the trip, not because of any threat from bears, but rather because of the
traffic. The Wall is directly against the road, with very little safety room. Beth and I worked the buddy system again, with one
of us looking for plants while the other kept eyes open for hazards.
