Wet Again and Bogs- June 9

 
It started raining in the night again, and we awoke with a cold, misty rain blowing. Most of the day we alternately crossed small hills and bogs. Bogs are special, acid wetlands where specific types of plants are found. Today we enjoyed the pitcher plants. Insects crawl down those big tubes to get water which has settled in the bottom. But downward pointing hairs prevent them from escaping, and the plants then digest the insects.



They were in full bloom!
I've seen them blooming before, but often in the wild the colors aren't all as vibrant as the ones we saw. The tubes can vary from green to the deep red shown here, and the flowers are red to purple-ish, with tones of green too.

The stems are quite stiff, and you'll never see the view below unless you turn a flower up to look at the other side.



By late afternoon we were completely dried out when a thunderstorm blew up! So we walked into camp at Culhane Lake completely soaked again. We set the tent up as fast as possible, threw our wet packs and selves inside, and tried to sort it all out in a cramped space. It did stop raining before nightfall, so we hung the wet clothes outside, and were actually able to cook a dinner.