Day 240: Coming back from Yakima, I had already called for a "botany break." A little later, my companions decided to stop at the viewpoint for a lovely terraced waterfall and we were all heading down the trail together when a clump of distinctly chartreuse lichen on the ground caught my eye. All thoughts of scenic views evaporated in an instant, and as Maureen and Kosette proceeded to the overlook, I dropped to my knees to study it. Then looking up, I saw more colonies of it on the bark of several trees, much better specimens than the sorry and sodden example I had first noticed. However, the ones on the tree were well out of reach even with my arms extended over my head. Glad that I had left the macro filter on the camera, I snapped this photo without being able to tell if it was in focus or not. A sample taken from the clump on the ground confirmed the identification: Letharia vulpina, one of the "wolf lichens" used to dye textiles.
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