Tim pulled off the road a little way so we could take some pictures and serendipity! We stopped near this wonderful Prickly Pear Cactus which was in bloom. It was a colorful sight among the sage green of the umm...sage. Don't those spines look deadly?

Lewis and Clark encountered prickly pear all along their journey . The men had to transport the boats and their supplies up and down steep, rugged slopes full of rattlesnakes and prickly pear with only thin moccasins to protect their feet.

Lewis wrote on July 19, 1805, "Capt. C informed me that he extracted 17 of these bryers from his feet this evening."

Ouch!