BioVac*

The MPG range map for this species in the U.S. says it all:
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=6238
I found just one individual of this species in tall pine woodland at about 8700 ft near Rustler Park in the Chiricahua Mountains.

During a gas stop in Camp Verde, AZ, I noticed that a very young budding naturalist (maybe 4 years old) was playing with this big June Beetle in and around the cars. I congratulated him on his neat find and offered to take pictures of it. He didn't respond, but his mother was thrilled to see both his interest in nature and my encouragement of his interest.
After documenting the at-risk beetle, I carefully relocated it off to the side of the venue. The mother carefully relocated the young naturalist into his car seat.

I rescued (?) this beautiful Black-tailed Rattlesnake out of the middle of the road near Rustler Park. It really wasn't in much danger; the road might have had one car come by every 10 or 20 minutes. Just my luck.

No, this is not Big Foot or Sasquatch. If you look carefully (as if it was 2:25 a.m. in the morning), you'll see the beady eyes of this resting 200-lb Black Bear. Long story short: I was the only camper in Leavis Flat Campground on this particular night. I noticed that the many trash cans--full from weekend visitors--were regular old cans, not bear-proof. A red flag should have gone off at that point. At 12:30 a.m., I was awakened by the crashing sounds of a set of trash cans about 20 yards from my car where I was ~ sleeping. This bear had just overturned that last of the cans in the campground. The groceries in my car might have been its next target. I scared it off with some loud yelling and horn honking but it apparently didn't move far. Being the only camper in the small campground, I decided to take charge and reclaim the campground. So from 12:30 a.m. to about 3:30 a.m., I would turn on my car and cruise slowly through the campground with my Q-beam, occasionally honking my horn...just in case. I was unnerved to find the bear returning at least three more times. Then I caught this glimpse of the bear just resting in some plants across a small creek, about 40 yards from me. It was just waiting for me to go back to sleep, I suppose. I was it's noisy neighbor.
Well, after more yelling, light shining, and horn honking, the bear finally ambled off into the darkness. Needless to say, I did not sleep much the rest of the night. So I'm a little sleep-deprived as I upload these images now (from a safe distance, in a hotel in Kingman, AZ).

This happened regularly on this trip: I'd photograph conifer foliage of a tree in front of me, then pick up a cone to document, only to realize (at the time or later) that the cone belonged to something else! This (apparent) Sitka Spruce cone was picked up under a nice Western Hemlock, in an extensive grove of old second-growth Doug Fir!

This happened regularly on this trip: I'd photograph conifer foliage of a tree in front of me, then pick up a cone to document, only to realize (at the time or later) that the cone belonged to something else!
I had picked up a spruce cone under this tree:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135254149

@eralverson I hope I got these correct!

The host for these "sea balloons" looks like a complex mix of other seaweeds, none of which to me look like Neorhodomela or Odonthalia as described in Druehl & Clarkston (Pacific Seaweeds, 2016) and Lamb & Handby (Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest, 2005).

There is such discord in the naming of these type of blues in the West that I hesitate to put any name on this one. But it fits everything for what has been traditionally (and by Glassberg's accounts) is called Acmon Blue.

This was in mixed hardwood-evergreen forest at the "Botanical Trail" off of US 199 at about 600 ft elevation. The eFloras.org account of the local endemic A. nortensis suggests that it would be found at a higher elevation.

This set of plants was documented around my camp site on a ridge top along FR 17N05, in mixed coniferous forest but at the edge of a big burn scar, at about 3,600 ft elevation. The substrate was dominated by serpentine rock and gravel.

I wasn't sure what this might be until I examined my images closely and realized it is probably a dense mat of bedstraw.
On a ridgeline along FR 17N05 at about 3,600 ft surrounded by mixed coniferous forest and a large burn scar. Substrate was dominated by serpentine outcrops and gravel.

The vernal pool along the roadside at this spot was completely dry, but it was populated with a carpet of this species of Calicoflower (last image); elev. about 3,615 ft., surrounded by mixed evergreen forest.

I took a 5-hour, 5-mile hike on the Doe Flat Trail. I'm dividing my observations on those in the Del Norte County versus Siskiyou County portions of the hike. Much of the terrain on the Del Norte County part of the hike was on serpentine outcrops.
The small leaves and elevation point to this species. Munz & Keck (1959) assign this population to variety torreyi.

I'm basing the ID of a couple of these small alders on the double-toothed leaves, in combination with the elongate peduncles of the cones.
Moist slope in mixed coniferous forest at about 4,200 ft. elevation.

I took a 5-hour, 5-mile hike on the Doe Flat Trail. I'm dividing my observations on those in the Del Norte County versus Siskiyou County portions of the hike. Much of the terrain on the Del Norte County part of the hike was on serpentine outcrops.

I'm uploading three different plants of this species, each with a slightly different flower arrangement and overall color. Del Norte County portion of Doe Flat Trail, at about 4,200 to 4,500 ft elevation; moist slope (mostly N-facing) on serpentine substrates.

The tree on the left is the Brewer's Spruce; note the long cones near the crown. The tree on the right is the drooping form of Douglas-Fir; notice the small cones near the top of that tree.
Brewer's or Weeping Spruce was one of my primary target conifers on this hike. I took a lot of photos of the trees. This is one of the most scenic conifers in North America. It was a thrill hiking through extensive native stands of the species.
Del Norte County portion of the Doe Flat Trail, at about 4,200 to 4,500 ft elevation, mostly on serpentine substrates.

I worked hard to review all the Penstemon's of Siskiyou and Del Norte counties and settled on this localized species. The small blue flowers and glabrous, sessile, oblong-lanceolate leaves help with the ID.

There was an extensive stand of the species in a mixed herbaceous groundcover on a serpentive outcrop along the side of the trail (last two images). It was mixed with a lot of Montia parvifolia and other forbs and mosses.