Bugs and flowers

I finally went to the Google troubleshooting guide to see why I couldn't download any more pictures, and I did everything they suggested, and sure enough! Now I seem to have fixed the problem by emptying the cache and deleting cookies, but just to be on the safe side, I also downloaded these pictures using another browser (click any to enlarge). These lupine were so profuse on yesterday's hike I couldn't help but admire them and keep them for posterity (as an image; I would never pick a wildflower).

We also saw some very interesting fuzzy things, I have never seen anything like them before. Does anyone know what this is?
My husband thought it looked like an alien. Someone on the hike thought it might be something called "bear (something)" but I looked and could not find anything. Is it even a flower??
We also marveled at this pretty pink flower, wondering also what it is. It is just now getting ready to blossom at the end of July in the Mt. Baker wilderness, at about 6,000 feet altitude. Could it be what they call "monkey flower"?

We had to deal with biting flies and mosquitoes all day long -- until it began to hail, that is. Then all the bugs went away, and nobody would have minded a little rain. Marble-sized hail was a bit much, but believe it or not, it was preferable to the bugs. Some hikers (Marjan and Frank) knew what we would be dealing with and brought head nets. I'm definitely going to have one before the next hike. All this warm and dry weather has made the bugs more intense than I thought possible. I also had some wimpy natural bug repellent, which worked for about two minutes and then needed to be reapplied. Next week, DEET, no apologies!
But you know, it was still so much more fun to be out in the woods with the bugs and the hail and the wildflowers than to be home in the heat, wishing for time to pass. (That's the way I spent Wednesday.) I have a few little welts still left on my scalp where some really big hailstones made contact, and a few sore muscles, but now I am sitting at my beautiful iMac and communing with my new pals in the blogosphere. I can't complain.
:-)