Thank you Dan. I wish I knew more about the various flora and fauna we encounter on the trail. I sometimes tell people who are afraid to go out in the "scary" woods that if they knew the names of the things out there, it would help. So now I know the name of the flower gentian.
As to the lichen, I googled it and wikipedia says it's called Lobaria pulmonaria, or tree lungwort, oak lungwort, lung moss, and a few other names. So it really is a lichen after all. Cool stuff!