I have hiked to the top of Mt. Bowman a few times.   It is the premier hike in the Marble Range, west of Clinton and above the Fraser River.   The mountains have the karst topography and the upper areas feature cliffs, chasms, crenellated ridges as well as sinkholes, caves, and disappearing streams.   Access to all of the hikes is from the Jesmond Road, a good gravel road.   Side roads to the actual trailheads can be rough or hikers can add distance by walking in.    Trails follow stream valleys deeper into the mountain range.   The Mount Bowman hike is a 12+ km hike with some steeper challenging sections near the top.   The wildflowers featured here are from one sunny day of hiking at the start of July a few years ago.

In the stream valley I passed by some bunchberry (cornus canadensis) in flower.   The flowers are distinct but the leaves made me think it might be a cross hybrid with c. unalaschkensis.   It is also referred to as dwarf dogwood.  

We hiked up a side valley into a damp subalpine zone.   Red columbine (aquilegia formosa) was abundant in open areas.

Red paintbrush (castilleja miniata) was also in flower, always welcomed on any hike.   Paintbrush hybridizes with other members of the castilleja family so variations are sometimes found in the wilderness.

In the upper subalpine zone on gravelly limestone ridges jacob’s ladder (polemonium pulcherrimum) was in bloom.   The sprawling stems grow from a taproot.   The ladder-like leaf pattern gives the plant its common name.   The flowers in the karst zone tend to mauve rather than blue.

We hiked up an open gravelly ridge toward the summit cliffs and several showy yellow locoweeds (oxytropis campestris) were in full bloom.

Arnicas were abundant in the patches of forest on the way to the summit.

In the alpine zone were several types of saxifrage, mostly growing in rock crevices and seep zones on outcrops.   Spotted saxifrage (saxifraga bronchialis) forms a mat and spotted (red,  yellow, purple, or orange) petals make it easy to identify.   One of our favorites in the alpine…

Moss campion (silene acaulis) forms large mats and features many showy purple.pink flowers.   We often see these in exposed locations near the summits of mountains in the Interior of BC.

In the Marble Range white mountain avens (dryas octopetala sp.) forms shrubby prostate mats on the rocky ridges.   In July the creamy white flowers with yellow centers grace the limestone slopes.

Determining the exact variety of yellow draba is quite difficult.   I know I often spot this one in the limestone fell fields near the summit.

On the way back down the mountain I stopped at this florists arrangement at the trailside.

A Wildflower Journal does not try to be an authoritative website on wildflowers.   Instead, it is a journal of wildflower experiences, a sharing of the excitement and satisfaction in experiencing nature while hiking.