On the Trophy Mountain Rim Trail
On a clear August day we hiked up Trophy Mountain to the rim and back. After heat waves and drought conditions, many of the flowering plants had disappeared, especially on the south-facing slopes. In protected areas and wet zones there were still many flowering plants to enjoy.
Cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum sp.) was robust with a large infloresence at the top of tall stout stems. We spotted them in seep zones in glades in the transition zone from forest to subalpine meadows.
Also spotted in wet soil areas was grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia fimbriata). Single white fringed flowers stand at the tops of stems above a basal clump of glossy leaves.
Arnica had been blooming at all elevations for many weeks now, but successions of arnica flowers continue through the summer.
Paintbrush flowers were spotted in clustered in protected pockets in the subalpine zone.
Starting in subalpine open areas and also present in damp alpine areas, partridgefoot (Luetkea pectinata sp.) covered gravelly areas as a ground cover. It is a mat-forming semi-shrub.
Abundant in patches were both fireweed and western pasqueflower (anemone occidentalis sp.).
Hellebore (Veratrum viride) was still in early stages in the alpine zones, but past flowering in the sub-alpine areas. The plant is toxic and should be avoided.
Mountain harebells (Campanula) usually had as single low-growing flower and were located on rocky, exposed areas.
In the forest black huckleberries (Vaccinium sp.) were ready for eating, a sweet snack on the way up and even better on the way back down.
There were many varieties of flowering plants along the trail, too many to add in a post, but a few are shared here. Click an image for a caption.
