Bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) is a perennial which grows from a long taproot and a woody base. Basal leaves appear in spring, but wither in summer. Fleshy pinkish showy flowers appear on short stalks, mostly hiding any linear leaves. The flowers have 15 narrow petals and 6 to 9 sepals. Small seed capsules form in summer. The flowers open … Continue reading →
At the end of summer, we drove a long way on backroads to the Bonaparte Plateau, then we hiked through forest and burned areas to Skoatl Point. We climbed the volcanic basalt hill (at 1573 m elevation – 5160 ft.) and returned by the same route. This was a 9.7 km hike, taking 3.5 hours. Along the … Continue reading →
The first week of September had more hot weather, but I was out kayaking and hiking every day. Both the forests and the grasslands were dry, but a few wildflowers were still appearing, in addition to the weedy tall arrivals. In the upper grasslands I hiked grassland tracks and douglas fir forests and spotted bird’s-foot trefoil, white prairie … Continue reading →
On a hot summer day at the end of August I hiked through the grasslands and the forested hills on the north side of Lac du Bois. Some of the route was on trails, but a longer section was cross-country or on grown-in tracks. Along the way I observed some flowering plants and took some photos. Shared here are … Continue reading →
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) is a native evergreen perennial found in our mid-elevation to sub-alpine forests. It has a woody base and spreads by rhizomes. A whorl of 4 – 7 leaves grows at the tops of stems. The leaves have parallel veins and are shaped somewhere from oval to elliptical. The undersides are whitish. An inflorescence … Continue reading →
On a hot summer day a paddle and hike combination in Tunkwa Lake Park was the plan. An early start helped as I paddled around the lake. After securing the boat, I put on hiking shoes to hike the Leighton Lake trail. Much of the route is through grasslands and open terrain, with a short section through … Continue reading →
On a summer morning I drove up the Lac le Jeune Road, then turned onto the Timber Lake forest Service Road. I parked near a side road and hiked up through the hills on double tracks, first to Tower Hill and out to viewpoints, then up secondary roads which wound through the Interior Plateau douglas fir forests at an … Continue reading →
On a hot summer day we drove south to hike Zoa Peak in the Coquihalla Summit. We got on the trail early and hiked steadily. There were lots of wildflowers in bloom, but many were photographed on other hikes and for this day, the pace for the group was steady with only a few brief stops. We wanted … Continue reading →
Every summer I hike up and over McConnell Hill, combining different trails each time. This year the hike was done on a hot end-of-July day. The route followed cross-country ski trails, then snowshoe trails and back onto Sidewinder Trail around the hill, taking about 3.5 hours. there were still lots of wildflowers in bloom and berries were also appearing. … Continue reading →
When we hike by lakes, marshes, creeks, and wet meadows, we often spot black twinberry (Lonerica involucrata) leafing in spring, flowering in late spring, and displaying black berries in summer. It is deciduous shrub in the honeysuckle family, growing from 0.5 to 2.0 m in height. The central stems are fairly erect, but the branches loosely extend outward. … Continue reading →
