We drove to the Ashcroft to Spences Creek corridor to hike into the hills to find bitterroot (lewisia redviva) in bloom.    We know three spots within an hour’s drive and we know when it blooms from past explorations so this spring trip is a bit of a pilgrimage each year.  We hike and explore some more in the area and make a day of it.   This year we also paddled nearby Venables Lake.

The bitterroot was found on the southwest-facing slopes of Red Hill about 0.5 km up the hillside.   Low-growing pink or pink-white flowers emerge above withered leaves.

From Eflora BC,  “Inflorescence of solitary flowers on stalks 0.5-1.5 cm long; floral bracts 5-6, whorled, linear, 0.5-1 cm long, chaffy; petals 12-18, white to deep pink, narrowly oblong, 1.8-3.5 cm long; sepals (4) 5-9, unequal, 10-25 mm long, stamens 30-50.”

The flowers were abundant on dry, cracked soils so we had to watch where we stepped.

In the area were some bunchgrasses and dryland herbs between rocks and some low-growing shrubs.

Each flower is a little different and it was fascinating to walk around to see each one as it opened up in the sun.

First Nations people collected and ate the roots, digging it up in the early spring before it got too bitter.

The delicate pink flowers contrast with the harsh, rocky area in which it grows.

We will be back to bear witness to the bloom again next year along with a trip to view some area pictographs.