Another very exciting hitch with many different types of flowers seen along the way. With all of the sun, the flowers seemed even more vibrant than before. Right away, on the first day, Leslie (top middle) was proud to be pulling up houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale), found along Black Mountain #396. This is an invasive plant in the area that is toxic to livestock. The most abundant flower by far was seen on #396 trail, lining the hike. This starflower (Trientalis borealis; top right) is rather short, but very showy. The Down River #297 trail was just beginning to enjoy the blooms of the Clarkia (Clarkia pulchella; bottom left). This is a native to the area, and will often cover hillsides in its vibrant pink color. At Goat Ridge, on the Smith Ridge #240 trail, spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa) was covering the ridge in all shades of purple and white (top left). And finally, the most exciting sighting of the hitch was the phantom orchid (Cephalanthera austiniae; bottom right), originally spotted on the #396 trail, but an individual was also later found on #297. This orchid is completely white and native to the area, although only growing in specific areas.
Flora from the Field: Mallard Larkins
There were many fun sightings on the trails during this hitch, even despite the rain. This Garden tiger moth caterpillar (Arctia caja; bottom middle) was found near camp on Wednesday. There were many of these blister beetles (Meloe spp.; top middle) found along the trail #95. Common flowers included Western spring beauties (Claytonia lanceolata; top left), Foamflower (Tiarella Cordifolia; middle left), Bunchberries (Cornus canadensis; middle right), and Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra; bottom right). There were several Pacific yew trees (Taxus brevifolia; top right) along the Isabella Creek #95 trail before the #96 junction. A rare for the area sighting was the deer fern (Blechnum spicant; bottom left) which was found on the #96 trail.