We hike the Barren Hills every spring once the trails dry out.    The trailhead is off a short side road just past Batchelor Hill.   Mountain bikers call this area Batchelor Hills which is an accurate name, but since both sides of the Lac du Bois Road are the Batchelor Range and the Batchelor Hills, we call the small area north and west of Batchelor Hill the Barren Hills, a name that was used before mountain bikers arrived on the scene.   There are a number of possible routes to take, double tracks and single tracks, but one we often do is an 8.5 km loop through the lower grasslands.

The lower grasslands is a sagebrush, low shrub, and grasslands environment of glaciated lower-elevation hills.    A few trees can  be found on the north slopes of hills but most of the terrain is treeless.

We hiked up a lesser-traveled track and encountered a fresh insect hatch on the trail.   Entomologists identified these as springtails.

Along the way we encountered a number of wildflowers, including the small-flowered woodland star.

A number of very small flowers were blooming too.   To photograph a pink twink, we have to get close to the ground.

When a rust fungus invades an arabis plant, it changes the biology of the life cycle. To propogate itself, “the fungus sterilizes the host plant, preventing it from producing true flowers. Instead, it forces the infected plant to grow clusters of leaves into brilliant yellow “pseudoflowers” bearing the fungal spermatogonia. Insects visiting the pseudoflowers transfer spermatia from one host plant to another, in the same way that pollinators transfer pollen between the true flowers of uninfected plants.” (Wikipedia)

Arrow-leaved balsamroot was just starting to bloom on south-facing slopes on this mid-April day.

We stopped for lunch at the top of the tallest hill of the area between Mount Mara and the Batchelor Range and enjoyed the view across the Barren Hills.

On the way back, we went through Batchelor Pass where a seasonal pond had  developed and we stopped to listen to the calls of several western basin spadefoot toads.  (to hear the call, click here)

We will return to hike the Barren Hills in late fall.

More Information:

• Upper Barren Hills in the Early Season
• Into the Barren Hills
• Next post – Pender Islands Paddling