The Stake Lake system has 60km of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and exploring afer the snows melt. From mid-June through August, we choose different loops each time to vary the outings and to enjoy the different forested areas . The 8.5km loop over McConnell Hill (Sidewinder-Ambush-Rustler) featured many wildflowers. The north side aspect was lined with columbine, violets, and …Continue reading…
The area in the hills to the north of Chase is generally referred to as Neskonlith Meadows. Much of the area is part of the Adams Lake Band Sahhaltkum Indian Reserve so permission to park and hike on the trails is required. Permits and parking passes can be obatined from the Band Office during business hours. There is a small …Continue reading…
This perennial member of the lily family is highly poisonous. Zigadenus venenosus contains an alkaloid poison more potent than strychnine. Most of the fatalities are among livestock which graze in meadows. There have been poisonings in humans too since the young plant looks very similar to the edible nodding onion. The best way to tell these two species apart are …Continue reading…
Calypso bulbosa is a member of the orchid family. It is abundant in our open forests at mid-elevations. The flowers below were seen in the Lac le Jeune area (4200 feet) in June. They grow 10-25 cm tall from a bulb-like corm. The stalks are thin and brownish-purple. Leaves form at the base of the plant and are egg-shaped and …Continue reading…
Mountain ladyslipper is a member of the orchid family. It grows in mid-elevations in open forests in our area, mostly on rich humus soils. This photo was taken in the Lac le Jeune area (at 4200 feet). This perennial grows 15-60 cm tall from cord-like roots. The stems have up to 5 lance-shaped leaves. The flowers are easily recognizable with …Continue reading…
This perennial can be found in the grasslands and warmer open spaces in late spring. From a long taproot, it grows 20-50 cm tall and forms pale yellow tubular flowers. Small hard nutlets form in the summer after the blooms fade. It is called stoneseed is some places. First Nations people used the roots for medicine (natural estrogens in the …Continue reading…
The south-facing hills of the grasslands and open forest burst with color in the spring with the yellow flowers of arrow-leafed balsam root. This member of the sunflower familystands 1 to 2 feet high and has silver-green, arrowhead-shaped leaves. The flowers have yellow rays of petals in a disk shape. All parts of this plant are edible. First nations people …Continue reading…
Red paintbrush is common province-wide, then we also find alpine paintbrush at higher elevations. Both are red-scarlet, showy, and easily identifiable. Our area also has a yellowish paintbrush, found in the grasslands and open forests. Some plants even have a faded yellow to white color or a greenish hue. All paintbrush is semi-parasitic, feeding off the roots of other plants. …Continue reading…
p style=”text-align: left;”>This lovely flower is used in Earl Gray tea for its pleasant odor and taste. It is a part of the mint family. We can find it at mid-elevations in the grasslands and forest clearings. The purple-mauve flowers are pollinated by butterfiles in the early summer. It is a perennial that grows 30-70m tall, with single flowers on …Continue reading…
Sagebrush buttercup is the first wildflower to appear in the spring. It will even poke up through the last snows. Within a week to 10 days, yellow bells start to appear. They have drooping yellow bell that turn orange with age. They are perennials that grows from small scaly bulbs. Fritillaria pudica bulbs were prized by First Nations people as …Continue reading…
On a summer day, I decided to go to the top of Mt. Fleet (article link). It was not a very good hike, but I enjoyed the view anyway. On the way back down, I carefully worked by way down some small cliffs to a cut block. At the edge of the area, out in an open spot, was a …Continue reading…
Down in the Inner Canyon above the Colorado River, desert prickly pear is one of the dominant plants. In April, most of the clusters were in bloom. <a href=”https://kamloopstrails.net/asides/desert-prickly-pear/zion-et-al-087/” rel=”attachment wp-att-5833″><img class=”aligncenter size-medium wp-image-5833″ src=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/zion-et-al-087-320×253.jpg” alt=”zion et al 087″ width=”320″ height=”253″ /></a> In the Kamloops area, the prickly pears are lower and smaller and the flowers are a pale yellow. …Continue reading…
Late in summer, Inky Gentians emerge high in the alpine areas. The dark blue reminds me of the poem by DH Lawrence: "Not every man has gentians in his house in Soft September, at slow, Sad Michaelmas. Bavarian gentians, big and dark, only dark darkening the daytime torchlike with the smoking blueness of Pluto’s gloom, ribbed and torchlike, with their …Continue reading…
p>Painted Bluffs Provincial Park has multi-colored bluffs eroded into sinuous shapes. No plant life lives on the mercury (cinnabar)-copper ridges, but there are a few rocky-gravelly (moraine) ridges too. A bit of grass and sagebrush can be found on these, but we were also pleased to see a few Blazing Stars in flower too. Blazing Stars (mentzelia laevicaulis) is a …Continue reading…
While out doing trailwork on the Dewdrop Trail, we came along a south-facing slope. Sagebrush mariposa lilies dotted the rocky hillside. The flowers stood about 40 cm high and each had a single lavender flower. The whole plant is edible and because of this, the flower has been disappearing from areas where cattle graze. First nations people harvested the bulbs …Continue reading…
While on a hike on the back side of Tod Mountain in July, early wildflowers were out including whole hillsides of shooting stars. These are a perennial with purple-lavender flowers over a rosette of leaves. They bloom in lower elevations earlier, but in open alpine meadows while the ground is still wet. First Nations peoples used this plant as an …Continue reading…