Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Lori S. on August 20, 2009, 05:45:39 AM
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The Helen Lake trail, on the Icefields Parkway, past Lake Louise (for us approaching from the SE), is a popular hike... not much effort for many spectacular views. (Down at highway level, on the opposite side of the trailhead, is the parking area for views of Bow Lake and Crowfoot Glacier... but the hike is a much more rewarding experience for those who have the time and inclination!)
1, 2) The uphill climb is rewarded with some tantalizing glimpses as the forest starts to open up...
Trailside plants...
3) Agoseris glauca... those in seed look, at first glance, like very refined dandelions.
4) Felwort, Gentianella amarella...what a mellifluous name! :) An annual plant.
And some views...
5) The incredible turquoise of Bow Lake, with Crowfoot Glacier overhanging it...
6) And just to the left in the mountain chain, Bow Peak with a dusting of fresh snow.
7) Far in the distance, Mount Hector and Hector Glacier, with Little Hector to the left and the Bow River winding through the foreground.
And more to follow...
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The Helen Lake trail, on the Icefields Parkway, past Lake Louise (for us approaching from the SE), is a popular hike... not much effort for many spectacular views. (Down at highway level, on the opposite side of the trailhead, is the parking area for views of Bow Lake and Crowfoot Glacier... but the hike is a much more rewarding experience for those who have the time and inclination!)
1, 2) The uphill climb is rewarded with some tantalizing glimpses as the forest starts to open up...
Trailside plants...
3) Agoseris glauca... those in seed look, at first glance, like very refined dandelions.
4) Felwort, Gentianella amarella...what a mellifluous name! :) An annual plant.
And some views...
5) The incredible turquoise of Bow Lake, with Crowfoot Glacier overhanging it...
6) And just to the left in the mountain chain, Bow Peak with a dusting of fresh snow.
7) Far in the distance, Mount Hector and Hector Glacier, with Little Hector to the left and the Bow River winding through the foreground.
And more to follow...
looking forward to seeing what the rest of this trail brings... we passed this area at the end of may, and bow lake was still quite frozen, with snow in patches along the highest parts of the highway..
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Lori, I hanker for this landscape and dream of next trip...
I hope, you upload more photos from the north.
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A verrrrrrrrrrry promising start Lori ! :o :o
When I drove down the Icefield Parkway at the time, unfortunately there was no time to get beyond the viewpoint towards Bow Lake and the Crowfoot glacier... but that was breathtaking already.
As you're promising even better, I'll definitely be watching... 8)
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As usual Lori a stunning batch of pictures.
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Magnificent, Lori ... keep them coming please!
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Looking forward to "beyond" - excellent pictures of the distant glacial lake...
Felwort is a wild plant here also growing locally on rocky outcrops with little soil right next to the coast, Yours seems to be a different subspecies: http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/gentiana/genta/gentamav.jpg (http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/gentiana/genta/gentamav.jpg)
Agoseris glauca - Indian Chewing Gum (from the dried latex) - I've tried to overwinter this one a couple of times but without success....
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Looking forward to "beyond" - excellent pictures of the distant glacial lake...
Felwort is a wild plant here also growing locally on rocky outcrops with little soil right next to the coast, Yours seems to be a different subspecies: http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/gentiana/genta/gentamav.jpg (http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/gentiana/genta/gentamav.jpg)
Agoseris glauca - Indian Chewing Gum (from the dried latex) - I've tried to overwinter this one a couple of times but without success....
lots of felwort here too (no certainty on species), pics soon--you know, its so abundant, i didn't even realise its annual ;)
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I'll be back!
Paddy
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you know, its so abundant, i didn't even realise its annual ;)
Biannual here.
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Yes, to be more expansive, Moss & Packer indicated it as an annual, while another (albeit less authoritative) reference said annual or biennial.
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Despite suffering mild discomfort*, such is my devotion to your viewing pleasure that I am soldiering bravely on... thus, I feel I should point out, actually earning the esteemed title of "Hero Member" (which, up until this defining moment, just meant I had a lot of time on my hands). ;D
(*I got stung by a wasp on the way home - its path and mine intersected as I was coasting downhill on my bike and it landed on my shoulder and stung me many times (the b***d!!) before I could dislodge it without crashing! Those things are crazy - it still burns, periodically, over 2 hours later! >:()
Anyway, as I try to suppress the bitter sense of betrayal by the insect world that is welling in me, let's carry on...
1) A spill of Gog Formation quartzite boulders from up top, looming above the trail...
2) And, coming around the bend, where the trees are thinning out, is the first glimpse of the sawblade ridge of the "Dolomites"... (so named for Dolomite Peak, which is actually formed of dolomite... and I suppose this is probably a pun on the real Dolomites.)
3) Looking ahead to Cirque Peak, the yellowish peak, on the right side of the trail...
4) And the view to the left...
5) And a view back over our shoulders to Mount Hector... which, very oddly, almost looks like it's getting closer :o
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1, 2) Valeriana sitchensis
3) Juncus spp. bordering a pathside stream
4) Petasites frigidus var. nivalis in a bed of moss...
5) Flowery subalpine meadows on the steep slopes below the path...
6) Seedheads of Agoseris glauca in a tangle of Trollius albiflorus, Potentilla, Pedicularis, Senecio, etc.
7) Highly fractured rockwalls (this is why I don't sit on the edges of cliffs ;)), giving way to diminutive trees and then to rich meadows below...
8 ) Arnica lonchophylla (based on the dentate lower leaves)
9) More meadow views, with a stream flowing out from the thinly-covered talus at the base...
10) Senecio triangularis, Valeriana sitchensis, Erigeron peregrinus(?), etc.
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1) Approaching the rockfall/boulder moraine/rock glacier/??...
2, 3) Veratrum eschscholtzii (or V. viride ssp. eschscholtzii)
4) Fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium
5) Crowberry, Empetrum nigrum, and bilberry, carpeting a steep shaded slope
6) Bronze-bells, Stenanthium occidentale
7) Anemone occidentalis
8 ) A view down the steep slopes into the valley below...
9) While on the trail (not "trial"), we are approaching treeline...
10) Riiiight about now, where the trail crosses Helen Creek...
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Lori,
This is a posting very worthy of your elevation to the status of "Hero Member", a well-earned status from the excellent postings and reports you have given us from your mountains which are a joy to view and read. Extra points have been earned and duly noted for your suffering at the hands/sting of the bee.
Stenanthium is completely new to me and is an absolute beauty and I adored the veratrum.
Post on SuperHero.
Paddy
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Ouch! Wasp attack is very unpleasant, Lori .... perhaps you can view your continued posting in the face of the pain as a suitable displacement activity ..... takes your mind off the pain and stops you from rushing out to swat every passing insect in an act of blind revenge..... ::)
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Good to know that even stinging Wasps are not able to stop Superheroes from posting !! 8)
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sorry to hear about the wasp, they are everywhere this time of year-especially bothering the cats eating outside... i've had a lot of collisions and near misses with a multitude of flying insects cycling the back roads here lately, luckily no stings yet...
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The sympathy helps, thanks. ;D
1) Helen Creek waterfall... there is an American pipit (which I still think of as "water" pipit) in there somewhere...
2) Above treeline, a hummocky terrain of Phyllodoce mounds, with Cirque Peak in the distance
3) Helen Lake, a nice stop for lunch... people either stop here, or carry on on a switchback trail over the low shoulder of the Dolomites, for a view of barren Katherine Lake on the other side, or slog on up Cirque Peak.
4) On the boggy shores of little Helen Lake, Veronica wormskjoldii...
5) Cotton grass, Eriophorum spp....
6) And Juncus spp.(?)
7) The headwaters of Helen Creek, before it starts to tumble downwards....
8 , 9) We carried on beyond the lake around the shoulder of Cirque Peak to see what lay out in that direction... with the prow of the Dolomites sailing towards us, and with distant Mount Hector seeming to sneak ever closer, by some strange trick of the light and the foreshortening effect that seems to occur in the mountains! (By the way, on the second photo of Mount Hector, if you zoom in, you can see the spindrift of fresh snow off Hector Glacier on the left side of the peak.)
10) Erigeron aureus, in seed... it has been really quite amazing to see as much in flower as we have for this late in the season... all thanks, I assume, to that very late spring and no significant frost yet up there.
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1) Above the lake...
2, 3, 4) Exploring some slabby quartzite outcrops... fascinating geology in this area, with much juxtaposition of lithologies (which I am attempting to learn more about). (If you were to zoom in on the last one, you'd be blinded by the sight of me wearing both sweatband and toque, looking like an idiot... so take my word for it... just don't.)
5, 6, 7) Growing in the fractures in the quartzite, Penstemon ellipticus.... the first with somewhat unusual leaf shape(?), the others as I am used to seeing them.
8 ) Wave ripples, preserved on bedding planes in the quartzite...
9) It is still possible to find Saxifraga bronchialis in bloom, here and there...
10) A pond in the increasingly austere setting - murky-looking in the photo but actually the water was crystal-clear; the impression of muddiness is due to the colour of the blue-green algae that blankets the bottom.
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This is the photo from the last comment, above. (Couldn't load it there, for some reason.)
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1) Back in the rocks...
2) A little survivor in a protected niche, and Sedum lanceolatum.
3) Hoary marmots - an extremely good area for them, it seems.
4) Many rocky meltwater drainages crossing the tilted plateau...
5) Bordered by Saxifraga lyallii
6) And a population of very-dwarfed Oxyria digyna, no more than 3" high...
7) Many Epilobium spp. enjoying the ample water... (I'm working on keying these out! Hints are welcome!)
8 ,9) Sibbaldia procumbens, still in bloom
10) Epilobium mirabile ?
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1) Exquisitely formed and coloured leaves of Petasites vitifolia, along the rocky meltwater drainages. The backsides of the leaves are felted white.
2, 3, 4) Haplopappus lyallii
5) ??
6) More Erigeron aureus, in full bloom higher up.
7) Moss garden.
8 , 9) A seemingly barren landscape, interrupted by splashes of purple bloom...
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So many great flowers , Lori, I'm fascinated to see the range of plants.
The landscape, while rather stark, has a simple beauty but I wouldn't want to get caught there in bad weather. :-X
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1, 2) Revealed, as we approach, to be bands of Epilobium latifolium.
3) Solidago multiradiata?
4) And as I have been absorbed in looking at the elegant barrenness and the sparse plants, it seems Crowfoot Glacier has been creeping up on us too...
5) Ahead to the cirque and the couple of bands of old snow still hanging on in it...
6) Saxifraga oppositifolia, not long out of bloom up here...
7) Plant life has thinned out drastically...
8 , 9, 10) Crepis nana... lest one gets the impression that these are substantially-sized plants, the second photo shows my hiking pole handle, for scale...
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1) The Dolomites, from here in the cirque...
2) Saussurea nuda, still in bloom...
3) Erigeron compositus
4) A Silene acaulis mat that looks as though it has had an interesting history.
5) Salix reticulata... I think?
6, 7) A tiny-leaved Salix... my ring, in the second photo, is 16mm in diameter, for scale. (My reference suggests that S. reticulata has the smallest leaves, but the other leaf characteristics don't seem to fit it.)
8 ) Alpine grasses
9) Castilleja spp.
10) And, Maggi, it did look as though the weather might be turning... though it soon passed.
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A Silene acaulis mat that looks as though it has had an interesting history
Yes, doesn't it just! Looks like a complete wee island in a rocky sea.
Extraordinary just how diminutive so many of these plants are and what tiny bursts of colour they bring to their surroundings.
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Lori,
This must surely be one of the outstanding threads we have had on the forum. You are showing us an area of amazing natural beauty and a range of the most interesting plants. It brings to mind the great reports we have had from our New Zealand members who bring us in the Northern Hemisphere an insight into areas we are most unlikely to visit.
These experiences are the riches of this forum. Many thanks for taking the time to take, edit, add comment to and post such an interesting and informative photographic report on your mountain ramblings. Truly enjoyed and appreciated.
Might the little mystery plant by an aster of some description?
Paddy
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Exquisitely formed and coloured leaves of Petasites vitifolia, along the rocky meltwater drainages.
This foliage is just terrific... sculptural and painterly, all at once 8) 8)
Paddy, I agree, a great thread :D 8)
If the plant on question is Solidago multiradiata ? IMG_9187.JPG then I do think it is a Solidago, rather than an Aster.
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Thank you, Paddy and Maggi! I'm glad it's of an area that is special to you, Paddy, and I'm very happy that you're enjoying it!
Yes, Paddy, #9166 may very well be an aster, thanks... (that's exactly what I was debating - aster?, erigeron?) Thanks for the confirmation on the solidago, Maggi.
Alright, let's see if we can take this one on home...
1,2) This was the extent of "beyond" for today, the head of the valley... though of course there is always the next ridge to climb to see what's on the other side... some other day, maybe?
3) Meltwater, ponding here and there, while also seeping through the rocks...
4) To join a creek that feeds into Helen Creek down below...
5) Descending slightly, Phyllodoce glanduliflora...
6) A golden phyllodoce... I can't tell which species without flowers... but I'm sure if I took cuttings, successfully propagated them, found them to be true, cultivated a market where they can be grown (not here!)... Ha, all so simple!... I'd be RICH... RICH, I TELL YOU! ;D ;D And then could spend all my time loafing around in the mountains. ;)
7) And rejoining the trail back near Helen Lake, a view in the distance of big avalanche tracks off the Dolomites... these are the areas of light green low vegetation, as opposed to the darker green tracts of alpine fir.
8 ) A dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) in Helen Creek... amazing how these smallish birds can spend the winter in the mountains, diving into icy water for food!! (Hmm, "mexicanus" - how odd!)
9) And meadows on the way down, with spires of alpine fir...
10) Caltha leptosepala, in a trailside rivulet...
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1) Back down around the bend in the forest, Castilleja miniata...
2) I wondered what these pale yellow plants were, in a clearing up on the slope up from the trail...
3, 4, 5, 6) ...Eriogonum umbellatum... the aging flowers demonstrate the appeal of this species as a rock garden specimen...
7) Bow Lake, again, in the distance, over the Gog quartzite boulder rubble...
8 ) And approaching a small burn, skirted by the trail...
9) A burn in lodgepole or jack pine forest would, within a few years, be covered "thicker than hair on a dog" with young pines (as fire causes the cones to open to shed seed) ... but, in the near-monoculture of alpine fir (the cones break down annually) in this area, the tree growth is not as quick to regenerate.
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And returning to a more vibrant image of greenery for the final photo... Epilobium spp. alongside one of the many little streams that crosses the trail.
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Great show, Lori, really enjoyed the trek in the mountains.
Many thanks, Paddy
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An amazing region full of beauty and natural grandeur !!
I join Paddy in my thanks for showing us this - for us - inaccessible area !
The Eriogonums look stunning (as do so many other plants !) :o :o
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lots of gems in there, thanks for sharing!
how long was this hike?
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You're welcome. It's 6 km to Helen Lake and about 455m elevation gain, according to the trail guide. The guide also says that the some of the features were named by an American mountaineering party in 1898 - Helen and Katherine Lakes, after the daughters of one of the party, and the "Dolomites", after their resemblance, in the opinions of the party, to... the Dolomites.
(This is one of the trails I mentioned some time back as being very worthwhile, yet without requiring too much exertion.)
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You're welcome. It's 6 km to Helen Lake and about 455m elevation gain, according to the trail guide. The guide also says that the some of the features were named by an American mountaineering party in 1898 - Helen and Katherine Lakes, after the daughters of one of the party, and the "Dolomites", after their resemblance, in the opinions of the party, to... the Dolomites.
(This is one of the trails I mentioned some time back as being very worthwhile, yet without requiring too much exertion.)
i was thinking it was one you had mentioned..we'll see if we get down that way this year again or not...
i think there is a place where the highway crosses helen creek? or maybe its somewhere else... we used to stop on family trips to b.c. to take pictures of my mother, helen, in front of the sign...lol
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Lori, trying to catch up after several weeks on holidays, and the Travel/Places to visit
being one of my favourite sites.
This is an outstanding beautiful area. See so many plants pictured I didn't see before.
Beautiful pictures as usual!
Looking at the leaves I cannot believe that the plant pictured as Erigeron aureus is rightly named??
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Thanks, all, for the comments!
Luit... attached are cropped versions of two "Erigeron aureus" pix (9112 and 9172) that focus on the foliage. In the second one (9172), there is also a Sibbaldia procumbens growing up through the plant. Is that perhaps what you saw?
Other than that, Moss and Packer describe the foliage as "basal leaves with broad obovate or elliptical blades, often abruptly narrowed to the petiole, hirsute or hirsute-villose with appressed or loose hairs", which seems to fit. Other characteristics - rare stem leaves, involucral bracts that are green with purple tips or purple, flower form and number of ligules - seem to support Erigeron aureus (our only yellow erigeron), but I am open to suggestion, and hoping to learn and improve! :) What do you think from the close-ups?
Cohan - good thing you took photos and can treasure that as a childhood memory, because there's no sign there anymore, sorry to say.
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Cohan - good thing you took photos and can treasure that as a childhood memory, because there's no sign there anymore, sorry to say.
its not impossible that it was some other place along the road with a 'helen' place name..my mother might remember better where it was
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It wouldn't have been 'Helen back' would it Cohan? I've been there a couple of times! :D :D
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It wouldn't have been 'Helen back' would it Cohan? I've been there a couple of times! :D :D
lol--no, no, these were gentle family trips with my grandparents, nothing like that ;)
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Thanks, all, for the comments!
Luit... attached are cropped versions of two "Erigeron aureus" pix (9112 and 9172) that focus on the foliage. In the second one (9172), there is also a Sibbaldia procumbens growing up through the plant. Is that perhaps what you saw?
Other than that, Moss and Packer describe the foliage as "basal leaves with broad obovate or elliptical blades, often abruptly narrowed to the petiole, hirsute or hirsute-villose with appressed or loose hairs", which seems to fit. Other characteristics - rare stem leaves, involucral bracts that are green with purple tips or purple, flower form and number of ligules - seem to support Erigeron aureus (our only yellow erigeron), but I am open to suggestion, and hoping to learn and improve! :) What do you think from the close-ups?
Lori, I saw indeed the leaves of Sibbaldia, which confused me.
I googled a little and found some varied pictures of Erigeron aureus.
But the plant you showed is the same as in the eol.org pages.
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Lori,
Beautiful photos but these burned areas in America look terrifying. I didn't see unfortunately somebody that extinguish fire.
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Yes, it would certainly be terrifying to be there while the burn is happening! On the other hand, forest fires are a part of nature... instrumental in rejuvenating pine forests, and in maintaining grasslands.
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It wouldn't have been 'Helen back' would it Cohan? I've been there a couple of times! :D :D
I went to "Helen Back" last night as I had to go to Trondheim airport to pick up some friends. On the way to the airport is a little place called Hell. The "Blues in Hell" festival is the weekend after next (http://www.hellblues.com) and quite a few bands have recorded their "Live in Hell" album there... Your very own Terry Wogan once did his radio show live from Hell. I sent in a request for my Mum (an avid fan) and it was read out and he said that I was on the way to Hell right now(true).