Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Tony Willis on July 13, 2011, 08:51:12 PM
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On 22nd June we left for San Francisco to do a trip up the west coast of N. California as far as Crescent City dip into SW Oregon and journey back via the Mt Shasta area leaving on the 6th July. We had done this same trip two years ago but some two months earlier. It was a late spring and there had been unprecedented amounts of snow and some areas were still impossible to reach. We made our first stop on the Mendocino Pass having seen on the way up a number of
Iris chrysophylla at the lower levels and where at about 6000 ft were three species of fritillaria growing in large numbers.
Fritillaria recurva growing amongst Veratrum californicum and close to
Viola sheltonii
And amongst Phlox diffusa on open slopes
Fritillaria glauca and
Fritillaria purdyi
We then proceeded along the coast through the redwood forests and saw in the hedge bottoms
Lilium rubescens together with an unusual form
These were found with the generous help of Gene Miro who sent me lots of information on lily sites.
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From Crescent City we had a couple of trips out and in the redwoods found
Clintonia andrewsiana
Lilium columbianum
Achyls triphylla
With in more open areas higher up
Iris douglasiana
Silene californicum
and growing in very wet areas at both levels
Darlingtonia californicum
Epipactis gigantea and
Cypripedium californicum
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Cypripedium californicum is a very sophisticated-looking plant 8)
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Keep them coming Tony
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A most interesting trip Tony, thanks for sharing it on the Forum. I'm very happy to see Iris chrysophylla in flower. It's one I have great difficulty with, even keeping it alive and I've not had a bloom yet.
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Tony - Enjoyed your pics. Thank you for let us participate!
Gerd
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Very much enjoyed them here as well, please keep them coming if there's more! The Cyp is a stunning little thing, I never realized it was so tiny. Was it fragrant?
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Great pics Tony!
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OMG heaven sooooo many things there,stunning iris,frits to die for and lilies sooo many dancing moments lol
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Very much enjoyed them here as well, please keep them coming if there's more! The Cyp is a stunning little thing, I never realized it was so tiny. Was it fragrant?
I was surprised how tiny the flowers were as to fragrance I cannot help I have almost no sense of smell.
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We then moved across to Rogue River visiting the Oregon Caves where we had a walk in the old growth fir forest. This had a bad moment in that it chose to rain and broke the record for rainfall on a June day. I had, for safety (do not leave valuables in the car notices everywhere) put in my rucksack ,which got flooded, my laptop which is now no more. Here there were hundreds of flowers as rain sodden as us. Our only day of rain.
Calypso bulbosa in flower including a nearly white one with
Out from Rogue River we visited Jacksonville where in the cemetery we saw the orchid
Piperia transversa
and growing under Arbutus menziesii the parasite
Boschniakia strobilacea
In the same area Calochortus howellii
Then using a walk from David Sellars website we went to Black Butte which is visible from the trailhead .At most trail heads there is a toilet however remote and the hill in question can be seen on the right. Our visit was to find
Lewisia cotyledon.
Seeing on the way
Viola cuneata
Xerophyllum tenax
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Have never seen Calypso bulbosa before - what a stunner.
Great pics Tony and I hope there are lots more to come.
Did you replace your laptop whilst in the US - and can you claim on insurance, or is it an act of God.
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Arthur
I am stopping at another ten,other things to do
As to my laptop,I did say 'oh my god' when I got it out at the hotel but that was it. Only day it rained and only day I had it with me so it was fate.
Claims on insurance means they get it back with increased premiums so just recycled it.
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What a load of great shots Tony !
Thanks for showing ! Hope to see lots more!
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For the final few days we moved to Yreka near Mt Shasta hoping to drive along the Siskiyou Crest trail on the way but this was still blocked by snow but we did find
Fritillaria atropurpurea on Mt Ashland
From here we visited the Lassen Volcanic area which was still mainly closed by snow where the star was Sarcodes sanguinea
Our final trip out was to Mt Eddy where the road ended at a huge snowdrift at 6000 ft
But at the side of the road were extensive meadows filled with darlingtonia
Caltha leptosepala
Platanthera stricta
In the drier ground Dicentra uniflora,some with two flowers and
Anemone drummondii in both white and blue
The end
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I enjoyed those Tony, many thanks. That was a cracking shot of Mount Shasta.
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Dicentra uniflora is to die for! ::)
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Tony:
You found an amazing variety of species on your trip. Great pictures. I was surprised you saw Fritillaria glauca and
Fritillaria purdyi in flower in late June. I guess that northern California had a cold wet spring as we have had in southern BC. We still can't get to most alpine areas because of deep snow.
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Then using a walk from David Sellars website..... we went to ..........
If you have not yet discovered the walks- and videos, set to music, on the website of David Sellsars, then you are missing quite a lot! Whether, as Tony did, to discover some promising routes and plan your wowmn walks, or, like me, simply to revel in the scenery and flowers along the trails, I recommend you to search these sites www.mountainflora.ca (http://www.mountainflora.ca) Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/MountainFlora (http://www.youtube.com/user/MountainFlora)
David has recently posted a most wonderful film on the NARGS forum of a hike up Mount Burroughs: all the flowers are lovely, but the carpets of Erythronium montanum are beyond exquisite.
[youtube]Flora of Mount Rainier (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgQnppl-eAg#ws)[/youtube]
from http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=1141.0 (http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=1141.0)
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Many thanks to Tony for starting this thread and posting the pics. 8) 8) Since I joined the Forum this has been one of my favourite threads, and one I often look back at. ;D ;D
This addition has added to my enjoyment and education. Thank you Maggi for posting it here. 8) 8), and obviously to David for all of the original work. Stunning :o :o
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Such a marvellous way of looking at alpines and putting them in their natural context. The erythroniums are just astonishing and I love those little lupins... makes you want to get your walking boots on!
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Brilliant film and wonderfully matched music.