Sparrowhawk Tarns Revisited - August 10/09

[Ragged Robin]

A Dali-esque Silene acaulis, flowing over the rocks

It really does look as if it has melted onto the rock - a great shot Lori 

[Lori S.]

A high of 10 deg C here today, clearing tomorrow...

the Silene is cool...i like the inflated effect on the weed species around here, much better on something tiny that wont take over hundreds of acres!

Is there a silene that is a significant agricultural pest in your area?  (I only see them in the disturbed areas along railroad sidings here, and they weren't common in the prairie agricultural area where I grew up.)

1) Coming down from the fan...
2, 3) Blue water... and grey, depending on the cloud...
4) Angles and fractures...
5) Stream, fed by the higher tarns, and tumbling down a rocky slope then cutting deep into the turfy meadow...
6, 7, 8, 9) ... with its banks clothed by Saxifraga lyallii in the higher reaches...

[Lori S.]

1) Stream again...
2) On the way up and again on the way down in the same place, we came upon (almost stepped on!) a typically unwary adult white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus) - if you are able to zoom in on this photo, you can see its feathered feet.  It had one fledgling (well, so to speak - the young are precocious as with other gallinaceous birds) with it, visible in the photo (can you find it?) but well-camouflaged...
3, 4) Thick along the slightly lower reaches of the stream, vine-leaved coltsfoot, Petasites frigidus var. nivalis...
5, 6) With Senecio triangularis, and an attractive sedge...
7) In the surrounding meadow, Castilleja spp....
8, 9, 10) Continuing our ramble downwards...

[Lori S.]

1) A hanging valley meadow perched on the side of the main valley...
2, 3) .... and ablaze with Arnica diversifolia(?), Erigeron spp. and Parnassia fimbriata ...
4) The same plants are found in the rocky main valley, though not in such density... Arnica diversifolia, again.
5) Salix reticulata... (As always, please correct me if I'm wrong.)
6) Erigeron aureus
7) Last pool...
Salix spp.
9) Rocks...
10) .... and fossils - corals and crinoids.

[Paul T]

Wonderful pics, Lori.  I particularly love the Ptarmigan.  I can see why you nearly stepped on it. 

[cohan]

A high of 10 deg C here today, clearing tomorrow...

the Silene is cool...i like the inflated effect on the weed species around here, much better on something tiny that wont take over hundreds of acres!

Is there a silene that is a significant agricultural pest in your area?  (I only see them in the disturbed areas along railroad sidings here, and they weren't common in the prairie agricultural area where I grew up.)
1) Coming down from the fan...
2, 3) Blue water... and grey, depending on the cloud...
4) Angles and fractures...
5) Stream, fed by the higher tarns, and tumbling down a rocky slope then cutting deep into the turfy meadow...
6, 7, 8, 9) ... with its banks clothed by Saxifraga lyallii in the higher reaches...

a lovely area--the interplay of stone-both in rigid and fluid forms, water sky and vegetation is very beautiful..

i'm not sure of the exact status of the silenes here (havent been quite able to figure out which one/ones we have-latifolia or noctiflora, maybe, havent keyed them...) if they are edible to cattle, then they may not be considered a huge agricultural problem, but they are are very present--sometimes in roadsides, more so around farmyards and even far out into pastures, probably spread by cattle and feed, and i did see a hayfield just up the road this summer that had a very strong percentage of them across the field--not quite all white, but not too far from it at a certain time...if i run across the pic of that, i will show you..
they are maybe number 3 weed in my new veg patch in a small former corral...extremely vigorous seeders, super fast growth, and massive roots..

[Paddy Tobin]

10) .... and fossils - corals and crinoids.

So, the tide was out when you visited?

Fabulous area. Paddy

[Lori S.]

So, the tide was out when you visited?

Yes, for some time now...

1) Androsace chamaejasme
2) Dryas octopetala - this plant in seed, but others in bloom higher up; as well, it tends to be an intermittent and repeat bloomer here (compared to D. drummondii which has a more defined bloom period)
3) White veins of calcite filling fractures in limestone
4) Saxifraga aizoides and Saussurea nuda 
5) Some Ranunculus eschscholtzii (and also some Anemone parviflora) still in bloom...
6) Descent...
7, 8 ) Kruppelholz at treeline - it's easy to know the direction of the prevailing wind, from the bare side on these weatherbeaten and stunted trees...
9) And coming down into the rag-tag treeline...
10) In the rocks, Saxifraga bronchialis

[Lori S.]

1) Alpine larches (Larix lyallii)
2) Golden-mantled ground squirrel
3, 4, 5) Penstemon ellipticus, in talus below treeline
6, 7) Aquilegia flavescens
8, 9) Parnassia fimbriata, in a little grove at the edge of the talus...
10) Black gooseberry, Ribes lacustre

[Lori S.]

1) Hoary marmot
2) Bear diggings
3, 4)  At the base of the rockwall, an attractive native thistle, Cirsium hookerianum
5, 6, 7) Even when the bloom is done in late summer/fall, a variety of mushrooms makes the hikes interesting!
8 ) Emerging back into the trees... waterfall from the stream up top...
9) Silene parryi
10) Zigadenus elegans

[Paddy Tobin]

Lori,

Love the Penstemon ellipticus, well captured.

Re the dryas - I would have expected D. drummondii rather than D. octapetela?

Paddy

[Lori S.]

1) Forest rock garden...
2, 3) Opening in the forest...  This valley was threatened by the planning for the 1988 Winter Olympics; the slopes in this photo were being promoted as the site for downhill events by politically/profit-minded individuals... which would have meant development and commercialization with paved roads, huge parking lots, lifts, a resort, etc.... complete destruction, in other words.  (Fortunately, an existing ski area was chosen instead, where the additional ruination had much less impact.)
4, 5) We didn't even know of the wonders of this area at that time, but thanks to the outcry from those who did, we can still enjoy the peaceful realm of forest and mushrooms here now, interrupted only by the existence of a narrow trail and the handful of people who visit it every week...
6) View at the bottom, "Spray Lakes"... (actually the dammed-up reservoir for a hydroelectric generating station... clearly there has been enough development here already!)
7) Last blooms on a dusty roadside Oxytropis splendens...
8, 9, 10) A roadside weed that I wouldn't mind growing in the garden... sainfoin, (Onobrychis vicifolia).  It's an escape from hay/forage crops, but oddly enough, I've never seen an intentional planting of it anywhere... only in the disturbed roadsides in a couple of places in the montane/foothills area.

[Lori S.]

Re the dryas - I would have expected D. drummondii rather than D. octapetela?

Why is that, Paddy? Are you referring to the species that would occur at that elevation (D. drummondii is restricted to lower elevations, and only occurs some distance lower down along the road cuts in this area) or the recurrent bloom?  If the latter, even the D. octopetala in my yard is now putting out the odd bloom, well past its main flush in spring.  

[Ragged Robin]

Quite wonderful to follow your footsteps in this magic landscape, Lori, so many surprises in every habitat and it is lovely to get a feel for the flora and fauna...so much to take in I shall revisit to take in more, thank you for showing so much of the area 

[Paul T]

Wonderful, as always!!  Thanks Lori.