May 25: Spring Flowers in Horse Barn Valley

heathervanderhoop
May 11
2 min read

Updated: Aug 4

Hike report

By Connie Jones

For the May outing, 23 hikers met at the Horse Barn Valley trailhead. Agrologist Lourdes Niehaus led the group, describing the spring flowers and foliage as we walked the Coral Route and back along Talus Trail with a couple of side excursions along the way. The photos included are not a complete collection of all the wildflowers that were spotted and identified, they are simply the photos that were in focus!

Lourdes pointed out both common and more rare plants along the way. One of the first blooms we saw was kinnickinnick or bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi). We also found Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium) and, later in the hike, Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum), glacier lilies, Saskatoon bushes, and Davidson’s penstemon.

We spotted the sprouts of coralroot in numerous places but they were just popping out of the ground, similarly to the way asparagus pops through the soil. From Wikipedia: “Corallorhiza, the coralroot, is a genus of flowering plants in the orchid family. Except for the circumboreal C. trifida, the genus is restricted to North America. Most species are putatively parasitic, relying entirely upon mycorrhizal fungi within their coral-shaped rhizomes for sustenance.”

We stopped next at Dipper Lake for a lunch break. Alison Finstad explained that aspen trees are considered a singular organism with the main life force underground in the extensive root system.

Stream violet and Western bog laurel were both observed on the Talus Trail. The Western bog laurel was at the base of a talus slope where we hoped to spot a pika or two; however, they were quiet and hidden with the numbers of people passing their homes!

Thanks to Lourdes for leading the hike, to Dina for organizing, and to the people who graciously filled their vehicles with hikers and transported them to the trailhead. The 5-kilometre route took a generous three hours with plenty of time for looking and picture-taking.

Photos by Gerry Feehan, Connie Jones and Dina Hanson

Sunday, May 18, 10:00 am

Meet at the Pump Station, 0.75 km off Hwy 95A on St Mary’s Road, to arrange car-pooling

Join Agrologist Lourdes Niehaus on a 5 km, 3-hour, moderate hike into the Horse Barn Valley Interpretive Forest to look for striped and spotted coral root, calypso orchids, glacier lilies and so much more.

Learn how to participate in the Annual Calypso Orchid Count, May10 to May 25.