Posts Tagged ‘Floerkea’
The Bristow Prairie Area Continues to Yield More Discoveries
Frosted paintbrush (Castilleja pruinosa) and hotrock penstemon (Penstemon deustus) up on the rocky bald.
After finally spotting the hidden north trailhead last summer (see A Grand Day Exploring Bristow Prairie’s Varied Habitats), John Koenig and I returned last fall to do the northern end of the High Divide trail that crosses Bristow Prairie. We discovered an awesome pillar rock, moist forest, and more meadows, so it was definitely worth a return trip. On Wednesday (June 11), Sabine Dutoit and I decided to head up there and see what the area looks like in flower. We still had trouble finding the trailhead, as although John and I had found the trail sign in the ditch and put it back up on the road, it was moved yet again. Luckily, I had made a GPS waypoint last year. Once we found the trailhead, just a tad up the road from a quarry and pillar rock I had checked out a few years ago, we could see the sign had been placed on the ground next to the trail, just up into the woods—not much good for spotting the trail from the road, but at least we knew we were in the right place! Read the rest of this entry »
More Discoveries Just South of Bristow Prairie
I had to wade into this little pond to photograph the amazing display of white water buttercup (Ranunculus aquatilis).
After our great day on Friday (see A Grand Day Exploring Bristow Prairie’s Varied Habitats), John and I were both anxious to do more exploring near Bristow Prairie. We had originally thought we might be able to head down along the trail to the south, but we ran out of time on Friday, so we thought it would be well worth a return trip. I wanted to get back before the heatwave dried up all the little annuals, so we headed back up again on Monday, July 1 (July already!).
We wanted to hike in from the southern trailhead, which is a little ways past Bradley Lake, so we headed up Coal Creek Road 2133. We stopped briefly at a seep along the roadcut where we found a new population of Thompson’s mistmaiden (Romanzoffia thompsonii). Unfortunately, a whole family of ticks also discovered me. I had to flick at least 10 off my pants before entering the car. I really hate ticks, but the feeling doesn’t seem to be mutual. At least we got the low point of the day out of the way quickly. Although I wanted to get the hike done first and make our stops on the way back, especially because the heat of the day, we couldn’t help ourselves and had to check out at least a few of our favorite places along this long but floriferous route. A shallow pond was filled with water buttercup. Many butterflies were enjoying the spot, too. One of them, a hoary comma, became enamored of John and spent quite some time checking out his hat, shirt, and binoculars. We finally had to send him on his way, so we could get back into the car and on our way. Just a little ways before the trailhead, I finally got to experience the fabulous bloom of a large area of spreading phlox, growing in what look like they might be gravel piles created when the road was built. I’d collected seeds there before but had never been early enough for the flowers. Read the rest of this entry »
A Grand Day Exploring Bristow Prairie’s Varied Habitats
On Friday, June 28, John Koenig, Gail Baker, Clay Gautier, and I went up to into the Calapooya Mountains to explore Bristow Prairie. It was a great day with all kinds of interesting discoveries. We had to stop a number of times on the road on the way up. Our first was at a large sweep of beautiful Geranium oreganum alive with butterflies—to be honest, the butterflies were more interested in the weedy daisies, but at least the numerous bees appreciated the natives. We also checked out Jim’s Oak Patch, but the uncommon species that came in after the prescribed burn seem to have disappeared, at least until the next fire. I also had to share with my friends the awesome Mosaic Rock. We decided not to climb up to the base since we would need the time at our main destination, but with binoculars I could see some of the Heuchera merriamii was in full bloom. Oh well, you can’t do everything.
The late afternoon sun illuminates the cliffs of Staley Ridge to the east and Diamond Peak beyond.