Busy Day

Perhaps the hottest day yet at Paradise Meadows - and a busy day with two programs - photographer Chris Carter & a history slide show with Lindsay Elms. If you missed either presentation, some of Chris' work can be seen upstairs at the Centre, and Lindsay's book 'Beyond Nootka' as well as postcards of Strathcona Park mountains are for sale there.

Busy day with visitors as well - from Washington to Missouri in the USA,  from Switzerland to Germany in Europe , and from Israel in the Middle East!

Hikers are reporting some snow in meadows past Kwai Lake, with the trail to Circlet fairly clear, Circlet Lake free of ice and just a few tent platforms not yet cleared at the campsite. The trail to Cruickshank Canyon lookout is reported to have some snow around the farthest lakes with possible difficulty route-finding. Many hikers have been successfully hiking up Mt Albert Edward despite snow cover on some of the sections.

Amphitheatre Lake photo by Tim Penney

A preview of next Saturday's hike to Amphitheatre Lake has been posted on the Comox District Mountaineering Club website here.

Mt Allan Brooks: Through the Generations

A great trip to Mt Allan Brooks with a great group from as far afield as Nanaimo & Campbell River. The 7-1/2 hr. hike traversed through sub-alpine meadow, then bushwacking uphill, up heather slopes, some steeper scrambling, over a few snow slopes to reach the summit with a spectacular panorama of Strathcona Park mountains.

 'Heart Pond' on route before ascending uphill through bushy woods

 Panorama looking northeast- from Divers Lake to Lake Helen Mackenzie

thanks to John for the photo!

 The group on the summit of Mt Allan Brooks

 Tom - happy to be on the summit!

 Julian Brooks gives a brief history of the naming of the mountain for both his grandfather & father:  Major Allan Cyril Brooks, noted ornithologist & artist; and Allan Cecil Brooks (Jr), biologist & teacher.

 Penstemon at the top of Mt Allan Brooks

 Subalpine meadows below

 Common butterwort along the Lake Helen Mackenzie trail

Thanks to guides Steve & Marlene Smith for guiding the hike - a tough route but a very worthwhile day!

Art, Nature, History Weekend

Several spectacular sunny days in a row up at Paradise Meadows - and many more predicted!

Several visitors have been taking advantage of the wheelchairs on hand at the Centre - they are free to borrow during opening hours, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

There are still a lot of snowy sections past Kwai Lake, so always  be prepared for conditions and do not go farther than your ability. A couple of days ago a hiker coming down from Mt. Albert Edward continued too far northward along the shoulder rather than coming off toward Circlet Lake, ending up much too far north & triggering a late-night search by CVGSAR, luckily with a happy ending. Map & compass or GPS are always advisable in the backcountry.

Several hikers have successfully completed the Augerpoint Traverse in the past week - reports of conditions are on the Club Tread website. This classic route goes from the Paradise Meadows area across to Buttle Lake.

Paradise Meadows Panorama copyright Chris Carter

On Sunday Aug. 28th there are two programs scheduled at the Wilderness Centre:

At 10 a.m., join an Art & Nature Talk & Walk with well-known nature photographer Chris Carter on “Great Photo-Ops in Paradise Meadows”. Chris will give an indoor talk about photographic compositions, illustrating with his own work; and then take an excursion into the meadows. Several of Chris’ panoramic compositions are on display and for sale at the Centre.

Old Cabin at Kwai Lake

At 1 pm. join Strathcona Wilderness Institute director Lindsay Elms for an indoor History Talk on “Stories of Strathcona Park”. Elms is an experienced mountaineer & author of ‘Beyond Nootka: a Historical Perspective of Vancouver Island Mountains’. Copies of this fascinating history are available for sale at the Centre.

Mt Brooks Hike is Full!

The hike on Saturday Aug. 27 scheduled for Mt Allan Brooks is now full - names will be taken for a waiting list. Please email coordinator(at)strathconapark(dot)org to place your name on the list.

Visitors to the Wilderness Centre yesterday included Gil Parker, one of the people involved with the VI Spine Trail. Gil also revised & expanded the latest edition  of Hiking Trails 3 - the indispensible guide to hiking in Strathcona Park! Copies are available for sale at the Centre.

Today & tomorrow's volunteer at the Centre is Mary, a member of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society who has already helped out many days,  with several of the weekend programs.

Accessible Wilderness Day

The Accessible Wilderness Day at Paradise Meadows was a great success . Organized by BC Parks & the Accessible Wilderness Society, over 120 people turned out to enjoy the fully accessible Centennial Trail with a variety of mobility devices. Centennial funding for the event was received from MEC as part of their '100 Years of Adventure' partnership with BC Parks , and  community groups & businesses contributed cake, draw prizes, and numerous displays.

 Piper Brian Shaw entertains the crowd.

 Environment Minister Terry Lake acknowledges the work of all those involved in creating  accessibility to Paradise Meadows.

 Andy Smith of BC Parks describes the freewheel attachment for wheelchairs which allows easier use of trails.

Parks Facility Operator Jerry MacArthur describes the trails to visitors.

Participants in the nature walks guided by Strathcona Wilderness Institute volunteers looked at insects , such as carpenter ants;  flowers, such as the newly blooming butterwort; and several birds including the whiskey jacks which always arrive when people gather!

A stuffed animal was reported lost on the trail - if you find a small brown dog, please turn it in to the Wilderness Centre. A couple of items were found as well - please contact the Centre to claim any items: coordinator(at)strathconapark(dot)org

Birthday Visitors Day

Paradise Meadows is a great place to celebrate a birthday apparently - over 30 friends & family of an 85-year-old birthday girl  came up to stroll the boardwalk & have a picnic lunch outside the Wilderness Centre. The sturdy wheelchairs that the Centre has on hand came in handy for the visitors. The watermelon was much appreciated on such a hot day!

Recent Park visitors have included Canadians from all over BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec & Nova Scotia; Americans from Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Minnesota, Colorado, North Carolina, Arkansas, Texas, Florida & New York; Europeans from the UK, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, &  Czech Republic; and other visitors from even farther: Australia, New Zealand, & Panama!

After a few weeks of not visiting, there was once again a young black bear seen in the meadows, on  the east side of the Centennial loop.

Weekend Events

The Comox District Mountaineering Club has posted a schedule of the events for the 'Strathcona Wilderness Festival' happening on Saturday Aug. 20 from 10 am-5 pm at the Buttle Lake area of Strathcona Park.  Organized by Friends of Strathcona Park, many other groups involved with the Park including members of the Strathcona Wilderness Institute will be there.

View across Paradise Ponds from the Centennial Loop Trail

On Sunday Aug. 21, from 12:30 -3:30 pm,  BC Parks & the Accessible Wilderness Society are hosting 'Family Fun Day for Every-Body' - an Accessible Wilderness Day - at Paradise Meadows. Strathcona Wilderness Institute volunteer  Terry Thormin will guide a nature walk around the 2 km. accessible Centennial Trail at 1 pm. Terry is an expert birder & entomologist as well as an excellent photographer - check out his photo galleries!

 'Buckbean Pond' along the Centennial Loop Trail

Latest Flowers

More plants are now blooming up at Paradise Meadows, as the summer continues.

 sticky false asphodel (Tofieldia glutinosa)

 three-leaved goldthread (Coptis trifolia) and seed capsules

 Sitka mountain-ash (Sorbus sitchensis)

Many blooms are even more abundant now.

 pink mountain-heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis) & white mountain-heather (Cassiope mertensiana)

 Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)

mountain arnica (Arnica latifolia)

 bracted lousewort (Pedicularis bracteosa)

Six-inch-long rainbow trout are flourishing in Paradise Creek.

Picture Perfect Day

Shaw Community TV visited the Centre today to video some of the Park & interview some of  the Strathcona Wilderness Institute volunteers. The whiskey jacks visited too!

Melissa from Shaw TV watches the whiskey jacks

The blue sky was great for scenic photos - reflecting in the ponds & streams of the meadows and providing a perfect backdrop for the mountains.

Reflections in the big pond

Strollers easily negotiate the steps of the Paradise Meadows loop trail

Jutland Mountain with pink mountain-heather

Summer Showers, Summer Flowers

The nature walk yesterday to identify summer flowers in the meadows began & ended with a few showers, though the rain held off during the walk itself. Below a list of plants reported:
Trees:
Mountain hemlock
Amabilis fir
Subalpine fir
Western white pine
Yellow cedar

Shrubs:
Oval-leaved blueberry
Dwarf blueberry
Alaskan blueberry
False azalea
White flowered rhododendron
White mountain-heather
Pink mountain-heather
Crowberry
Western bog-laurel
Five-leaved bramble
Arctic willow
Sitka mountain ash
Bog blueberry

Liliaceae:
False hellebore
Clasping twistedstalk

Orchidaceae:
Rattlesnake plantain
Northwestern twayblade
White bog-orchid

Saxifragaeae:
Leatherleaf saxifrage

Rosaceae:
Partridgefoot
Sitka burnet

Violaceae:
 Early blue violet
Stream violet

Asteraceae:
Mountain arnica
Pearly everlasting
 
Ranunculaceae:
Alpine white marsh-marigold
Globeflower
False bugbane

Fabaceae:
Arctic lupine

Scrophulariaceae:
Bracted lousewort

Other families:
Three-leaved goldthread
Jeffrey's shootingstar
Pretty shootingstar
Bunchberry
Deer cabbage
Sitka valerian
Swamp lantern
Buckbean
Sundew
Common butterwort
Fireweed

Grasses:
Black alpine sedge
Meten's rush
Arctic bluegrass

Thanks to Mary & Fred for sending the lists!

BC Parks rangers Gemma & Geoff were on site assembling the 2nd of two picnic tables, now in place in front of the Centre.

Hikers reported a Great Blue Heron in the Paradise Meadows ponds, a rather unusual sight - though where there are fish, there will be herons!

On the BCVI Birds Yahoo group website, a hiker & birder from Ladysmith reported on a recent trek through the central part of Strathcona Park:
Hermit Thrush: full song at 1200 meters Aug 5 & 1500 m Aug 10
Gray Jays
Rufous Hummingbirds: at up to 1700 m
American Pipits: July 24 etc at 1600 to 1800 m
Peregrine Falcon: at 1600 m
Gray-crowned Rosy Finches: including a begging juvenile
Bald Eagles: 2 "almost adults" at 1700 m with white head & tail and significant light wing patches
Goldeneye (Common?) single female at 1500 m
WT Ptarmigan: lotsa poop, but only one adult sighted at 1740 m
Sooty Grouse adult hen: at 1720 m on Aug 9, the highest I have ever sighted.
in Marble Meadows approx 1475 m elevation: RB Nuthatches, Juncos, CB Chickadees, and very surprising . . . 2 American Robins . . . one of which was an obvious juvenile.

Some lost & found over the weekend: a pair of sunglasses, and a black umbrella with a music motif pattern. Contact coordinator(at)strathconapark.org to retrieve any items.

Hike to Croteau Lake

The hike to Croteau Lake attracted participants from 8 to 65 for this six hour hike through rolling terrain past meadows, ponds & lakes.

Marsh marigold has been abundant in the meadows for over a month, now accented with globeflower. 

Green-flowered bog-orchids are appearing among the swaths of shooting star.

The company of whiskey jacks along the way was especially enjoyable! Just hold out your hand & they will visit.

On the drier rocky areas toward the Plateau, paintbrush is beginning.

Croteau Lake was free of snow - interestingly, one remaining patch filled the old foundations of the Croteau cabin on the edge of the lake.

Thanks to guides Robin & Jennifer for contributing some natural history knowledge, expecially about the 'watermelon snow'! The Wilderness Centre has a copy of the latest BC Nature magazine which explains the ecology of the pink patches of algae seen on snow.

Everyone ably negotiated the remaining patches of snow, mainly past Battleship Lake, on the way to Croteau Lake.  Other hikers reported heavier snow from Kwai Lake to Circlet Lake, with some difficulty route-finding. A couple of hikers did camp at Circlet Lake where they reported several tent platforms are now cleared, and the lake is starting to thaw. They were able to summit Mt Albert Edward as the snow was soft enough for kicking steps on the steeper parts.

As the snow melts, the trails are getting muddier, so appropriate footwear is required, so that you can walk through the wet areas rather than widening the trail.

More Sitka valerian is blooming, as well as three-leaved goldthread, pink and white mountain-heathers, bog-laurel, and mountain arnica. Partridgefoot is beginning to bloom.

Divers Lake

With summer in full bloom, an impromptu outing to Divers Lake was in order.  This area, added to Strathcona Park in 2003, is accessed via logging roads through private forest lands. The Park incorporates the last portion of the logging road before the trail enters uncut timber.

red columbine (Aquilegia formosa)

stream violets (Viola glabella)

Columbine were blooming in the open areas and violets in the woods.

A beautifully broken tree is a notable landmark on the trail.

At the outflow from Divers to Rossiter Lake, the flowing water was high enough to make for a rather tricky & nerve-wracking crossing, in order to get to the sub-alpine meadows on the other side.  The ponds of the meadows capture reflections of the steep western bluffs of Mt. Allan Brooks and Strata Mountain which appears conical from this vantage point.

Mt Allan Brooks on left, Strata Mountain on right 

western bog-laurel (Kalmia microphylla ssp.occidentalis)

The meadows were full of cotton-grass, bog laurel, and pink mountain heather, with accents of early blue violet and northern starflower.

pink mountain-heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis)

early blue violet (Viola adunca)

northern starflower (Trientalis arctica)

One significant difference from the Paradise Meadows ponds was the abundance of Labrador tea.

Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

Judging by the footprints in the wet areas, deer frequent these meadows - as well as birds - probably the spotted sandpiper seen on the far side of the pond.

Buttle Lake Area Updates

A few updates on the Buttle Lake area trails in Strathcona Park:

Flower Ridge: Snow patches start just after the spring camping spot, solid snow before leaving the trees. Water available in melted snow puddle on the ridge, solid snow cover as far as could be seen appearing to be at least a metre deep.

 Crest Mountain:  Almost clear of snow just some patches on the plateau to the summit. Care should be taken crossing the bridge at the start at the narrows, as there is a very large wasp nest on the left handrail: Don't forget it will be on your right when coming back out.

 Price Creek Trail:  Heavy run-off at the creek crossing soon after leaving the old road, left at the signpost; care needed when crossing, also more than one bear seen in the area.

This info from Gerry Roberts, Strathcona Wilderness Institute director & volunteer operator of the Buttle Lake Information Hut, operated by SWI; as reported by visitors from the weekend of Aug. 5-7.

Rare Birds & Summer Plants

A rare bird in Paradise Meadows was reported on the VIBC Birds Yahoo Group - an American Three-toed Woodpecker! According to the Victoria birder, "The Three-toed was foraging in the Mountain Hemlocks beside the trail junction at the far southern end of Battleship Lake - at this junction the eastern fork leads to Lady Lake, and the western fork leads to Lake Helen MacKenzie."

The notice was  posted on Sat. 6th however the bird was seen on Wed. 3rd. Although these birds breed in the sub-alpine  they are very rarely seen.

A walk around the Centennial Trail at the close of a brilliant sunny day today revealed more flowers emerging.

Deer-cabbage

Green-flowered bog-orchid

Early blue violet

Green-flowered bog-orchid, common butterwort, early blue violet, three-leaved goldthread, and deer-cabbage are among the newest blooms.

Western bog-laurel

Globeflower

Bee visiting Jeffrey's shootingstar

White-flowered rhododendron

White-flowered rhododendron and false azalea blooms are increasing. Alpine white marsh marigold are still abundant, interspersed with  swaths of shootingstar, and accented with globeflower, western bog-laurel, pink and white mountain-heathers.

Clasping twistedstalk

Mountain arnica

Clasping twistedstalk, mountain arnica and mitrewort species are also emerging.

Some unusual bird behaviour also - a Steller's Jay feeding alongside a log began covering its unknown meal by spreading its wings with a display known as 'mantling' - usually observed with raptors  as they try to protect their food from other predators!

By the way, belated thanks to the unknown hiker who turned in a wallet found on the trail  - it will shortly be re-united with its owner!