This weekend Jocie and I decided to venture into the snow and look for early blooming plants at Paradise Meadows in Strathcona Provincial Park. This section of the park is easily accessible once the snow pack melts and the boardwalk and trail is clear—it’s a great place to see some of the beautiful flowers that make the meadows special. Still …
Paradise Meadows
Over in the Meadow
A couple of weeks ago when I hiked out to Moat Lake, the fall colours were just starting to get interesting. This coming long weekend the display should be well along, and the rich reds of the blueberry leaves, the golden yellow of the Jeffrey’s shootingstar leaves, and the brilliant white-flowering rhododendrons should be spectacular. Paradise Meadows #1 The golden …
March to Moat Lake
I don’t know what was more difficult: the long hike out and back to Moat Lake in Strathcona Provincial Park, or sorting through the photographs this week. The hike was a physically draining 25+ km and by hour 8 I was literally dragging my feet from Croteau Lake down through Battleship and Paradise Meadows. The light was less than ideal …
Heathers
On our walk around Paradise Meadows this week both species of heather commonly found in the sub-alpine were in full bloom. Fairly easy to identify, you can impress fellow hikers with your ability to separate the two plants. Pink mountain-heather has flowers that are … pink. White mountain-heather has flowers that are … white. There you have it. Once you’ve …
Paradise Meadows Perambulation
Jocie and I had a “kid-free day” today and made the most of it by heading up to Paradise Meadows in Strathcona Provincial Park. The weather on Vancouver Island has been hot and clear for over a week and last winter’s snow is gone in the lower meadows, although patches remain in the shady section of the Lake Helen Mackenzie …
Roots of Gold
One of the easily missed flowers in the sub-alpine is the Three-leaved Goldthread (Coptis trifolia). I found several in bloom on a walk around Paradise Meadows earlier this month. Like the name suggests, it has three evergreen basal leaves. The small white flower and three basal leaves of Three-leaved Goldthread (Coptis trifolia) make it easy to identify. Compare the simple …
More Flowers in Paradise Meadows
While the Jeffrey’s Shootingstar display in Paradise Meadows, Strathcona Provincial Park, British Columbia is exceptional right now, so are many other flowers in the meadows. The late snow melt has compressed the wildflower bloom into a shorter time frame and as a result many early spring flowers are blooming at the same time as late summer flowers. Further into the …
Delightful Dodecatheons
Jeffrey’s Shootingstar (Dodecatheon jeffreyi) is out in full force in Paradise Meadows, Strathcona Provincial Park. The timing of this bloom couldn’t be more perfect, coinciding with the Perseids meteor shower. In the meadows, the downward pointing flowers might just be more spectacular than the display in the night sky in mid-August. Take a walk around the wheelchair accessible boardwalk and …
Kwai Lake Hike
It’s been a late year for hiking in the sub-alpine on Vancouver Island. I thought I’d check out the “back-country” of Paradise Meadows, Strathcona Provincial Park today before the rain moves in later in the week. My original plan was to complete the shortish (about 8 km) Lake Helen MacKenzie loop but trail conditions were fairly good up to the …
Early Sub-alpine Flowers
In an effort to find some allergy relief we headed up to Paradise Meadows in Strathcona Provincial Park to survey the trail conditions. We knew that with the record snowfall this winter most of the meadow trails would be still be under snow and from the looks of things it might be late July before the trails are accessible for …