Lizard Range, SE British Columbia

[Gabriela]

Few pictures from a short trip at the end of July in the Lizard Range Mts. The town of Fernie (mostly a winter ski resort) located about one hour drive from Cranbrook offers easy accessibility to quite a few hiking trails. Two chair lifts operate in the summer and thus allow more time for botanizing.

First images are from the Lizard Bowl area and I start a bit in the reverse but it was very exciting to find at high elevation (about 2000m) Erythronium grandiflorum flowering. A first time for me.







Close to the glacier lilies, few Anemone occidentalis still in flower and also Anemone parviflora.

[Gabriela]

The beauty of hiking in the mountains is that at lower altitude one may find in seeds some of the top flowering species.
Anemone occidentalis is represented in large numbers in the whole area.


Castilleja species symbols of North American mountains - the ones found mostly belong to C. miniata, but not sure about all.


Then there are the Penstemons of course - Penstemon lyallii


Penstemon ellipticus (most likely)


And Penstemon confertus, beauty in the numbers, practically everywhere; pale yellow usually this light pink form was unique.


I'll add few more pictures tomorrow...

[Leucogenes]

What fantastic pictures...Gabriela.

 I have a botanical friend in Vancouver. He undertakes many hikes in the mountains of BC and Washington State. He sends me many similar photos from this breathtaking landscape.

 I hope we get to see more of those great photos of you.

Thank you
Thomas

[David Nicholson]

Lovely set of pictures Gabriela

[Vincent]

Thank you for posting, Gabriela. Wonderful pictures. The Anemone parviflora is very beautiful. Is it difficult to grow? And is this limestone?

[Gabriela]

Thanks all.

Thomas - I hope you get and do some hiking in the North American Mts. one day! The distance is much shorter than going to NZ

Vincent - I don't know about growing A. parviflora, we'll discover soon, there were some seeds at lower elevation. The whole area is a combination of various sedimentary rocks but I think is limestone in this picture.

[Gabriela]

Vincent question made me think I should have presented a bit more the mountains from the area, first came the rocks and then the plants
Fernie town apparently sits in a former glacial valley and is surrounded by various mountains, which most are up side down! The substrate is composed by various sedimentary rocks, shale, limestone, siltstone, sandstone and in many places the rock strata are clearly visible.
As much as plants this area must be a paradise for any geologist.

Fernie can be seen from almost any direction when hiking, sitting in the valley bellow.


Opposite view from Lizard Bowl, with the Morrisey Ridge and Mt. Hosmer


Next time this will be first hike - Mt. Hosmer


Another from the many bowls, Currie Bowl - they were doing amazing work out there. The chair line seen there is out of function.


One more view with the Lizard and various peaks

[Gabriela]

The last shown picture is the starting point for an amazing hike to be done (actually more) - the Spineback trail. No chair and it is is is steep but well worth it!
This is the reward



Saxifraga bronchialis ssp. austromontana


maybe more later...

[Maggi Young]

Superb photos, Gabriela !1

[Leucogenes]

Thanks all.

Thomas - I hope you get and do some hiking in the North American Mts. one day! The distance is much shorter than going to NZ

I hope so too...Gabriela. However, I must first learn the English language (or hire an interpreter 😉).

The flight time is significantly shorter... Yesterday we drove to Tuscany (between Florence and Lucca)...13 hours. During this time I would have flown easily to the west coast. But the long drive was worth it...Pictures

Thomas

[Gabriela]

Thanks Maggi.

Thomas - you don't have to worry about the language, many here speak a less than perfect English and all is fine
Yes, your drive was worth it!
That's very nice in Europe, the relatively short distances, in many regions in 3-4 hours one can travel from the mountains to the sea.

A few more pictures with North American beauties.

Eriogonum umbellatum var. subalpinum, frequent


Eriogonum ovalifolium, a rarity in the area


Phacelia sericea and Aquilegia flavescens - everywhere




Along the Spineback trail Adiatum aleuticum growing in full sun, there were many more plants on a rocky slope.

[Hoy]

Very nice, Gabriela!

Although we have a few mountains in Norway they are very different - and the flora is less rich most places.

[ruweiss]

Gabriela, many thanks for taking us to these spectacular places, decorated by
beautiful plants.

[Gabriela]

Thank you Trond and Rudi!
It is a privilege to be able to travel to such magnificent mountains and share their beauty with everyone else.

[Harald-Alex.]

The beauty of hiking in the mountains is that at lower altitude one may find in seeds some of the top flowering species.
Anemone occidentalis is represented in large numbers in the whole area.
(Attachment Link)

Castilleja species symbols of North American mountains - the ones found mostly belong to C. miniata, but not sure about all.
(Attachment Link)

Then there are the Penstemons of course - Penstemon lyallii
(Attachment Link)
Hallo Gabriela, this are wonderful fotos of the northamerica mountains, with wild plants, weknow here as rare pants!

Penstemon ellipticus (most likely)
(Attachment Link)

And Penstemon confertus, beauty in the numbers, practically everywhere; pale yellow usually this light pink form was unique.
(Attachment Link)

I'll add few more pictures tomorrow...