Helen Lake and beyond, Banff National Park, August 17/09

[Lori S.]

1) Back down around the bend in the forest, Castilleja miniata...
2) I wondered what these pale yellow plants were, in a clearing up on the slope up from the trail...
3, 4, 5, 6) ...Eriogonum umbellatum... the aging flowers demonstrate the appeal of this species as a rock garden specimen...
7) Bow Lake, again, in the distance, over the Gog quartzite boulder rubble...
8 ) And approaching a small burn, skirted by the trail...
9) A burn in lodgepole or jack pine forest would, within a few years, be covered "thicker than hair on a dog" with young pines (as fire causes the cones to open to shed seed) ... but, in the near-monoculture of alpine fir (the cones break down annually) in this area, the tree growth is not as quick to regenerate.

[Lori S.]

And returning to a more vibrant image of greenery for the final photo... Epilobium spp. alongside one of the many little streams that crosses the trail.  

[Paddy Tobin]

Great show, Lori, really enjoyed the trek in the mountains.

Many thanks, Paddy

[Luc Gilgemyn]

An amazing region full of beauty and natural grandeur !!
I join Paddy in my thanks for showing us this - for us - inaccessible area !

The Eriogonums look stunning (as do so many other plants !) 

[cohan]

lots of gems in there, thanks for sharing!
how long was this hike?

[Lori S.]

You're welcome.  It's 6 km to Helen Lake and about 455m elevation gain, according to the trail guide.  The guide also says that the some of the features were named by an American mountaineering party in 1898 - Helen and Katherine Lakes, after the daughters of one of the party, and the "Dolomites", after their resemblance, in the opinions of the party, to... the Dolomites.
(This is one of the trails I mentioned some time back as being very worthwhile, yet without requiring too much exertion.)

[cohan]

You're welcome.  It's 6 km to Helen Lake and about 455m elevation gain, according to the trail guide.  The guide also says that the some of the features were named by an American mountaineering party in 1898 - Helen and Katherine Lakes, after the daughters of one of the party, and the "Dolomites", after their resemblance, in the opinions of the party, to... the Dolomites.
(This is one of the trails I mentioned some time back as being very worthwhile, yet without requiring too much exertion.)

i was thinking it was one you had mentioned..we'll see if we get down that way this year again or not...
i think there is a place where the highway crosses helen creek? or maybe its somewhere else... we used to stop on family trips to b.c. to take pictures of my mother, helen, in front of the sign...lol

[Lvandelft]

Lori, trying to catch up after several weeks on holidays, and the Travel/Places to visit
being one of my favourite sites.
This is an outstanding beautiful area. See so many plants pictured I didn't see before.
Beautiful pictures as usual!

Looking at the leaves I cannot believe that the plant pictured as Erigeron aureus is rightly named??

[Lori S.]

Thanks, all, for the comments!

Luit... attached are cropped versions of two "Erigeron aureus" pix  (9112 and 9172) that focus on the foliage.  In the second  one (9172), there is also a Sibbaldia procumbens growing up through the plant.  Is that perhaps what you saw?
Other than that, Moss and Packer describe the foliage as "basal leaves with broad obovate or elliptical blades, often abruptly narrowed to the petiole, hirsute or hirsute-villose with appressed or loose hairs", which seems to fit.  Other characteristics - rare stem leaves, involucral bracts that are green with purple tips or purple, flower form and number of ligules - seem to support Erigeron aureus (our only yellow erigeron), but I am open to suggestion, and hoping to learn and improve!    What do you think from the close-ups?   

Cohan - good thing you took photos and can treasure that as a childhood memory, because there's no sign there anymore, sorry to say. 

[cohan]

Cohan - good thing you took photos and can treasure that as a childhood memory, because there's no sign there anymore, sorry to say. 

its not impossible that it was some other place along the road with a 'helen' place name..my  mother might remember better where it was

[ranunculus]

It wouldn't have been 'Helen back' would it Cohan?  I've been there a couple of times!   

[cohan]

It wouldn't have been 'Helen back' would it Cohan?  I've been there a couple of times!   

lol--no, no, these were gentle family trips with my grandparents, nothing like that

[Lvandelft]

Thanks, all, for the comments!

Luit... attached are cropped versions of two "Erigeron aureus" pix  (9112 and 9172) that focus on the foliage.  In the second  one (9172), there is also a Sibbaldia procumbens growing up through the plant.  Is that perhaps what you saw?
Other than that, Moss and Packer describe the foliage as "basal leaves with broad obovate or elliptical blades, often abruptly narrowed to the petiole, hirsute or hirsute-villose with appressed or loose hairs", which seems to fit.  Other characteristics - rare stem leaves, involucral bracts that are green with purple tips or purple, flower form and number of ligules - seem to support Erigeron aureus (our only yellow erigeron), but I am open to suggestion, and hoping to learn and improve!    What do you think from the close-ups?   

 

Lori, I saw indeed the leaves of Sibbaldia, which confused me.
I googled a little and found some varied pictures of Erigeron aureus.
But the plant you showed is the same as in the eol.org pages.

[Ewelina Wajgert]

Lori,
Beautiful photos but these burned areas in America look terrifying. I didn't see unfortunately somebody that extinguish fire.

[Lori S.]

Yes, it would certainly be terrifying to be there while the burn is happening!  On the other hand, forest fires are a part of nature... instrumental in rejuvenating pine forests, and in maintaining grasslands.