Another Visit to Lake Elizabeth

We made a number of visits to Lake Elizabeth this summer, now that the Forest Service road to the lake is open once again.  The visit does not require a 14 mile hike.  The road has been badly washed out in several locations and it took the Forest Service a long time, several years, to get it repaired and open again.  Until this year a visit required a 14 miles hike.

Lake Elizabeth is an alpine lake in the North Cascades near Skykomish, Washington.  It and the surrounding area support a rich variety of plants including many native orchids.  We had been there earlier in the season (July 18) to see some of the orchids that were in bloom then, but had a somewhat different purpose this time.

On this visit we were looking for one orchid especially, the tiny, rare, and elusive Chamisso's Orchid, Platanthera chorisiana, which had been reported from the sedge mats on the far side of the lake many years ago and again more recently.  We had searched there before both on our own and with others and not found it.

This time, knowing that it had been found again, we found it too, but it was well past its peak and photos of it will have to wait until another trip and another season.  We were not disappointed, however, since we found two other native orchids in bloom, as well as other treasures, including the lake itself which can be hiked around.

One of the other orchids we found in two varieties, the Tall White Northern Bog Orchis, Platanthera dilatata var. dilatata, and the Sierra Rein Orchis, Platanthera dilatata var. leucostachys.  These are two of three varieties of Platanthera dilatata, all three of them often referred to as Bog Candles and all of them sweetly scented.

These three varieties are distinguished by the length of the spur, in var. dilatata the spur is about the length of the lip and in var. leucostachys it is clearly longer than the lip.  We have not found the long-spurred variety as often as the others and were delighted to find it in this location, along with the Hooded Ladies' Tresses, Spiranthes romanzoffiana.

Bog-trotting on Vancouver Island

 On July 20, I traveled to Vancouver Island to meet a friend from New York and to go hunting with him for a very rare native orchid.  He was in Vancouver in the middle of a native-orchid trek that had already covered 5000 miles.  He had contacted Dr. Hans Roemer, a botanist and ecologist with the BC government who agreed to take us on a guided hike to see this orchid, Platanthera chorisiana, Chamisso's Orchid.

We had looked for this orchid in several locations here in Washington where it had been previously reported.  We looked twice at Lake Serene and three or four times at Lake Elizabeth, both in the Central Cascades.  At Lake Serene we discovered that the site had been destroyed by a rockslide, and at Lake Elizabeth could not find the plants which had been reported growing on a sedge mat on the far side of the lake.

The plant is actually quite small and insignificant - only about 15 cm with 3 mm flowers that do not open very far and are self-pollinating.  We did find them in several different locations, about fifteen plants in all, but had to look hard for them as they were often hidden in other vegetation.  Dr. Roemer had discovered them there years ago and had more recently obtained GPS coordinates for them.

Our excursion took us about two hours away from Victoria to the west and past the town of Sooke to a forest road that went up about 700 meters (2000 feet) above sea level to a very wet and boggy area, just the right conditions for this orchid which likes cold, high-altitude bogs.  This day a cold mist was blowing in from the sea and that in combination with wading through the bog left us cold and wet.

We found the orchid immediately in the bog next to the place we parked, several plants growing on the north side of trees in somewhat shaded and slightly drier locations than the other plants.  Growing all around were two other native orchids, the Slender Bog Orchis (Platanthera stricta) and the Bog Candle (Platanthera dilatata var. dilatata), along with numerous sedges and other bog plants.

There was evidence of bears everywhere, skunk cabbages dug up with their roots eaten and a lot of scat, some of it very fresh, but we saw no bears.  We hiked in for about two hours, through open areas full of Cotton Grass and wildflowers, squelching our way through the bog and always watching for deeper holes.  Tom, the friend from New York, actually did fall into one of the holes and got wet up to his knees.

We photographed a number of other wildflowers including the Columbia Lily (Lilium columbianum), the Swamp Gentian (Gentiana douglasiana), the Yellow Pond Lily (Nuphar polysepala), the Sticky False Asphodel (Tolfieldia glutinosa), an Aster that I did not ask about and have been unable to identify, and the ever-present Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum).

At the location where Dr. Roemer had found Chamisso's Orchid previously we searched for quite some time and eventually found about a dozen plants.  I am sure there were more, but they are so small and blend in so well with the surrounding plants, that we were fortunate to find so many.  Ryan, a friend of Dr. Roemer, who accompanied us, seemed to be the best at finding them.

When we returned, we visited two other sites, a Provincial Park where Piperia elegans, the Elegant Piperia, was growing along the seaside.  Many of the plants there were deformed, probably as the result of a late frost, according to Dr. Roemer.  At his home we found that Piperia and another, Piperia transversa, the Flat-spurred Piperia, growing in the woods.

After enjoying the gracious hospitality of Dr. Roemer and his wonderful wife, Heidi, with coffee and tarts, we headed back to Victoria and parted ways, Tom to catch up with his family, and myself to catch the ferry for the mainland and home.  It was a wonderful day, made all the more wonderful by Dr. Roemer's encyclopaedic knowledge of the flora, ecology and geology of Vancouver Island.

Lake Serene

On our way home from Spokane, Friday, August 20, my wife and I hiked the trail to Lake Serene.  We were looking for a very rare orchid there, but were also interested in the scenery which we had been told was spectacular, both up at the lake and on the way at Bridal Veil Falls.

The day was overcast and we hiked through a heavy mist.  We had a very early start, too, and for all these reasons found almost no one on trail until we started back.  By then the mist had cleared and the sun was shining and the trail was very busy.

Busy trails of this sort are not the kind we prefer, but this proved very worthwhile.  We did not find the orchid, but saw the falls through the mist and enjoyed the spectacular scenery at the lake which lies at the foot of Mount Index.  The pictures explain why we would recommend this hike.

We hiked a total of about seven or eight miles, which included a side trail to the falls and gained about 2000 feet in elevation.  Because we spend a lot of time taking pictures, we took about seven hours to do the hike, including time spent at the lake relaxing and enjoying the scenery.

There were hardly any flowers blooming, but the leaves were falling, both because it's late in the season and because it's been very dry.  We did see some slugs, one orchid, the Giant Rattlesnake Orchis, and lots of spider webs which had collected the mist and really stood out.

 Old Growth Forest

 Alders

 Cedars

 Pacific Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus)

Pacific Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus)

 

 Unidentified Club Moss

 Unidentified Conk (Shelf Fungus)

 Unidentified Fungi

 Sweating Conk (Red Banded Polypore)

 Bridal Veil Falls

Downstream from the Falls

 

 Upper Falls

 Cape Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

 Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)

 Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)

Giant Rattlesnake Orchis (Goodyera oblongifolia)

Fallen Maple Leaf

Spider Webs

 Lake Serene

Lake Serene and Mount Index

And last, but not least, a few photos taken on the same trail of the view, of Bridal Veil Falls and of Lake Serene on another occasion - a beautiful sunny day.