A short hike on USFS trail 223 ~ July 11, 2017

Sometimes it’s nice to begin a hike with a pleasant scene.

USFS trail 223 starts along the river at an elevation of about 2,400 feet, climbs up and over a small hill then proceeds up the river for another 7 or 8 miles. In their seasons, wildflowers along it are diverse and plentiful. Those included in this post are the late-season ones.

Evening Primrose (Oenothera villosa): the first one I had seen this year.

These bluebells are everywhere this time of year and I can seldom pass up a chance to photograph them.

As the trail enters the lower and most dense part of the forest, the color is intense.

The shade-loving Three-leaf Foamflower ~ Tiarella trifoliata 

The berries of the Devil’s Club (Oplopanax horridus) are just beginning to turn red.

I did mention that I love these bluebells, didn’t I?

Slender Hawkweed ~ Hieracium triste

The seed head of the Blue Clematis, (Clematis occidentalis)

I love the steeper parts of this trail: there is a small stream below.

Another flower which grows at just about all elevations, Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea).

These are the fruit of the Clasping Twisted-stalk (Streptopus amplexifolius) which is a plant that I have seen in only two locations. It is interesting because the flowers and fruit appear on the underside of the leaves.

White Sweet-clover ~ Melilotus albus

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A closer look

At a casual glance, the leaves of the Twisted-stalk look like those of the False Solomon’s seal, and for years I didn’t look at them any closer. Then in the Spring Creek canyon one day the sky suddenly opened up and the rain came pouring down, giving me only time enough to pop open a small umbrella that I always carry with me and crouch down under it so that it would keep my camera and most of me dry. That put the plant at eye level and I suddenly saw the little blossoms hiding beneath the large leaves and realized that the inadvertent “closer look” had revealed another plant that was new to me.

Clasp-leaf Twisted-stalk, Clasping Twisted-stalk, Streptopus amplexifolius