Lewis’s mock-orange, Philadelphus lewisii, is an exceptionally fragrant shrub that’s native to a wide swath of western North America from Montana and British Columbia to California. It’s more common on the dry side of the mountains, but is found in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties and 35 of 36 in Oregon. Continue reading
When you think of dogwood, do you think of a tree or a groundcover? If you only think about dogwood trees, you’ve been missing out on one of my favorite woodland wildflowers. The smallest of our dogwoods is commonly called Bunchberry or Dwarf Dogwood. There are two species in the most populated parts of North America, Cornus canadensis and Cornus unalaschkensis. Some taxonomists lump them together and in the nursery trade it’s almost always sold as Cornus canadensis. Continue reading
One of the complaints I get most frequently in my pocket camera flower photography classes is “my camera won’t focus where I want it to” when shooting close-ups. It doesn’t matter which brand of compact camera people have, it’s a universal problem. I deal with it, too, and I use a nearly top-of-the-line Canon G12. So what’s the solution?
Many of the better compact cameras allow you to switch to manual focus. That puts you, the photographer, in complete control of what’s sharp and what’s not. Continue reading
“Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day.” That’s a saying I learned on the playground many years ago. Unfortunately, just saying it doesn’t make it so. There are times when I’m out on a photo trip and it rains. What to do? Pack up and go home, wait for the rain to stop, or pull out the camera protection and keep working? If I’ve traveled a long way to photograph interesting plants I usually just tough it out and keep working. Here’s how I keep my equipment (mostly) dry so I don’t end up with an expensive repair bill. Continue reading
Western Serviceberry, also known as Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia), is a widespread shrub or small tree that’s found in almost every county in the Pacific Northwest. It blooms in April and early May, depending on elevation and temperature. As I write this on April 29 it’s in bloom right now on both sides of the mountains in Washington and Oregon. Continue reading
Among the first small trees or large shrubs to bloom in western Washington, Oregon, northern California, and British Columbia are the hazelnuts, Corylus avellana (common filbert or European hazelnut) and Corylus cornuta (beaked hazelnut). To the untrained eye these two can be difficult to distinguish.
I continue to be drawn to Chuckanut Mountain trails for my winter hikes. Last weekend I headed up the Fragrance Lake Trail from Larrabee State Park. There’s a lookout over the bay just over a mile from the trailhead and Fragrance Lake itself is only about 2.2 miles with less than 1000 feet of elevation gain. I carried my Canon G12 pocket camera and a small tripod. Continue reading
Last Sunday we Bellinghamsters enjoyed one of several fantastic sunny and relatively warm February days. It was time for another calf-burning loop hike in the Chuckanuts. It had only been a month since I’d been to Lost Lake but I decided to make a return visit. I started hiking from the North Chuckanut trailhead around 9 am, giving myself plenty of time to explore at the lake. This time I hiked the loop clockwise, visiting Lost Lake first and returning via the Chinscraper and Chuckanut Ridge trails. See the Chuckanut trails map, and carry it with you if you go. Continue reading
This past weekend was the beginning of the first real winter we’ve had this season. I took a couple of hikes to keep my blood circulating and to visit a couple of favorite local haunts. Saturday I zipped up to Pine and Cedar Lakes in the Chuckanuts and on Sunday I ambled along the Whatcom Creek trail to Whatcom Falls Park, returning via the Railroad Trail.
Saturday was the beginning of our current snowfall. There was just a bit of slush at the Pine & Cedar trailhead, but by the time I’d gained the roughly 1500′ to the lakes the snow was 5-6 inches deep, relatively light and fluffy. Continue reading
How can you lose a lake? In the Chuckanut Mountains south of Bellingham you just bury the thing in a deep valley beneath a high sandstone cliff and ring it with lush Douglas-fir, hemlock, and cedar forest with a dense groundcover layer of salal, sword ferns, and low Oregon-grape. Add a muddy trail and you’ve got a perfect place to lose yourself for an afternoon.
That’s just what I did this afternoon under a sodden gray sky and chilly temperatures. Well, I didn’t actually get lost, but I did pay a visit to Lost Lake. Here’s the DNR map of the Chuckanut trail system I carried in my pack. You definitely want a map for the maze of trails up there, but it’s definitely worth it. Continue reading
