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Botany Washington 2008

Spend the weekend on the shores of Lake Crescent and in the Olympic Mountains

July 25 - July 27
Friday – Sunday
Registration form (PDF)

Late July is the time of year for botanizing the high country. Field trips will be to the most diverse areas of the Olympic Mountains including the location of rare and/or endemic species. We will be near the Soleduck Hot Springs so if anybody cares for a botany break, they can go for a soak. Our base camp will be the campus of the Olympic Park Institute with accommodations and meals at the historic Rosemary Inn, the site of our popular 2004 study weekend. Space is limited, so register early.

Evening Programs

On Friday and Saturday night we will feature the flora of the Olympic Peninsula. Researchers and botanists from the National Park Service will describe the unique features of the OP flora as well as important research underway. This will be a chance to learn about the status of Elwha River dam removal and associated studies and research. On Saturday night we will provide an opportunity to look at a few slides from the field trips of the same day. Also begin organizing your digital images of Extreme Botanizing to share with colleagues.

Field Trips

(Organizer’s note: Field trips described below should be considered as options available. Adjustments can be made. For example, if more people wish to go on one trip than can be accommodated, we might be able to add a second group in lieu of some other field trip. Also, weather or snow conditions can affect the accessibility to certain areas which requires flexibility. Those of you who attended the 2007 study weekend will be particularly familiar with this potentiality. On Saturday, we can easily reach some favorite botanical areas (e.g. Mt. Townsend) if people are traveling east toward Seattle. The specifics of some of these trips will need to be organized on site.)

Saturday, July 26

Klahhane Ridge
Botanize the steep, fairly strenuous Switchback Trail through forest and open flower-filled meadows to an alpine ridge with rocky outcrops. This is a classic Olympic Mountain hike with high botanical diversity. Nearly 250 species of vascular plants and 5 endemics have been recorded. The elevation gain is 1600 feet in 1.5 miles.

Lillian Ridge
Start high and stay high! Begin at Obstruction Point and make your way to a narrow alpine ridge. Be prepared for stops along the road for exquisite displays of flowers even before the hike begins. Endemic plants (e.g. Flett’s violet) and rare sedges along the trail. Even with ups and downs the elevation gain will not exceed 1000 feet. This hike is described as a portion of the Grand Pass Trail in the Olympic Mountain Trail Guide by Robert Wood.

Deer Park and Blue Mountain
Explore the flora of alpine wetlands and a rocky hillside rich in hardy species and Olympic endemics. This is one of the most popular Olympic Mountain destinations for wild flower trips to the Olympics. The views will be spectacular and if time permits there will be an easy trail walk on Grand Ridge Trail which connects Deer Park with Obstruction Point.

Mink Lake
Begin in an ancient forest of Douglas fir and western hemlock, continue to the lake where we often see otter but not mink. At the lake spend time with the flowers, grasses and sedges of the wetlands. The hike will continue a short distance beyond the lake, then a short cross country (easy) bushwhack to the upper marsh where rare sedges and other unusual wetland plants reside. A herd of Roosevelt Elk is also likely at the upper marsh. The hike will be about 6 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 1500 feet.

Photograph of Chuck Easton and Fred Weinmann discussing Olympic Mountain endemics on Lillian Ridge.

Sunday, July 27

(Organizer’s note: Some of the hikes on Sunday are local and short. This will provide an opportunity to do two short trips or perhaps incorporate a soak in the Soleduck Hot Springs. Some of the trips will be organized as two-part adventures.)

Spruce Railroad Grade
Walk a portion of the Discovery trail which stretches from Port Townsend to the Pacific Coast.The railroad grade was constructed during WW1 to transport Sitka spruce for the aviation industry. This scenic portion along Lake Crescent harbors a high diversity of species as well as the rare orchid, Epipactis gigantea. This will be a ½ day trip.

Olympic Hot Springs/Boulder Creek/Elwha Dams
A visit to the Elwha dams slated for removal can be combined with a nice hike along Boulder Creek to the Olympic Hot Springs. Swim suits are officially required for dips in the springs, but are sometimes forgotten by hikers. Do the hot springs create habitat for unusual species? The hike will be about 3 miles with an elevation gain of 500 feet.

Salt Creek
Salt Creek Park is located on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The rocky habitats are great for marine algae and excellent for tidepooling to see algae and invertebrates. Near by is a salt marsh for an opportunity to sharpen your recognition of those plants adapted to saline environments. The coastal marine scenery is worth the visit. This will be a ½ day trip.

Cranberry Lake/Discovery Bay Salt Marsh Restoration
Bogs and salt marshes each provide habitat for an unusual flora--the reasons for this and the species supported are very different. On this trip on the way east we will sample them both. Cranberry Lake is a bog which requires a short hike and downhill scramble for access to the floating Sphagnum mat and associated unique bog species. At discovery bay we will tour a salt marsh restoration project and an adjacent intact salt marsh at the south end of Discovery Bay.

Mt. Townsend
The forests, meadows and alpine slopes of Mt. Townsend provide some of the finest botanizing in the Olympic Mountains with over 260 species recorded including several rare species (one of them being a sedge). There are two trails to the summit, from north and south. If there is interest, we will organize a car key exchange at the summit so that we can do a traverse of the mountain.

Bryophytes
We will be attempting to arrange a bryophyte and/or lichen workshop and hike on either Saturday or Sunday.

Other botanizing and just plain other

The shoreline, wetlands and forests of Crescent Lake provide rewarding botanizing
Kayaking and canoeing right from the Rosemary Inn campus.
An early morning or evening hike to Marymere Falls is well worth it for the botany and the scenery
There are many other hikes that originate in the area for those who wish to explore on their own (Aurora Ridge, Aurora Divide and Pyramid Mt. for example). Several are in need of a plant list.