Alberta Wanderings

[cohan]

Maybe that means you have fewer traffic accidents? People here drive like maniacs, generally! And all the while talking on the phone, texting, etc etc.. small wonder you see deer smeared all over the road all the time--they go too fast, don't pay attention, and have no time to react.. not that I have an opinion....lol

[Lis Allison]

That Taraxacum is interesting. Might be T. ceratophorum. Not Your Mother's dandilion! Dandies are interesting plants. They do not need fertilization to produce viable seeds, in fact they are never fertilized. As a result there is little genetic variation, but what there is has led to identifiable clones and races. Some think there are many species or sub-species, others think they are all just different forms. Very cool.

Nice trip - your pictures made me miss the Rockies for a few minutes, Cohan. I lived in Calgary for 4 years and the best thing about the place was the nearby mountains.

[cohan]

That Taraxacum is interesting. Might be T. ceratophorum. Not Your Mother's dandilion! Dandies are interesting plants. They do not need fertilization to produce viable seeds, in fact they are never fertilized. As a result there is little genetic variation, but what there is has led to identifiable clones and races. Some think there are many species or sub-species, others think they are all just different forms. Very cool.

Nice trip - your pictures made me miss the Rockies for a few minutes, Cohan. I lived in Calgary for 4 years and the best thing about the place was the nearby mountains.

Thanks, Lis-- I know there are some other dandelion species at high altitudes, but haven't made any attempts to figure out which are which...lol
I do know many of these composite species have those confusing self-fertilising clones, Antennaria is another one, and Trond has mentioned Hieracium in his part of the world..
I still have many more photos from this trip to post, including some more dandelions from much higher up....I think what I posted so far is from the foothills, not very high up at all...
It is great to be able to get into the mountains though my access isn't nearly so fast as in Calgary-- I can be in fairly wild areas within a half hour driving, but an hour at least to get to the actual foothills, and probably another hour to get any real altitude... Its all lovely on the way out, though it seems really long coming home...lol

[Lori S.]

...an hour at least to get to the actual foothills, and probably another hour to get any real altitude...

Well, yes, assuming that the highway is both the means of getting there and is pretty much at the level of the destination, more-or-less.  If not, though... once the car is abandoned at the trailhead, it's another half hour or more to get out of sight and sound of the highway, then another hour or more to get to the start of the really good stuff!!    

[cohan]

...an hour at least to get to the actual foothills, and probably another hour to get any real altitude...

Well, yes, assuming that the highway is both the means of getting there and is pretty much at the level of the destination, more-or-less.  If not, though... once the car is abandoned at the trailhead, it's another half hour or more to get out of sight and sound of the highway, then another hour or more to get to the start of the really good stuff!!    

My driver is mainly interested in scenery, not plants, so he usually gets all he wants without venturing too far from the vehicle, which means my excursions out of the vehicle can't be too time consuming...lol..
I think he might be coaxed out for a nice trail ( there are supposed to be some in the Nordegg area where you can get somewhat high) but I don't think he'd be coaxed to leave the vehicle unattended for any length of time, nor to slog through bush for more than a few minutes...lol.. Another factor is busy-ness-- a lot of our out of the way stops feature no other humans at all, which is great, but if there is even one other car there its probably too busy for my friend (no good pointing out the unlikeliness of running into them if the trail has any length or forks!)... Since we already live in the country, getting away from people is to a different standard--our one neighbour at less than  a half mile is audible (tractors etc on occasion) but not really visible, so at home we see no other people at all; the Icefields Parkway, ironically, is full of people by our standards.. this trip was not bad at all, though even still the Columbia Icefield tourist area was busy!

[Lori S.]

My driver is mainly interested in scenery, not plants, so he usually gets all he wants without venturing too far from the vehicle, which means my excursions out of the vehicle can't be too time consuming...lol..
I think he might be coaxed out for a nice trail ( there are supposed to be some in the Nordegg area where you can get somewhat high) but I don't think he'd be coaxed to leave the vehicle unattended for any length of time, nor to slog through bush for more than a few minutes...lol.. Another factor is busy-ness-- a lot of our out of the way stops feature no other humans at all, which is great, but if there is even one other car there its probably too busy for my friend (no good pointing out the unlikeliness of running into them if the trail has any length or forks!)... Since we already live in the country, getting away from people is to a different standard--our one neighbour at less than  a half mile is audible (tractors etc on occasion) but not really visible, so at home we see no other people at all; the Icefields Parkway, ironically, is full of people by our standards.. this trip was not bad at all, though even still the Columbia Icefield tourist area was busy!

No, it's not the least bit ironic!  I don't think anyone would argue that the whole highway tract, including townsites, stops off the highway and the popular funnel-the-crowds-through "must-see" scenic hikes all through the mountain parks, is not a madhouse!!  
(But, honestly, getting off the highway and expending some effort is, thankfully, how you lose the crowds and often see no one at all... Also, I'm certainly not complaining that people don't get out in the backcountry... I GREATLY prefer it that way!  )  Anyway, far off-topic...  


I think the third photo (and maybe others?) in this set http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=591.msg9580#msg9580 might be Lesquerella arenosa or arctica??

[cohan]

That's one of the joys of the David Thompson highway--far less busy than the national parks! We are lucky that we can go on weekdays, also, though that makes less difference in mid-summer
Someone locally mentioned Mount Baldy as being an alpine flower destination, I think that's at Nordegg, so I should look into access....
Yes, best that not so many people get into the back country--the long in-walks to the alpine zones are a great protector, no doubt--though even at the Columbia Icefield with hundreds of cars parked, many walk straight up the trail to the ice, but a mere handful wander around among the moraines below, and most of those few just to stand on top for views--down between them where most of the plants are, no one is around!
The back-country closer to home, apparently, is not so lucky-my brother lives a bit south and west of here (near Caroline) and his land borders on a river, and, I think, crown (government) land--he has people tracking across his land to get to the river, occupying a shed, etc etc, and in Rocky you see huge numbers of people heading west with quads (all terrain vehicles) seems a sad way to interact with nature--driving over it and churning it into mud
Still, between Rocky Mountain House and the Saskatchewan River Crossing, we see very few people, and those mostly clustered in a few campgrounds etc...

Thanks for the tip on Lesquerella, I had that kind of vaguely in mind as a possibility, though I know very little about those little crucifers!

[cohan]

Okay, back at it!
Leaving Abraham Lake, the highway continues on through the Kootenay Plains, into Banff National Park;
full album: https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011EKPToBNP

   

A stop I've made before, by a small 'lake' where just a bit later the ground will be carpeted with tiny Primula mistassinica, dotted with Saxifraga aizoides, and others... This time, Primula only in bud, in small numbers, and Sax just emerging...

 

The lake, the grass giving way to woods beyond the water, and a closer view of the soil-- I believe this is what I see referred to in wildflower books when they say things like 'wet calcareous soil' as they do for P mistassinica.....

   

[cohan]

Full album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011EKPToBNP

This schoolbus was in front of us for a while, then pulled into a group campsite in the Kootenay Plains... after we'd continued on deep into the mountains and passed back through this area on the way home, we were on the trails at the nearby  Siffleur Falls Staging Area, when out of nowhere a pack of young teenagers on bicycles passed us! After, we saw them just up the road turning into the same campground--so that's who was on that bus!



This one is for Trond-- a very non-Norwegian highway!



Just because its one of the very few places on our route where we could stop for refreshments, we usually do stop at the Saskatchewan River Crossing, just at the junction of the David Thompson Highway and the Icefields Parkway, for some seriously overpriced (and under 'qualitied' ) cafeteria treats .... What a place to have a summer job though!

 

[cohan]

Continuing on and up--
full album: https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011FIcefieldsParkway

The fresh greens of emerging leaves.....

 

Best not to think about all that rock and gravel poised above the road, with signs that warn  "No Stopping, Avalanche Zone"..biggest risk is no doubt in winter, when I absolutely don't travel here



Finally the road climbs up, and up, and up! and levels out more or less, not too far from the tree line, and up in the snow zone.. there is a viewpoint to look back down where you have come from - an impressive view, which I have photographed in the past- but of course I'm busier running around looking for plants! I've seen some nice things around here, but its a bit early-- just Salix, and the two plants in flower on this day from home all the way up here-- Taraxacum and Fragaria! only on the sunny side of some gravel banks, still snow around in shade...

   

   

[cohan]

Continuing on to the Icefields..
(same album) https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsMay312011FIcefieldsParkway

The snow is close here!



I always like seeing this stripey zebra mountains, though there is a bit more to the white stripes at this time of year!



Another one for Trond- highway still is not bad up here, though much narrower than the earlier road, and not easy to pass when you get a slow bus or RV in front of you that has a hard time on the inclines! Just slow down and enjoy the view

[Hoy]

A tremendous landscape! And your roads are incredible

[cohan]

And no ferries on the whole trip!

[RickR]

Cohan, there's LOTS to study, envy and think about in those photos.  Like the grass fields by the lake: you mention Primula mistassinica growing in calareous soil...so is the lake water up there basic?  I suppose.  I never really thought about it until now.  Down here I have only seen the primula in what is at least mildly acidic conditions.  There is one place I know of where the primula habitat is similarly bathed in water from Lake Superior. 

[cohan]

Cohan, there's LOTS to study, envy and think about in those photos.  Like the grass fields by the lake: you mention Primula mistassinica growing in calareous soil...so is the lake water up there basic?  I suppose.  I never really thought about it until now.  Down here I have only seen the primula in what is at least mildly acidic conditions.  There is one place I know of where the primula habitat is similarly bathed in water from Lake Superior. 

Rick, I have to confess my knowledge of the soils and waters is limited at best,  I need to try to find a good book on the geology of the province! Meanwhile if I make any egregious errors, Lori can set me straight (obviously she doesn't know this site, but the Alberta Rockies in general) ... I have not yet looked up these species in Flora of Alberta to see what they say, but I have an old book: "Rocky Mountain Wildflowers" (Porsild) which says- "in wet calcareous soil by pond margins or in wet meadows" so it doesn't seem the calcareous sites are obligate.. Again, I am no expert on these soils, but this site seemed to me like it would be calcareous-- the soil is very  light in colour, mixed with gravel, and very little humus.. I assume at least some of this soil is rock flour from the mountains around, which should be (predominantly? entirely?) limestone...