Thelwood Creek and Mt Myra, May 20th
Current Conditions in the Park and the Opening of the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre
The winter boards have been removed from the Wilderness Centre, but the snow lingers on. Constant rain and sleet should be reducing the snow pack but a glance at the Raven Lodge Webcam (pic above) will give a view out over the Divers Lake valley, past Allan Brooks on the left, towards Mt Albert Edward. The snow line is still well down Allan Brooks. Similarly, over in the Buttle area, there has been melting, with the lower elevation trails at the Lake level free of snow, and more importantly BC Parks and 43K have been working solidly to clear the trails of the hundreds of downed trees. The Elk River Trail, which the winter made into a challenging obstacle course should be unimpeded by this coming week.
Our plan is to open both “Huts”, at Paradise Meadows and at the Buttle Hut, by the last week of June, though the trails in the higher elevations of Forbidden Plateau will not be clear unless we see more sunshine and a warmer temperatures.
View across the Goss Creek valley to “Beer Can” ridge from the Raven Lodge – June 5th
Announcements
- second call for Volunteers
Although there is still lots of old rotting snow in the Meadows, with our plan to be operating the Wilderness Centre by the last week of June, we would like to follow up on the note in the last Newsletter calling for Volunteers. Jaron, our Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator has already been busy putting together a spreadsheet of active and new volunteers in advance of our Summer season .
Some of our long time volunteers are for one reason or another unable to help out this summer, so we encourage those who are familiar with Forbidden Plateau and or the Buttle Lake area, and enjoy meeting visitors from near and far to consider signing up to staff the Wilderness Centre or Buttle Hut. We will again have at least one student at the Centre through the Canada Summer Jobs program, but on the busiest days in July and August, when 200+ people may stop at the Centre on their way to Paradise Meadows and beyond, we always welcome extra hands. You can find an online form by clicking “Volunteer with us” on our website :
Or else email Jaron directly : coordinator.swi@gmail.com.
For those who are active hikers and/or naturalists familiar with the Park, volunteer leaders are always welcome. As in pre-Covid times we like to schedule at least one interpretive walk or day hike on the Plateau at weekends from July through September. There are many trails possible from the easy Battleship-Helen MacKenzie Loop, to the longer hike out to the Cruikshank Canyon Lookout, or ones that involve steeper, more challenging sections such as Mt Elma or Mt Allan Brooks. Whether your interests are botany, geology, ornithology , or just the love of the Park, we would welcome your contributions.
Moss expert Randal near the top of Mt Becher
This year we would especially like to promote Park trails on the west side of the Park, so there will be opportunities for volunteers to guide nature walks and hikes in the Buttle area – the low level loops at e.g. Karst Creek, the 22k round trip to Landslide Lake, or a challenging climb up Crest Mountain rewarded by spectacular views through 360 degrees.
above the tarn on Crest Mountain looking south.
Note that we will continue to observe proper distancing protocols and have limited numbers in each group, since Covid is still with us. We also have an appropriate waiver form in place to ensure that our staff and volunteers can be in a safe and healthy environment.
- Sherpa Workshop – now July 9th
As part of our promotion of Accessibility in the Park through our TrailRider Days, announced in the last Newsletter, in addition to calling for volunteer Sherpas to help with the transportation of the TrialRider, we are offering a training workshop for volunteer “Sherpas” on Saturday July 9th from 10 am to noon (or so) at the Wilderness Centre , Paradise Meadows. [Note the change of date }. The TrailRider requires a minimum of two able-bodied individuals to propel the device, one at the front one at the rear. In practice at least four are recommended to spell each other, especially over steeper sections of trails. The Route to Battleship Lake, which will be featured on our TrailRider days, has boardwalk and ramps specially designed to accommodate the single central wheel of the TrailRider. So volunteers need to be in good physical shape, but will require a little hands on practice learning to manipulate the TrailRider on the Trails. The workshop is designed to demonstrate to potential Sherpas how the TrialRider is put together and how to manage it on boardwalk or trails.
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If you want to find out more about the mechanics of the TrailRider and its operation, there is an excellent set of instructional videos put out by BC Mobility Opportunities Society (BCMOS) and the Disability Foundation available on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kvQsG6az_k&list=PLAcsYgX-1D8q4tj7bYkSbfKBBs8rI1Itv
So if you are an avid hiker or runner in good physical condition, love the Park and would like to offer those who have mobility issues the opportunity to enjoy all that attracts you to the amazing trails in the Park, do consider joining our cohort of volunteer Sherpas . If you enjoy community involvement and working with a team of like-minded hiking enthusiasts to help others enjoy the outdoors, come out up to Paradise Meadows on July 9th.
SWI does offer all volunteers a reimbursement towards travel costs.
For more information, or to sign up, please contact our Volunteer coordinator at coordinator.swi@gmail.com or SWI in general at strathconawilderness@gmail.com .
- TrailRider Days 2022: reminder of dates
TrailRider Day 1 in Strathcona Provincial Park -Forbidden Plateau
Paradise Meadows (Mt Washington) Sun. July 24th , 10 am onwards
TrailRider Day 2 in Strathcona Provincial Park -Forbidden Plateau
Paradise Meadows (Mt Washington) Sat. Aug. 20th ,10 am onwards
TrailRider Day 3 in Strathcona Provincial Park -Forbidden Plateau
Paradise Meadows (Mt Washington) Sun. Sept 25th 10 am onwards
Nature Notes :
A walk along part of Price Creek Trail.
Some trails were worse hit than others this past winter. The first 5 k of the Price Creek trail, following the old road bed from Westin Road near the Thelwood bridge, was far less of an obstacle course than the ERT. There were a few 30+ year old alders down, but in the old growth forest along Price Creek most of the fallen trees had been down for a few years.
Overgrown road bed heading towards Price Creek.
There was lots of evidence of wildlife – half a dozen or more fresh bear scats and several alders heavily clawed with territorial markings. The flat valley and wetlands alongside Thelwood Creek would appear to be much frequented by bear. Frequent elk dropping were also observed, complete with the tiny fungus noted below.
Showy flowers included the Viola glabella (yellow stream violet, as in the photo of the trail above) and a beautiful patch of Calypso bulbosa – pink fairy slippers. These are among the earliest spring blooms in the lower elevations of the Buttle area, although they are usually seen in April, not later May.
Several so-called snowbank fungi were found – those that appear early in spring as the snow recedes such as the wrinkled Gyromitra esculenta and pseudoplectania melaena that looks like a wavy black rubber disk ( no common names I am afraid).
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And for the sharp-eyed, a diminutive cup fungus called ciboria rufofusca on a partially hollowed-out fir cone (evidence of squirrel activity last fall). This fungus is specific to fir-cones.
Another cup fungus, this time specific to elk droppings, is a tiny specimen in the genus Cheilymenia, likely fimicola or stercorea, one of whose characteristic features is the eyelash-like hairs around the rim, just visible in the poorly focussed photo on the right below.
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The moss and lichen gurus were clearly in their element examining huge boulders that long ago had been dislodged from Flower Ridge above the valley. The cool damp weather has provided excellent conditions for observing fine specimens – the rock is a veritable garden.
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Two new species discovered in the Park!
We are proud to announce that in the past 9 months two rare species have been discovered by SWI in Strathcona Provincial Park – one a new species of toothed fungus in the Gloiodon genus and the other an algae called Cosmarium Woronichinii which has only one official record elsewhere in the world, namely in Siberia.. Short articles by biologist and director Loys Maingon on these discoveries may be found under the Research Articles tab on our website: https://strathconapark.org/swi-research/adventure-science/
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