Chuckanut hike revisited

Trillium in all its glory

 Today Melanie and I went on a trillium hunt, much like an Easter egg hunt, instead with beautiful trillium flowers seen (and not picked) in vast numbers. Last time we were on the Lower Salal and Hemlock trails, there were none to be seen. Today we saw many dozens, maybe even a hundred. Most of them were just beginning to unfurl their leaves and show their single blossom. They have three petals and three leaves and are ephemeral, coming about this time in the spring and leaving us once again after a few short weeks.

Pretty in pink salmonberry flower

It was a sunny day, and the Trailblazers went elsewhere, while the two of us went off on our own. We spent a great amount of time looking for and photographing the flowers, but especially the trillium (Trillium ovatum). Unfortunately for me, several of the pictures I took were out of focus, which I didn't discover until I got home and looked at them on my larger screen. No matter, my eyes captured the scene and it filled my heart with gladness to see such beauty.

Salal trail

We started at the Chuckanut Mountain trailhead and hiked almost six-and-a-half miles and climbed and descended around 1,400 feet of elevation. So it wasn't quite a cake walk, and I feel quite well exercised, thanks to Mel's gentle prodding. I started out feeling I wasn't up to the task today, but by the time we kept seeing more and more trillium, my happiness level just kept climbing (and so did my feet).

Skunk cabbage, AKA swamp lantern

We saw a fair amount of skunk cabbage growing in the wet areas, and this one caught my camera's eye.  Once they get past their opening moves, the leaves on these plants just keep growing and growing. At this time of the year, they are pretty and eye-catching. Why the name? According to that link,

The plant is called skunk cabbage because of the distinctive "skunky" odor that it emits when it blooms. This odor will permeate the area where the plant grows, and can be detected even in old, dried specimens. The distinctive odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles.

 My smeller is just not what it used to be, so I don't notice the smell, but some websites say it's when the leaves are bruised that the smell becomes strong. I'm not going to try it, though. I'll take their word for it.

Huge old nurse log with young tree

I saw this tree growing out of the "nurse log" underneath it, and studied the scene for awhile, wondering how old that tree is, growing quite satisfactorily from that old one. Our magnificent old forests are filled with wonders like this. 

As you can see, it was quite a lovely day, with lots of sun mixed with clouds. But it never quite warmed up as I would have liked; I kept my coat and gloves on most of the day. We are in a rather cold spell lately, with temperatures running around 10 degrees below normal. As long as the sun shines, I can deal with it. All in all, it was just a fine time outdoors, and now that I've finished my post, I'm going to rustle up some lunch!

:-)