Paul and I attempted to get to Tronsen Ridge from the south. The roads to Ken Wilcox Horse Camp were all passable in a sedan, at slow speeds and with care. Lots of the trees that burned in the 2012 fire were blown over this last winter. Where the Tronsen Ridge trail begins and heads down, there are blowdowns every 50 feet or so, and given the sidehill trail, they are not easy to get by. We tried the Mt. Lillian trail and found the same conditions. I have attached a caltopo map that shows where we hiked and the blowdown situation (red for constant and thick blowdowns, yellow for many blowdowns, green for just a few blowdowns.
There were lots of early flowers out: shooting stars, lance-leaf spring beauties, glacier lilies, globe flowers, California Jacob's ladder (picture 1), phlox (picture 3), yellow and purple violets, and many more. The highlight for me was seeing three-leaf lewisia for the first time (photo 2). There were lots of birds and butterflies, including a good look at a bright male Western Tanager.
There were lots of early flowers out: shooting stars, lance-leaf spring beauties, glacier lilies, globe flowers, California Jacob's ladder (picture 1), phlox (picture 3), yellow and purple violets, and many more. The highlight for me was seeing three-leaf lewisia for the first time (photo 2). There were lots of birds and butterflies, including a good look at a bright male Western Tanager.
Paul's list:
WILDFLOWERS (38 species)
white (11)
Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)
blue-leaf strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
sticky currant (Ribes viscosissimum)
three-toothed mitrewort (Ozomelis trifida)
spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa)
panicled death-camas (Toxicoscordion paniculatum)
lance-leaf spring-beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)
desert-parsley / biscuit-root Gorman’s or Geyer’s (Lomatium gormanii or geyeri)
western globeflower (Trollius albiflorus)
three-leaf lewisia (Lewisia triphylla)
thread-leaf sandwort (Erogomone capillaris)
yellow (10)
glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum)
desert-parsley, triternate or nineleaf (Lomatium triternatum or simplex)
bare-stem desert-parsley (Lomatium nudicaule)
groundsel, probably tall western (Senecio, probably integerrimus)
arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)
buttercup, probably straight-beak (Ranunculus, probably orthorhynchus)
Alaska draba (Draba albertina)
Gordon’s ivesia (Ivesia gordonii)
heart-leaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia)
streamside / pioneer violet (Viola glabella)
reddish: pink to red to red-purple (8)
grouseberry (Vaccinium scoparium)
bulbous prairie-star / woodland-star (Lithophragma glabrum)
shooting-star, species uncertain (Dodecatheon sp.)
slender phlox (Microsteris gracilis)
scarlet paintbrush (Castilleja miniata)
sour dock / common sheep sorrel / red sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
old man’s whiskers (Geum triflorum)
rockcress, small-flowered or slender (Beochera pauciflora or sparsiflora)
bluish: blue to violet to blue-purple (8)
low / showy Jacob’s-ladder (Polemonium californicum)
lupine, broadleaf or big-leaf (Lupinus latifolius or polyphyllus)
ball-head waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum)
small-flowered blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora)
shrubby penstemon (Penstemon fruticosus)
larkspur, probably upland / common (Delphinium, probably nuttallianum)
early blue / hooked-spur violet (Viola adunca)
speedwell, probably American (Veronica, probably americana)
brown (1)
Oregon boxwood (Paxistima myrsinites)
BIRDS (with the help of Merlin)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Western Tanager
Hermit Thrush
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Hermit Warbler
Western Wood-pewee
Olive-sided Flycatcher
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Varied Thrush
Williamson’s Sapsucker (male and female)
BUTTERFLIES
Mourning Cloak
Julia’s Orange-tip
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell
California Tortoiseshell
Anise Swallowtail
Indra Swallowtail
Pale Tiger Swallowtail
Western and/or Two-Tailed Tiger Swallowtail
Skipper, probably Juba
Lorquin’s Admiral
Silvery Blue
greater fritillary, species uncertain
Hoary Comma
Lupine or Acmon Blue
white (11)
Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)
blue-leaf strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
sticky currant (Ribes viscosissimum)
three-toothed mitrewort (Ozomelis trifida)
spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa)
panicled death-camas (Toxicoscordion paniculatum)
lance-leaf spring-beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)
desert-parsley / biscuit-root Gorman’s or Geyer’s (Lomatium gormanii or geyeri)
western globeflower (Trollius albiflorus)
three-leaf lewisia (Lewisia triphylla)
thread-leaf sandwort (Erogomone capillaris)
yellow (10)
glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum)
desert-parsley, triternate or nineleaf (Lomatium triternatum or simplex)
bare-stem desert-parsley (Lomatium nudicaule)
groundsel, probably tall western (Senecio, probably integerrimus)
arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)
buttercup, probably straight-beak (Ranunculus, probably orthorhynchus)
Alaska draba (Draba albertina)
Gordon’s ivesia (Ivesia gordonii)
heart-leaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia)
streamside / pioneer violet (Viola glabella)
reddish: pink to red to red-purple (8)
grouseberry (Vaccinium scoparium)
bulbous prairie-star / woodland-star (Lithophragma glabrum)
shooting-star, species uncertain (Dodecatheon sp.)
slender phlox (Microsteris gracilis)
scarlet paintbrush (Castilleja miniata)
sour dock / common sheep sorrel / red sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
old man’s whiskers (Geum triflorum)
rockcress, small-flowered or slender (Beochera pauciflora or sparsiflora)
bluish: blue to violet to blue-purple (8)
low / showy Jacob’s-ladder (Polemonium californicum)
lupine, broadleaf or big-leaf (Lupinus latifolius or polyphyllus)
ball-head waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum)
small-flowered blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora)
shrubby penstemon (Penstemon fruticosus)
larkspur, probably upland / common (Delphinium, probably nuttallianum)
early blue / hooked-spur violet (Viola adunca)
speedwell, probably American (Veronica, probably americana)
brown (1)
Oregon boxwood (Paxistima myrsinites)
BIRDS (with the help of Merlin)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Western Tanager
Hermit Thrush
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Hermit Warbler
Western Wood-pewee
Olive-sided Flycatcher
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
Varied Thrush
Williamson’s Sapsucker (male and female)
BUTTERFLIES
Mourning Cloak
Julia’s Orange-tip
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell
California Tortoiseshell
Anise Swallowtail
Indra Swallowtail
Pale Tiger Swallowtail
Western and/or Two-Tailed Tiger Swallowtail
Skipper, probably Juba
Lorquin’s Admiral
Silvery Blue
greater fritillary, species uncertain
Hoary Comma
Lupine or Acmon Blue
Comments