Get out and go wild among Front Range flowers
By Gary Raham
Nature Writer
The rains have arrived and wildflowers are responding! Now is the time
to call in sick, kiss the keyboard goodbye, park the backhoe in a cul-de-sac,
and head to Colorado's flower decked panoramas--as they stretch east to
Pawnee Buttes or west to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Choice locations abound for hiking, photography, sketching and other activities.
Local experts and organizations can provide opportunities for further learning
and volunteering, supplemented with excellent resources in books and on
the Internet.
Day hikes close by
Northern Colorado offers enough choices to wear out any pair of hiking
boots.
Many trails in Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park just west of
Horsetooth Reservoir lead to a host of blooms, from pasque flowers to penstemons.
The sunny ridges along the shoreside hogbacks sport blooming prickly pear
cactus. The thousand-foot climb to Arthur's Rock reveals spiderwort, so
royally purple they are worthy of a supplicant's bow, and golden banner
the color of rich butter. Both of these locations require a fee.
Without charge, wildflower watchers can enjoy Reservoir Ridge Natural Area
on the northeast corner of Horsetooth Reservoir and Pineridge NA on the
southeast corner. Hikers can cavort among the milk vetch and flowering
yuccas. Further south, Cathy Fromme Prairie and Coyote Ridge offer their
wildflower temptations--though travelers always need to tread with care
to avoid making the occasional rattlesnake cranky.
Pamela Irwin in "Colorado's Best Wildflower Hikes" (Westcliffe Publishers,
1998) also highly recommends Pawnee Buttes grasslands. She describes it
as "an otherworldly primal land" and admires the locoweed and prickly gilia.
Rocky Mountain National Park offers many of the flowers noted above, as
well as the unique blooms of an alpine tundra. Two web sites provide excellent
additional information about wildflowers and where to find them in national
parks: www.nps.gov (for individual parks) and
www.nps.gov/plants/cw for
"Celebrating Wildflowers."
"Hiking Colorado's Geology" (The Mountaineers, 2000) by Ralph Lee Hopkins
and Lindy Birket Hopkins offers opportunities to combine wildflower watching
with geology. The learned hiker on Greyrock Mountain trail in the Poudre
Canyon, for example, will quickly be able to tell whether a sand lily is
growing near a granitic intrusion or metamorphic basement core rock.
Knowledge: pass it on
Should the joy of merely admiring flowers begins to pale, the wildflower
enthusiast can learn more about them with like-minded souls and share that
knowledge with others--especially youngsters.
Nature columnist Kevin Cook offers a spring course in wildflower identification
(see www.wildlifewindow.com). The Denver Botanic Gardens also offers a
rich selection of plant-related classes (www.botanicgardens.org).
Fort Collins trains volunteers to become master naturalists
(www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/vol-naturalists.php).
Those volunteers then pass on their knowledge to school groups and the
general public. The web site at www.fcgov.com/naturalareas offers a downloadable
map of all of Fort Collins natural areas.
Bobcat Ridge Natural Area provides free, 9 a.m. hikes with a naturalist
on various subjects nearly every Saturday throughout the summer--including
a nature-sketching trip on July 25 that can certainly encompass wildflower
drawing.
Colorado State University in conjunction with several county extension
offices provides the opportunity to become a "Native Plant Master" by taking
a series of courses that expose one to wildflowers over an entire season
in various Colorado habitats.
Acceptance into this program requires that one share this knowledge on
a regular basis to maintain accreditation. See
www.coopext.colostate.edu/jefferson/natural/native.htm
for more information.
Guidelines
The Celebrating Wildlife web site (www.nps.gov/plants/cw) offers the following
guidelines for conserving our natural heritage and enjoying time on the
trails:
- Take a hike and stop to smell the fragrant wild roses.
- Take only photographs and memories when you leave.
- Please, don't pick the flowers.
- Tread lightly and stay on the trail.
- Don't be afraid to ask for information on wildflowers.
- Get involved! Explore volunteer opportunities on public lands.
Excuses for escaping to wildflower country will certainly vary with occupation
and creativity. In the writing profession, editors may just find a scribbled
note that says, "Off to do some research!" Get out and go wild among Front
Range flower
|
