WNPS Field Trip: Heather Meadows Wildflowers and Bumble Bees

1206921 Cirrus louds over Mt. Baker, view from Church Mountain trail w/ Subalpine Firs on ridge fgnd [Abies lasiocarpa]. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF Church Mtn, Glacier, WA. © Mark Turner
0 Shares

The Koma Kulshan Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society regularly holds educational field trips, meetings, and webinars–typically free and open to the public! Registration is required for this event. Please see below for details.

Date: Monday, August 1
Time: 10 am to 2 pm
Location: Meet at the Visitor’s Center parking lot in Heather Meadows (MP 56 on Mt. Baker Hwy) near the Mt. Baker Ski Area at 10 am.
Participants should bring warm clothes/layers (just in case), sun protection, lunch, and adequate water.

Volunteers from the Koma Kulshan Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society monitored wildflower phenology (when plants bloom) and bumble bee foraging from spring snow melt to the first snowfall for five years in Heather Meadows. This hike will visit some of the areas that were monitored to see subalpine wildflowers at their peak and learn about how native plants and bumble bees interact to assure pollination and the profusion of wildflowers at Heather Meadows.

We will start the hike at the Visitors Center parking lot and tour three of the transects we monitored at that elevation. We will then drive to the Artist’s Point parking lot and visit two additional transects at higher elevations. This will be about a three-mile hike with about 300 feet of elevation gain. For those who need the exercise, there will be an option of walking up the Wild Goose Trail from the Visitors Center to the Artist’s Point parking lot (add about 1.6 miles and 500 feet elevation gain to the hike).

***Pre-registration with the event organizer is required as the hike will be limited to 12 participants. For more information, please visit our calendar at the link provided.

0 Shares