At the end of last week, the surgeon who gave me a new knee made his spring visit to Bella Coola.  It was a good chance to see what he thought (he admired his carpentry work!) and I also visited two different physiotherapists and got a lot of homework to do.  Thankyou again to everyone who has offered encouragement.  I can now walk slowly across the room with no sticks, but I still use poles or crutches outside – partly because it is faster and I am less likely to be eaten alive by blackflies!  I still can’t quite manage without pain killers, but I am obviously getting there.

As usual, I stayed with my friends at Stuie, about 80 km up-valley from Bella Coola. (This is Melican, one of the mountains seen from their backyard.)

Everything was so beautifully lush and coastal.  Here is a cottonwood tree.

I was a little too early for the best display of the forest flowers.  The male pine blossoms had not quite made pollen yet.

And it took a lot of searching to find a queen’s cup in bloom.

The heart-leafed Arnica were in their prime, though. (Hooker’s Fairy bells on the left).

Because of the very dry spring, the early Calypso orchids were just about finished.  (It is very hard to get into the best place for good photos while on crutches!)

False solomon’s seal was doing well,

And the star-flowered solomon’s seal…

Most of the spotted coral root orchids were not yet open.  I managed to find one sunny clump.

A few early False Lily of the Valley were blooming.

Pride of place, however, were the Moccasin flowers or Mountain Lady slipper orchids.

 

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