Just before Hannah left, we went down The Hill to enjoy the Bella Coola Spring.
You can see various bits of Highway 20.
At the bottom, all was totally lush and green. A number of orchids were looking: Mountain Lady’s Slipper.
Fairy slipper or Calypso Orchid.
And the Spotted Coral Root.
The esker trail was drowned in trees.
The barks capes fascinated me. An old Douglas fir complete with powdery green lichen and burn scars from old fires. The dribble stuff on the right is sap, no doubt released after an insect made a hole it the bark.
And a birch decorated with a leafy lichen.
Western Hemlocks sported their lovely green tips.
Pine doesn’t do very well here, but a straggly specimen was home to various lichens.
Beneath the trees grew:- A woody-looking fungus.
Queen’s cup and sarsaparilla
Red Huckleberry
And Thimbleberry
In slightly more open spots, Heart-leaved Arnica flourished,
And the Western Red Columbine was just opening.
Nearby was a very small wild rose.
I was sitting in my friend’s yard having a quiet snack when a pair of young mule deer walked into the yard.
They were semi-“tame” and very curious.
The Bella Coola Valley is miserable, grey and rainy in the winter. But few places are prettier than the Bella Coola Spring.
