Somehow managed to haul myself out of bed at 7:15am after a ridiculously late (and fun) night of Harry Potter silliness. The Alpine Adventure run check in was from 8 to 8:45am, but Ian wasn't taking any chances with losing his spot and so we were there around 8:15. The weather was sunny and warm, perhaps too warm for the runners, but it was great for the observers. We walked the trail from the Harbor Mtn parking lot to the boulder field closest to the shelter to watch. We beat the first runners by about 5 minutes. It was an impressive show, both for stamina and the amount of blood. Many a knee and shin were covered in blood. Ian came in 21st at 1h 36m and managed to not injure himself.
After the runners were through I got to enjoy the meadow. The flowers looked lovely draped with clouds, but were on the breathtaking side of nice in the sun. The combination of the lupine and yellow paintbrush was especially nice. Most of what was blooming last week was still going, with the exception of the Anemone narcissifolia. I only found one small group of plants in the shade of a small hemlock. The Artemisia norvegica and Senecio triangularis were further along. The Saussurea americana and Gentiana platypetala weren't blooming yet though. I collected Elymus hirsutus from the meadow and Luzula multiflora var kobayashi from the high elevation muskeg (again! I seem to be resistant to accepting this one). I collected another piece of the Salix ovalifolia to root (it's in water now).
There was an interesting Ascomycete from cut banks near the path. It has a greyish ribbed stem and a dark brown cup shaped "cap". The fungi I saw were about 4-5 cm tall at maximum with cups about 2 cm wide. Today on the soil between the steps below Picnic Rock on Verstovia I found several more, some had caps that were roughly 4 cm wide. Most of the fungi on Verstovia had the stems mostly buried in the soil. In both Arora and the online Northwest keys, the fungus worked out fairly well to Helvella leucomelaena.
The Mycena I collected didn't work out so cleanly. There were troops of it under the Mtn. Hemlock on Harbor Mtn, so I collected several specimens. It was the small bright orange creature that I see every year, but usually walk on by. Now I remember why I usually admire it and walk away. It had an orange stem and cap, and emarginate gills (white faces and a bright yellow orange edge). It isn't viscid and it doesn't exude anything when picked or otherwise tortured, nor does it have a distinctive odor. Alas, it doesn't quite fit anywhere... I even tried other genera, but no luck. Next step is to find a more technical key and hone my razor blade technique.
I carried my binoculars to watch for Ian and in hopes of seeing the mystery sparrows. No luck with the sparrows, but did hear a red tail hawk. Got a brief glimpse of a yellow bird with a yellow beak and possibly a black forehead. Another goldfinch? Didn't get as good a look at this one, but Jeff did get a marginal photo of it.
Today, decided that it was time to hike up Verstovia again. It was already past the two week interval that I had been keeping through camp and it was still nice out this morning. Perhaps hyperactive or maybe chased by demons? This time I made it most of the way to the base of the rock on Arrowhead before turning around. Somehow I had forgotten the role that various taller and stronger people had played in past ascents. The clouds were also rolling in, so I opted to turn around. The diversity of plants along the trail was much less than on Gavan-Harbor, but I suspect I'd see more if I wandered. I did find a Malaxis paludosa in bloom, Saussurea americana, Veronica wormskjoldii, Pedicularis sudetica and Artemisia norvegica on steeper meadow area below Arrowhead. Saxifraga ferruginea was blooming on the shaded cliff faces.
Lots of juncos and a merlin in the bowl. One set of bear tracks in the bowl and scat on a steep bit on the way up Arrowhead. One juvenile ruby crowned kinglet just above the trailhead.
A flycatcher in the witch hazel in the garden this morning.
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