The Forest in Spring

 

Spring has never been a favourite season. Too capricious, and rather deceptive. The bright sunshine on my head warms me, but the sharp wind off the ocean drives to the bone. However, I am beginning to like Spring more and more. I love the colours after a winter of brown and green, and the way life springs in every corner.

Come to the woods, for here is rest.

There is no repose like that of the deep green woods.

Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill.

John Muir

Tim and I took a few days away camping in our trailer/caravan about midway up Vancouver Island. All around our site, low to the forest floor, bloomed hundreds of pink Fawn Lilies (erythronium revoltum). It's generally the pale white ones I see here, so to be surrounded by the pink variety was such a treat. I recently learned that they are categorized separately with the white ones labeled erythronium oregonum. They were everywhere on our hikes, pink stars against the green. 

And then there were the Western Trilliums (trillium ovatum), less prolific, growing singly or in clumps of two or three. The Western Trillium takes 15 years before blooming, and if the flowers are picked, the process must begin again. Their season is short, and has almost finished, so I was glad to see so many. 

Forests are like churches, hallowed places.

There is a stillness about them,

a sort of reverence.

Sabrina Elkins

Beavers are so effective at their work, reclaiming abandoned fields with their dams. Beyond the beaver house in the photo the land is mostly dry, but the line of the dam creates a pool for fishing and swimming. My husband's grandparents once owned a farm further north, and after they passed, the fields were neglected and the beavers moved in, creating wetlands that support many species. 

Western Skunk Cabbage  (lysichiton americanus) 

If you walk in the woods, you might start to smell something rather odd. Some liken it to marijuana, but most find it reminds them of skunk scent. Then you see it, a bright yellow plant growing in swamps and damp patches in the forest. The flowers are on the tall stalk protected by the showy curved spadix. 

A patch this large can throw off quite a strong scent, attracting insects and pollinators. 

As is the case with many camping trips, there was one very rainy day. After a cozy and leisurely breakfast we explored in our vehicle rather than on foot, driving to the end of the Muchalat Inlet, just past the small town of Gold River. Enroute, waterfall after waterfall gushed from the steep canyon walls down beside the roadway. The falls seen above left passed under the road into the river below via a large culvert. 

And here is a video of the top of the falls. How noisy it was. 

Another noisy sound was this Red-breasted Sapsucker tapping furiously on a metal sign. They do this, not for food, but to communicate and establish boundaries. Perhaps, being Spring, this bird was looking for a mate. 

We've been home again for a few days, catching up on the tasks of everyday life. I'll leave you with one more image of one of the shy wonders of the forest, elegant and short-lived, but so admired.