Wildflower Walks

Mountain pasqueflower

Pulsatilla occidentalis

Description: Five to eight white or cream-colored sepals and many yellow stamens form flower is 1 1/4 to 2 inches wide. Stands on hairy stem 8 to 24 inches tall with finely divided leaves 1 1/2 to 3 inches wide at base and below flower. Blooms May to September. Grows on mountain slopes and in meadows. (“National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers – Western Region,” by Richard Spellenberg.)

Recently seen: Black Lake trail in the Jewel Basin, east of Bigfork, and Logan Pass at Glacier National Park.

The walk: The main trailhead for the Jewel Basin, Camp Misery, is accessed via Echo Lake Road, 73 miles north of Seeley Lake on Montana Highway 83. Turn north on Echo Lake Road and follow it for just more than two miles. Turn northeast on Foothill Road, where there is a sign for the Jewel Basin. After about one mile, veer east on Jewel Basin Road and continue uphill about 6 1/2 miles to the parking area. The route to Black Lake begins by crossing a small creek on the north side of the U.S. Forest Service cabin. Follow Trail 8 up through brushy terrain up to a junction at about half a mile. Take Trail 68 to the southeast for another half-mile up through the forest to another junction at a small meadow. Follow the trail northeast about three-quarters of a mile as it switchbacks up through the forest and rocks to a notch and another split. Take Trail 392 down almost half a mile through the trees and meadows to Picnic Lakes. Look for mountain pasqueflower in the alpine meadows beyond the notch, where snow has recently melted. Continue on the trail between the Picnic Lakes, curving north past another junction. Almost three-quarters of a mile past Picnic Lakes, the trail reaches another junction; follow Trail 1 downhill about a half a mile to just above the north end of the lake. A path leads a short distance down to the shore. Eat lunch here – but beware bees – then retrace your path to the trailhead. (Jewel Basin trail map.)

Justin Grigg