Category Archives: Waterworks Hill

Western Montana wildflower tweets for week of May 18

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Wildflower tweets from this week to help guide your weekend viewing in western Montana:

Trail work for wildflowers

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Heavy equipment will be working at Missoula’s Waterworks Hill to relocate part of the popular trail up the ridge around sensitive wildflowers.

Missoulian reporter Rob Chaney notes in his story this morning that the volunteers have tried other methods of dissuading people from trampling the plants, to no avail.

The new route up to the radio towers will be farther down the slope from the half-mile braided path that’s being closed.

Volunteer for a final day of replanting and trail work here.

Justin Grigg

The green line

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Anybody else notice the fenceline rising from Interstate 90 into Missoula’s North Hills – bright yellow-green to the west and drab brown-green to the east?

That line perfectly illustrates the battle against leafy spurge.

Here’s an excerpt from Missoulian reporter Keila Szpaller’s Sunday story:

The Parks and Recreation Department’s weed control program started a decade ago, but it took off five years ago when enough sheep grazed on the mountains for enough time. This year, evidence is plain the sheep are chomping with success.

Just take a look at the North Hills, (Missoula conservation lands manager Morgan) Valliant said. A fence zigzags up the mountain, and the pea-green and yellow weed blankets the west side of the fence.

“The comparison is just phenomenal,” Valliant said. “One side is completely yellow with leafy spurge, and the other side, there’s just none.”

That’s a visual cue the sheep are doing their job. Valliant also offers some numbers. In the past, 600 or so sheep were on the job for six months. These days, the leafy spurge feeds fewer sheep and for less time. An estimated 400 or 500 sheep graze for 3 1/2 months.

“That’s directly related to the amount of leafy spurge that’s available for them to eat,” Valliant said.

The story goes on to say that grazing by the sheep has resulted in spraying for weeds less often, allowing wildflowers to bloom.

To find out more and meet the people responsible for the sheep in the North Hills and on Mount Jumbo, read the rest of the story.

Justin Grigg

Walk for June 17

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Bitterroot

Lewisia redivia

Description: White to pink flower 1 to 2 inches wide with 12 to 18 elliptical petals, six to eight petal-like sepals and many stamens. Stands on a stem up to 3 inches tall. Fleshy, green leaves wither before flower blooms. Grows in rocky dry soil of valleys, foothills and mountains. Blooms late April to July. (“Peterson Field Guides – Rocky Mountain Wildflowers,” by John J. Craighead, Frank C. Craighead Jr. and Ray J. Davis.)

Recently seen: Waterworks Hill in Missoula’s North Hills, Pengelly Ridge on Mount Sentinel.

The walk: Bitterroots have been blooming for more than a week on Waterworks Hill, but the show isn’t over. Across the valley, on Pengelly Ridge, they’re just beginning to flower and should be going strong soon. To access the ridge, park at the Mount Sentinel trailhead three-quarters of a mile up Pattee Canyon Road from South Higgins Avenue. Ascend the switchbacks three-quarters of a mile up to the south end of the Sentinel Fire Road. At the junction, follow the Pengelly Ridge trail steeply up the mountain to the northeast. Look for bitterroots beginning about one mile from the trailhead, as the ridge becomes less steep. At 1 1/4 miles, the plants become much more numerous, and as of Tuesday evening were starting to bloom here. The trail continues steeply uphill for about another mile before topping out on the south summit of Sentinel. From here, there are a few options: Turn around and return to the trailhead; hike a short distance north to Sentinel proper, then down and across the front of the mountain on the fire road; or walk down Crazy Canyon Road and connect with the Crooked Trail, which returns to the south end of the fire road.

Justin Grigg

Fast flowers

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I ran my first Pengelly Double Dip half-marathon on Mount Sentinel and University Mountain on Saturday, and while the word “brutal” could be heard around the start/finish area, many people also took note of the beautiful wildflower display near the top.

The arrowleaf balsamroot, death camas, penstemon, larkspur and bluebells are putting on a good show. If you’re looking for a good hike, you might want to head up the Crazy Canyon Road from the Pattee Canyon National Recreation Area – it would cut the mileage and the climb.

My running also frequently takes me through Missoula’s North Hills, where bitterroots, penstemon and cushion plants are blooming right now. The photo above is from the Waterworks Hill Ridge Trail on Sunday.

Another race is coming up that’s known for its wildflower bounty: the Mountain-to-Meadow half-marathon and 5K at Lolo Pass on Saturday, June 26. The course loops through the mountains on forest roads and passes by Packer Meadows, one of the best places around to see camas bloom. Events get under way at 7:30 a.m. PDT (8:30 a.m. MDT).

The camas may be fading by race day, though, so you may want to head up there sooner. As of Monday morning, the plants were still budding and expected to bloom by the end of the week, according to the Lolo Pass Visitor Center phone message. Call (208) 942-1234 for updates.

The visitor center is about 31 miles west of Lolo on U.S. Highway 12. Packer Meadows is about one mile east of the visitor center on Elk Meadows Road.

Of course, if you’re running, you’ll have to make a return trip with a camera.

Update: Another event that likely provides a good opportunity for wildflower viewing is the Celebrate the Swan Race. The distances are half-marathon, 10K, 5K and one mile. The running gets under way at 9 a.m. at the south end of the airstrip along Montana Highway 83 in Condon.

Justin Grigg

Walk for May 27

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Whiteleaf phacelia

Phacelia hastata

Description: Clusters of one-quarter-inch white to pale purple flowers with five lobes and five protruding stamens. Plant is 8 to 20 inches tall with lance-shaped leaves 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches long that have nearly parallel veins and dense hairs. Grows in dry, rocky ground and coniferous forests. Blooms May to July. (Audubon Guides’ Online Guide to North American Wildflowers, www.audubonguides.com.)

Recently seen: Waterworks Hill Conservation Area.

The walk: The main trailhead for Waterworks Hill is located on a utility road off Greenough Drive, just north of the Interstate 90 overpass in Missoula. From the parking area, take the trail uphill to the west along the fenceline. Cross through another fence and continue up the rock-lined ridge trail to the top of Randolph Hill. Look for whiteleaf phacelia at the site of the small rock peace sign, just below the summit a little more than a mile from the trailhead. From the top, retrace your footsteps back down the ridge trail, continue on into the North Hills or switchback down into Cherry Gulch and back to the parking area.

Justin Grigg

Reports from Missoula and beyond

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I’ve received a few wildflower reports from readers in Missoula and beyond recently.

“Yellow bells, shooting stars and two other flowers I’ll have to research are in the unkept city park below Whitaker Drive,” Paula Hoffmann wrote in a comment. And “the buttercups are still going strong!”

However, she noted, “knapweed and leafy spurge are rearing their ugly heads.”

“After a slow start, the wildflowers above the Potomac Valley are starting to show themselves,” said Karen Peterson in an e-mail.

Peterson wrote that last spring and summer she documented all the flowers blooming on her 20-acre property in Potomac, and she plans to do it again this year. “I was amazed at the diversity and number of wildflowers I found and photographed.”

And last but not least, my wife Jen spotted Missoula phlox along the ridge trail at the city’s Waterworks Hill Conservation Area over the weekend. Check out this truly native plant while you can – but please stay on the designated trail to avoid stepping on them.

Justin Grigg

Native Plant Society gets out

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The Clark Fork Chapter of the Montana Native Plant Society has a couple of outings planned this month.

This Saturday, the group will go in search of Steer’s Head, a cousin of Bleeding Heart, in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area. U.S. Forest Service ecologist Mike Young will lead the eight-mile round-trip trek from the main Rattlesnake trailhead at 10 a.m.

On Thursday, April 29, the group will hold its inaugural “Camera Geek Expedition” to photograph flowers at Missoula’s Waterworks Hill Conservation Area. Meet at the Waterworks trailhead at 6:30 p.m.

For more information on these and other MNPS events, go here.

Justin Grigg

First flowers

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Western Montana’s wildflowers have arrived!

Buttercup buds and prairie smoke leaves have been out at Blue Mountain for a while, but on a walk up Waterworks Hill this weekend I saw my first true bloom of the season – pink tufts of Rocky Mountain douglasia growing from the gravelly soil along the ridge. Also poking out are the green, fleshy leaves of bitterroots.

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Check back for more sightings.

Justin Grigg

Pink petals

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Bitterroots are beginning to bloom in the North Hills, one of the best spots to see them in Missoula.

The Waterworks Hill trailhead, for the ridge just north of downtown, is on the west side of Greenough Drive, about a quarter-mile north of the Interstate 90 overpass. Follow the trail along the fenceline up the hill to the northwest. Look for the pointed pink petals of bitterroots on the gravelly ground just off the rock-lined path. Waterworks Hill’s caretakers ask that hikers stay on the trail.

Reader Steve Slocomb reports that he is seeing them in the foothills above Corvallis in the Bitterroot Valley. See his photos here.

Anyone else seeing them on trails outside of Missoula? I’d love to take a trip out of town to find them this year.

Justin Grigg