Sauk Mountain Wildflower Wander

Hosted by the North Cascades Institute

Instructor: Mari Schramm

Class Tuition: $110

Plant identification is an essential naturalist practice. Wherever you go, you can introduce yourself to the botanical residents you meet! As the poet Gary Snyder instructs us:

While seemingly complex at first blush, plant ID is simplified if you learn to recognize not the species, not the genus, but the family of the plants you find.

This workshop takes place on the quintessential Sauk Mountain with a marvelous meander with Mari Schramm. Sauk Mountain provides incredible views of the valley lowlands, the Skagit River, the Salish Sea and the sea of peaks that is North Cascades National Park. The steep-but-easy trail winding up delivers us to subalpine meadows where Mari will orient us to the lupines, penstemons, fireweeds, paintbrushes, lilies and other wonders blooming below our feet. We have timed this hike at the typical peak of wildflower bloom, making it easy to observe all of their parts.

Mari, a long-time instructor at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center, will instruct you in the use of a hand lens, botanical field guides, and even a dissecting microscope.

By the end of the day you will know how to recognize common northwest plant families, and you’ll find an entirely new layer of interest and wonder on any trail. And the Sauk Mt. trail is probably the most spectacular locale to learn these skills – just don’t let the views distract you from the workshop!

Wondering what you might see on this trip? Read a Sauk Mountain trip report from around the same week from last year on our blog: blog.ncascades.org

For more information click here.