“How interesting everything is! Every rock, mountain, stream, plant, lake, lawn, forest, garden, bird, beast, insect seems to call and invite us to come and learn something of its history and relationship...”
John Muir, “My First Summer in the Sierras”
What is an interpretive nature hike?
Every adventure takes us through a different portal to enter the often interesting, sometimes surprising and frequently inspiring world of mountain nature. Each trail offers its particular secrets and stories. Perhaps we will trek into a dark, cool subalpine forest with its quiet, carpeted floor and sweet-smokey-woodsy fragrance and come to recognize the reigning monarchs of the region, the Engelmann Spruce and Subalpine Fir, draped in royal robes of forest green. In the fall, the forest ground cover of wild blueberries and wild strawberries or the shrub that produces serviceberries may offer a chance to taste sweetness. We may come to a gurgling cold water mountain stream whose banks are flanked by a willow thicket, amongst which, if we are lucky, stands the massive shadow of a cow moose, munching on tender, tasty willow stems and buds. She is busy garnering the protein required to nurture the developing fetus inside and grow the dense, insulating underfur needed to help her endure the coming long winter stresses.
Maybe the trail opens up into a sun-drenched high mountain meadow, bursting with colors that bring pause. Here, the showy wildflowers advertise their dazzling colorful patterns and oft-sweet smells to draw in one invertebrate or another. The growing season is short, so time is precious, and these herbs know that they must offer the sweetest nectar and most rich protein-filled pollen to attract just the right pollinator so as to insure the next generation. Downslope from the meadow, the ground softens with wetness as rushes and sedges begin to appear, surrounding a small pond. A few alders and aspens grow nearby, imparting partial shade on the surface of the pond where a strange creature lurks. This long-legged creature is literally ‘skating’ across the pond’s surface, hunting for the hapless fly or gnat blown onto the surface by a strong gust of wind. This is the water stridor, and she is accompanied beneath the surface by other predators like the water boatman and the diving beetle. But being a small predator doesn’t always end well for there is always something bigger, like the Tiger Salamander, one of the few amphibians hardy enough to endure mountain winters.
The young aspen we saw augurs the next forest zone we hike through, a splendid mature aspen forest, with its dappled light and wild, green, undulating understory. Those famous aspen “eyes” watch as we are unable to avoid touching and rubbing the palms of our hands back and forth across the smooth, powdery bark of these beautiful trunks. Just as we begin to speak to the unique reproductive story of the Quaking Aspen , the short, fluty and hoarse chirps of a splendid male Western Tanager calls from above. This jewel of the mountain forest, with his flame-colored head, brilliant yellow body and black tail and wings, has just returned from winter migration in Central America to find a mate..
The trail can lead on - it just awaits our decisions and determination. Sometimes plans take us to lower elevation forests to find the trail, perhaps to take a stroll through a park-like, fragrant Ponderosa Pine forest, which often shares nearby terrain with the attractive Douglas-fir. Then we will encounter all the many life forms that share these woods. Maybe we descend even lower and hike through the warmer and dryer Pinyon Pine and Juniper forest. Or, maybe we have chosen to ascend to the greatest heights above timberline to enter the alpine zone, with its alien world of specialized and miniaturized life forms. Here the views are likely to be spectacular, and here we can perhaps begin to take in the larger picture of the geological wonders of these unique, challenging and spectacular Rocky Mountains. Join us for the next adventure!