Our friend gives guided nature walks and foraging classes regularly. She is such an amazing source of information about so many plants that grow in our area. She has harvested wild foods for local restaurants and is constantly adding wild greens to her meals. Last spring we went on a plant walk with her as our guide and B still remembers many of the plants (and stories) we learned from her. Since we enjoyed that experience so greatly, I signed us up for one of her classes last weekend at beautiful Sweet Creek Falls.
I was very much looking forward to the class, but I have to admit that when I woke up that morning and saw that it was pouring outside, and our house felt so warm from the fire Jeff had started in the woodstove, and then I looked over at my knitting sitting on the couch that had been untouched for most of that busy week… some cozy home time felt very tempting! But we bundled up and headed out. When grandparents asked for gift ideas for B last Christmas, I mentioned a rain suit, and requested a larger size so it could be put to use for years to come. We love that thing! We were out in the rain for hours and he was completely dry and comfortable. Those suits sure make it easier to enjoy the outdoors all year round, and are wonderful for wintertime in the rainy Pacific Northwest.
Once we were hiking at the falls, I was so glad we were there. Heading out into the rain when you are inside does not always sound appealing, but I’ve found that it’s fun to be in the rain when we are actually out in it. It was a dark, rainy day (as you can tell from the pictures) and with all the recent rainfall, the waterfalls were loud and intense. I had never seen so much water rushing down the falls there before.
Some of the plants we saw along the trail (edible and not) were wood sorrel, yellow wood violet, miner’s lettuce, lady fern (edible), sword fern (not edible), salmonberry, thimbleberry, chickweed, bittercress, wild bleeding heart (poisonous), huckleberry, skunk cabbage, and wild ginger. Of all the edible plants we tasted, wood sorrel is by far our favorite. It’s so fresh, lemony and delicious! (You don’t want to eat too much though, because the oxalic acid will upset the stomach and interfere with calcium absorption.)
Oh, and we saw trillium in bloom all along the trail. We know not to pick trillium flowers because they often don’t grow back after they’ve been picked, but we didn’t know that they are endangered. (I wanted to share that information here. From Wikipedia: Picking parts off a trillium plant can kill it even if the rhizome is left undisturbed. Some species of trillium are listed as threatened or endangered and collecting these species may be illegal.) Trillium are a favorite flower of mine, I think they are simply magical, with the glowing white petals that stand out among the mossy forest floors.
Some plants I had learned to identify on our last walk and then I had forgotten, so it was good to be reminded, and other plants were new to me. (B found some lichen on the ground, and brought it home, but we’ve been told not to pick it off the trees because it can take a long time to grow back.) When we returned home that day, we felt so refreshed and invigorated from our hike and time outside. We walked all around our yard and into the woods a bit, searching for and identifying plants as we went. What a great feeling it is to be more familiar with the plants growing outside your door!
{By the way, my friend recommended two books in case you are interested in identifying plants in the Pacific Northwest. Her favorites are: Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Pojay and Mackinnon, and Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West by Michael Moore.}
Joy says
Looks lovely, those rain suits are just the thing for being able to get outdoors everyday and teaching kids that weather is great whatever it is.
I’ve just finished reading the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed who walks alone on the Pacific walkway, i think the end part was in your state. Its the best book i’ve read in a while and i’d recommend it to you if you haven’t read it already, do check it out!