A Walk at Balch Creek

On the first nice day of weather, I spent the day inside resting and hoping to rid myself quickly my cold. On the second day of nice weather Sugata decided to give me an “assignment” to get me outside: I was to spend no less than two hours on the Balch Creek path in Forest Park. I was to take photographs of nine different wild flowers, take notes on their location, find out what they were, and write about my whole experience in no less than 1500 words. As my illness was minor—just a slight scratch in my throat—I decided to give it a try.

Sugata’s idea about going to Balch Creek was inspired by our first walk down from the Audubon society last weekend where we had spent Sunday afternoon volunteering at the annual native plant sale.  We had walked up Cornell road to get there and while this route saved us time, it is not the most pleasant for the nostrils or lungs. On the way back we opted to hike down through Balch creek. It was a lovely, slow, and magical walk.  The weather was overcast, but pleasant, and the fresh air was invigorating. We saw many small wonders including a tiny salamander and a snail.

Balch Creek is apparently named after the first man in this area who murdered his son-in-law and was legally hanged.

Of course I always find naming places after people a bit absurd. People are so transient compared to the landscape, and posterity generally finds the names irrelevant and perplexing. At least in the case of Balch Creek, the name has been preserved not in an attempt to impress the undue greatness of an individual upon us, but to remind us of someone admittedly notorious. Interesting.

I set out for Balch Creek Tuesday after lunch and spent nearly three hours in the woods. There was plenty to see and learn, especially for an earnest but ignorant would-be naturalist.

There is a fair amount of foot traffic along the path. Portland residents are fortunate to have such a wonderful hiking trail so close to the city. Were it not for a few loud motorcycles that occasionally cut through the stillness, you might easily forget how close the city actually is. Many people go out for a trail run or to give their dogs some exercise. In fact, little packets of poop sometimes in yellow, white or blue baggies cab be found at intervals along the trail. Most of the trail is litter free, but for these packets of poop. The are left, I imagine because the walker does not wish to take them along for the duration. The walker imagines he or she will pick the packet up on the way back. But poop is an easy thing to forget. Let us likewise forget the poop and focus our attention on the flora around Balch Creek.

I found the first six  flowers listed here on the Lower Maclaey trail that leads up to the moss-covered stone structure built in the 1930s for picnicking and storing tools. The Fairy Bells, Evergreen violets and Salmon Berry Bushes are abundant along the trail. Trillium is not apparent at first, but not too far up the trail you will begin to see them everywhere.

If you wish to challenge yourself to a little flower trivia, you may cover the caption below, look at the picture and try to identify the species before reading. Extra points for scientific names.

1. Hooker’s Fairy Bells (Disporum hookeri)—These were the first I took a picture of and are abundant along the trail.

2. Salmon Berry (Rubus spectabilis)—Right now the bushes are dotted with fuscia blossoms with yellow centers which will later turn into yellow or red berries which are edible but not always delicious. These were found especially right smack beside the milky-colored Balch Creek.

3. Yellow Wood Violet (Viola glabella)—I found many of these in great clusters and one bunch in the direct sunlight was attracting a great variety of insects. I had to stop and test my speed at photographing insect. (Insects not pictured as the bee, who buried its face in the center of the flower obscured the markings that are helpful for identification).

4. Trillium (Trillium ovatum)—This one has kept its Latin name. A lot of variation in color, some white, some more pinkish, some reddish, some purple. These appear to be more “solitary” than the violets as I noticed individual specimens more than clusters. Each trillium seed has an oil-rich appendage that is attractive to ants. The ants lug the seeds back to their nests, eat the oil and leave the rest. This helps the trillum to spread its kind around.

5. False Solomon’s Seal (Smilacina racemosa)—I somewhat resent the labeling of plants as “false” as if the plant exists merely to trick you. “False” means that the namer, found this plant second. False Solomon’s Seal is native, though the people who named it that undoubtedly were not. The Coast Salish and the Gitksan used the roots for medicinal purposes.

6. Siberian Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia sibirica)—The leaves of this plant look very different from the miner’s lettuce I know (Claytonia perfoliata). I noticed also that the flowers are a great deal farther away from the leaf than those of the Claytonia perfoliata. The leaves of this plant are edible, but the native peoples did not use them as food.

I stopped for a moment at the stone structure to sit on a log and journal. Here is the somewhat edited version of what I wrote:

“A Stellar’s Jay has swooped in silently. All seems still but the creek swishes by. Single lines of spider web, scattered through the shrubs catch the light. The light runs back and forth across the lines as the gentlest of breezes moves them. The jay, in taking off and landing stirs the sunlit leaves, jarring the picture of serenity, yet he has not broken the stillness with his loud voice. As a man walks by with his child in his arms, a chime sounds, presumably he just received a text message. The sound of an airplane overhead.

When I lingered long in front of the yellow flowers a woman asked me if I’d seen a snake. “No,” I said, “Just insects.” Then comes a woman with a black top, red shorts, white shoes. I take note of what she is wearing because she also happens to be walking a huge black and white great dane with a red leash. If you stop long enough you realize there are a lot of people out here. Now a group of teenagers has taken over the stone structure and are inside it hooting like idiots inside to hear their voices echo.”

After the stillness of my meditation at the stone structure was broken, I took the Wildwood trail up the slope. The following four plants were found on the hillside:

7. Wild Strawberry or Wood Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)—I used to eat wild strawberries when wandering out in the woods behind my house in Bozeman, Montana, so the blossoms are very familiar to me as are the shape of the leaves. Little did I know that there are also the woodland strawberry, the pacific strawberry, and even the coastal strawberry. I only found a smallish patch of these right along the path, so whenever they bear fruit, I’m sure they will disappear quickly. Though I must note that I have tasted a few wild strawberries in Portland, and none have seemed nearly as sweet as the wild strawberries of home.

8. Fringe cups (Tellima grandiflora)—There were plenty of these fascinating plants along the way, but it was hard to get a satisfying picture. According to my plant guide, it was said to be eaten by woodland elves to improve night vision. I'm not sure how that factoid ended up in the guide book, but I'm certainly curious.

9. Vanilla Leaf (Achlys triphylla)—only one sighting of this plant along the Wildwood trail. However, after reading my plant guide I wish to encounter it again, this time with my nose. The leaf is fragrant when crushed and can be used as an insect repellent. The Saanich of Vancouver Island kept dried bundles of them in their house to keep flies and mosquitoes away.

10. Oregon Grape (Mahonia nervosa)—the pointed jagged edges of this plant remind me very much of Holly (the plant, not my friend). The berries are edible, but not very sweet. (As a kid, I made a pen out of a hollowed out bit of cow parsley, and a shaft of a feather. I used the juice from the Oregon Grape for ink. This whole project was one of the few astonishingly successful experiments I did as a child). The shredded bark and root were used to make a yellow dye. The bark and berries were also used medicinally.

11. Herb-Robert or Robert Geranium (Geranium robertianum) This one is certainly not native, and was likely introduced as an ornamental plant. Though it is also said to repel mosquitoes, some have described the scent as “burnt rubber.” In Washington it is known as “Stinky Bob” and is listed as a noxious weed.

It's a shame to end the list with Stinky Bob, but the whole experience of photographing and staying in the woods was a treat for my senses. My eyes were scanning for flowers and my ears for the sounds of birds. I stopped for a moment on the Wildwood trail and wrote again. Here is an edited version of what I wrote in the woods:

“I pass once by a spot on the trail where a tree separates into three trunks like the tines of a pitchfork, which then branch off again. It is a rustle in the leaves at the foot of the trees that stops me and just as I have spotted a bright-chested robin, I hear another rustle and find a paler robin. I stop only a moment to watch and then move on. Yet on the way back my attention is caught by the same sound and I stop again to find the same two robins. Some time has lapsed since I was here last. Perhaps they have a nest somewhere. And as I begin to speculate and scan the visible trees for signs of a nest, I see two chickadees perched on an upright snag about ten feet tall. The snag is adorned with licorice ferns sprouting off the top like a shock of hair. The chickadees, on two different branches are quietly glancing about. I did not see them fly in. It is hard to see their dark caps against the dark cedar behind them, yet their black throats and white cheeks are highly visible. As I watch, one flies off into the woods, while another flies to a nearby alder and begins pulling of dry moss from the tree with its beak. It murmurs a soft “chickadee” call as it does so and stuffs its beak until it seems too full to fly with. Yet, fly it does straight back to the snag, where it hops into a crack and disappears.”

This moment is interrupted by a runner who jogs past with his handheld canteen. (There are a lot of runners out there!) I go up the trail a little ways and come back to observe the chickadees and write at the same spot, but am not able to witness the chickadee at work again.

It was at home that the real work of my journey began. Although I knew a few species and had some hunches about others, it took a great deal of time to search out and learn about each of the species. My main resource was Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, compiled and edited by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon. Another helpful resource was Wikipedia which helped me find a list of likely species in the Balch Creek area. 

There are still a couple of flowers I found that remain a mystery to me. I am providing the picture so that someone else wiser (or just luckier) can help me identify them:

1. 

2.