We left Helena at noon on Friday, needing to be back by 7:00 PM Saturday. Thirty-one hours was our entire time allotment. In the end, it took us a hair over 32. But in that window, we managed to find 12 to 14 new plant species for the year (ID’ing is ongoing), most of which were new life species for us both. It was a bit of a blitz, but thoroughly lovely all the way around.
The primary goal of this effort was to join a group from the Montana Native Plant Society and the Yaak Valley Forest Council for a “Fen Walkabout” in the extreme northwest corner of Montana. A secondary goal – because road trips practically require you to push yourself a bit – was to see if we could find a Roundleaf Sundew along the way. If we could succeed on both counts, we would check off two of the three species of carnivorous plants native to Montana.
Both goals were accomplished. If the story ended right there, we would have considered the trip a terrific success. But as is so often the case, the journey was made even better by taking the long way, so to speak. Perhaps the most apt metaphor comes from Robert Frost:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
In our case, we created our own diversions. During the planning stages, we took what could have been a simple (if long-ish) six-hour drive from Helena to Libby and found a few places we thought about squeezing in. We eventually winnowed those down into two categories: “Absolutes” and “If There’s Time.”
In the “absolute” category, we placed the Fen Walkabout to find the English (or Great) Sundew, a hike at Morrell Falls to look for the Roundleaf Sundew, a visit to Cabinet Mountain Brewing Company, and getting back home in time for a family obligation I had.
In the “if we have time” bucket, we tossed the Ross Creek Cedar Grove, Rainbow Lake, a visit to Yaak proper, and Tamarack Brewing Company.
With sleep and necessary windshield time eating up about 20 hours, we really only had 11 hours to pack in everything else.
Morrell Falls was our first stop, and it didn’t disappoint. We walked about 5.8 miles (9k) and successfully found the Roundleaf Sundew, while adding a few other new species to our lists along the way.
From there, the English Sundew experience was nothing short of amazing. We met a host of wonderful new folks, found additional new species, and got to see a thriving population of the English Sundews themselves.
The people from MNPS and YVFC were incredibly warm and welcoming. After a quick orientation – which somewhat casually included a reminder to consider carrying bear spray, and a statement alerting us to a couple of mountain lions and one black bear currently frequenting the area – we were off.
The walk was a two-mile round trip, with an optional side trek snuck into the middle for the adventurous (or those with more time).
Wading carefully out to find a safe spot on the sphagnum mat from which to view the sundews felt like entering another world, where the ground beneath our sandals was a spongy mattress of moss and we were quite literally surrounded by beautiful, carnivorous plants. It didn’t take long before several of us were out on the mat, phones in hand, photographing and marveling at the tiny, glistening insect traps laid out before us.
The English Sundew population we visited is one of only about two dozen currently known in Montana. These plants require pristine sphagnum mats to prosper. Because this particular population was on private land in a remote area, very little human disturbance had impacted it, allowing the colony to thrive.
If I had to guess, I would say there are far more populations of all three Montana sundew species than are currently documented. They simply exist in remote, soggy, acidic areas where few people venture – and the folks who do go there typically aren’t looking for tiny carnivorous plants.
Because of their specialized habitat and sparse record, English Sundews are currently listed as Species of Concern in Montana, and they deserve the highest level of protection we can afford them.
For what it’s worth, Cabinet Mountain Brewing is well worth visiting. It is the only brewery in Montana wholly owned by women. As the father of three daughters, I dig that.
With a further nod to Robert Frost, adding this ‘diversion’ to an already busy summer did, in fact, make all the difference.
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