This love story begins many moons ago in a place so magical it only makes sense that it be called the Enchantments.
Prussik Peak and the Cascade Range
The reason this is a love story is because it was here in the Cascade Range ten years ago where I first fell in love with plants. Call it my gateway plant if you will because that is what it felt like, in truth, it was a gateway to becoming more deeply connected with my surroundings and I am so very grateful for this tender but tough beauty.
Gentiana calycosa - Explorer's Gentian
After climbing a dizzying, giant staircase of granite better known as Aasgard's Pass, where you gain over 1,900 feet in elevation in less than a mile, I found myself on a lunar playground with mountain goats as my spirit guides. But before I could leap and frolic and play with the white spirits I needed a moment to stop my head from my spinning. I sat down to wiggle off my pack and looked down to find these blue-eyed beauties staring straight back at me. Now it could have been the elevation or maybe the eye-numbing speckles of granite I had been staring at for the last 1,900 feet, but seeing this flower felt like opening the technicolor door to Oz. It was breathtaking.
Lucky for me I was traveling with two total and complete nature nerds (one a naturalist with a penchant for all things feathered and fungi and the other a badmammajamma and accomplished horticulturist):
Chuck, Charles, Charlie B. - trout slayer, mycological mystic, playful as an otter, lanky as a crane.
MegMeg, Megs, MegMacPaddywackgiveadogabone - wild woman, plant whisperer, lover of hand gestures.
They told me it was Explorer's Gentian. I was smitten and wanted to know more. Here is what I found out:
Gentians are tough ass broads or gents (ba-doom-ching) if you will, they love the cold and are known to continue to bloom even when the nights are freezing as they are low to the ground and sheltered by sun-warmed earth. With over 400 species it is considered a large genus notable for their large trumpet-like flowers that are often an intense blue. Gentians are named after King Gentius who ruled Illyria, a Balkan country partially located in what is now known as Croatia, in second century BC. (The half-Croat in me swooned at this information. Živjeli!) The King believed that gentian roots had medicinal value and used the roots to treat his wounded soldiers. Today many beverages are made with gentian root as it is a common beverage flavoring for bitters. The soft drink Moxie contains gentian root and the French Liquer Suze is made with gentian and commonly used in France as an aperitif known for its digestive properties. I drank my fair share of gentian liqueur in the form of Aveze when I lived in the Auvergne region of France known for its dormant volcanoes, rich soil, thermal waters and stylish retirees.
Vive la France!
This trip through the Enchantments was everything a wild and rambling backpacking trip in the mountains should be. We climbed and crawled around granite until our calves and blisters cried out to be soothed in crystalline blue alpine lakes. We slept hard under blankets and quilts of brightly burning stars and galaxies. We let our hair get wild and free and gave no regard to maintaining hygiene besides the morning ritual of the alpine lake face rinse. We ate like kings and queens with the beautiful fishing and foraging skills of Chuck, who showed us how to catch trout and find boletes to make one of the most memorable high altitude dinners I have ever devoured. I learned so much about the world around me and felt connected and ever-humbled by the great Mama Nature. I think I did right by Edward Abbey and understood what he meant when he said to RAMBLE OUT YONDER...
Spirit guides
K.Mac, KittleKat, Pretty Kitty, Kerry - true blue friend of mine.
Little Annapurna, my favorite mountain
Do you remember your first experience of being twitter-pated by nature? Was it a plant, a bird, a mountain range or the adventure itself?
Ramble on,
Kirsten