Camas Meadows

Blog for Camas Meadows Lodge™. Located on Camas Meadows Natural Area Preserve outside of Leavenworth, Washington. http://www.camasmeadowslodge.com All materials and photos copyrighted 2006-2017©

Saturday, April 04, 2015

Early Spring at Camas Meadows.....


Early Spring at Camas Meadows.......

At Camas Meadows it is the Spring Beauties and Glacier Lily's that announce the end of winter and the arrival of spring.  So this is the obligatory photo of this years best looking Glacier Lily.


The job of the Glacier Lily's is to announce spring.  After that their job is done for another year. However, the Glacier Lily's and Spring Beauties are just the first of the 125 wildflowers that bloom every year at Camas.  Each year the wildflower season is different and the wildflowers take turns to see who takes "center bloom".  I suspect is has quite a bit to do with winter snowpack and spring rains.

Given the early start to wildflower season the traditional end in early July might come earlier this year.

So early, that the elk that normally arrive like clockwork on April 15th, decided to show up early in late March.  They ran across the meadow in full view from the back deck.  The count for that run was 16 elk.  Hopefully, there are a few more floating around the meadow that did not join the herd.  One of the elk did decide to turn around and have a quick snack before rejoining the herd.


We are still waiting on the return of the Sandhill Cranes. Maybe they did not get the memo that spring is early this year.

Spring is the most active time of year at Camas Meadows. Wildflowers rotate in and out as spring moves into summer.  The elk drop their calves in the meadow and within a couple of days they are running around the meadow playing in the sunshine.

This April there was a total lunar eclipse that was visible from the back deck of the lodge.  The total eclipse was rather short lasting only twelve minutes. Watching the moon slip behind the peaks Three Brothers was pretty special. So many things going on all at once!

We are fairly wide open for spring. Memorial Day weekend is still available for the quiet getway on a busy weekend.