Weekend Explorers: Old Growth Larch Forests
Details
CONC's Weekend Explorers (Sat., Apr 25th)
OLD GROWTH LARCH & WILLIAMSON’S SAPSUCKER
Les, one of our club members, will lead the next Weekend Explorers’ excursion, on Saturday Apr. 25th, to the old growth larch forests east of Okanagan Falls.
"Magnificent stands of unlogged, towering old-growth Western Larch are few and far between in Canada. Two such stands are in the hills east of Okanagan Falls and are easily accessible by road. These 350-600 year-old trees provide a glimpse of what the forests of yore once looked like in the Okanagan Highlands - with fairly open understory that was kept open by intermittent ground fires while sparing the big trees. We can both marvel at the resilience of the plants of all manner in that forest habitat, and meet with that particular denizen of the old-growth larch forests - the Endangered Williamson's Sapsucker. Club member Les will lead the outing. Les has been studying Williamson's Sapsucker and these larch forests for a good part of the last 30 years.”
We will meet for sign-in and car-pooling at the Westridge Shopping Mall parking lot (adjacent to LordCo & Wings Pub) in Westbank @ 9:00 AM. We will gather again briefly, about 10:15 AM in Okanagan Falls in the Belich's AG Foods parking lot, before heading up the forestry road to the larch. We will take some short walks in the forest (less than 1km total). The forest floor is flat, and not very challenging terrain.
Bring a lunch. Dress for the weather. If wet, waterproof boots would help; otherwise day-hikers are ok.
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If you carpool with one of our members, CONC's policy is to give a contribution to the driver. For the length of this trip, the contribution would likely be around $25.
NOTE: Participation in our activities is voluntary and by joining an outing you acknowledge the risks of injuries that may arise. Full membership in our club includes coverage for Public Liability Insurance, but note that others are not covered. Information to become a full (paid) member can be found on our website (https://okanagannature.org/) and others will be asked to sign a waiver to participate in our outings (https://okanagannature.org/Visitor%20Waiver%202022.pdf).