Sunday's Poker Ride

I worked the past eight weekends and I made an effort to keep my calendar clear this weekend. On Sunday Husband and I decided to take our ATV and go out to a Poker ride. Not really environmentally friendly I know, but sometimes we need to offset our environmental efforts with some fun.

Son couldn't come along as he was just given the okay on Friday to remove his arm sling after wearing it for six weeks following the fracture of his left humerus bone, and daughter had a friend over plus we need a part to fix her quad. So that just left the two of us to play in the sunshine.


Here is Husband who has just unloaded the quad.

A very big turnout. They sold about 500 poker cards.

Most of the trail was nice and fairly easy. Along the way, I noticed a lot of flowers in bloom on the trailside- Indian Paintbrush, Anica, Ox-eye Daisy, wild Roses, Bunchberry, Buttercups, wild Strawberry, and Orange Hawkweed. There were also a large number of various butterflys about.

As we got closer to the end of the ride, the trail took a few turns for the worse. Huge mud holes made a lot of fun for some people, but not for us. We usually went around the holes, but here are a couple of photos of people who love the challange.

Two ATV's stuck in the mud (one if the foreground and a fellow standing in the back trying to pull his)

Two ATV's stuck in the front of the mud pit which eventually had to be winched out. There is always someone who will stop to help out.


We were rescuers at one point in the trails when we came around a corner to hear someone calling for help. An older lady (about 70) had driven her ATV though what looked like a shallow puddle, but in fact was a very deep hole. Her quad was tipping over and she was physically unable to get off, while her daughter was holding the quad from tipping into the hole. Husband jumped into the 'puddle' which was hip deep to the keep the quad from rolling, while myself and a teenage boy who happened along held on in the shallow side. The daughter managed to get the winch onto her ATV and pulled the lady out. Up until that point we had keep pretty dry ;)

Husband

Husband and I

It was a really fun day even if we had lousy poker hands!

Mountain Lady Slipper

Son picked and brought home a Mountain Lady Slipper this afternoon because he thought it looked so cool. He had never seen a flower like that before.


I know that they are endangered and rare in this area, so I freaked out a little. I can't blame him for picking it though as he didn't know.

He showed me where it was in the ditch in front of our home and there are lots growing!

Here is a complete description of the flower from http://www.mountainnature.com/

Mountain Lady's-slipper/Mountain Ladyslipper
Cypripedium montanum
Season: June/July
Habitat: Western Slope Montane
Height: Up to 50 cm

Description: The mountain lady's-slipper is a real treat to discover. It is near extinction in many areas and rare in others. It is instantly recognizable, as are all of our ladyslippers and always adds a bit of excitement to a wildflower walk.

Flower: Unlike our other lady's-slippers, mountain lady's-slipper often has up to three flowers near the top of the plant. They are made up of a white pouch-like flower covered with four reddish-brown sepals. The sepals may twist, and spread widely to expose the entire flower. The white flower has a yellow tongue originating at the base of the pouch, and dropping inside. The tongue may have purple spots on it.

Leaf: The alternate, lily-like leaves are smooth margined, hairy, and loosely clasp the stem. There are usually only four to six egg-shaped to elliptical leaves, with each between 5-16 cm long and 2-8 cm wide. The veins run parallel to the leaf margin.

Fruit/Seed: Like other ladyslippers, thousands of seeds are contained within an erect, elliptical, hairy capsule.

Similar Species: The sparrow's egg orchid (C. passerinum) is the only other lady's-slipper with a white pouch. The brown sepals distinguish it from the green sepals of the sparrows-egg orchid. The yellow lady's-slipper (C. parviflorum) is easily distinguished by its bright yellow pouch and green sepals.

Range: While the Mountain lady's-slipper is widely distributed geographically, it is extremely rare throughout most of Alberta and British Columbia. In many areas it has been nearly wiped out. Look for it in the southern Rockies, in particular Waterton Lakes National Park on the eastern slopes. It is more widely ranging on the western slopes, but still considered uncommon.