Five Hundred Lady's Slippers and Ponderosa Pine Restoration

Leader: Lance Barker

Five Hundred Lady's Slippers and Ponderosa Pine Restoration: Auto Trip with easy walking, 1/4 mile at each stop. Regular cars OK. First stop is a spot with hundreds of lady's-slippers (Cypripedium montanum) in an easy-to-reach draw within a Ponderosa pine/mixed conifer forest. Just a nice spot! We will then visit Morning Hill Forest Farm, where Lance and Jennifer Barker have been restoring the forest for 26 years, and have an intact plant community. The 40-acre farm has a plantlist of over 200 trees, shrubs, forbs and lichens. We will have lunch on the deck (facilities available), and then Lance will lead a tour across the property.

The idea is to spend the morning at the Lady's-slippers (perhaps with another stop in between, which I could suggest, if the lady's-slippers aren't time-consuming enough), and then to have lunch around noon at our place, then to tour our place. The lady's-slippers are in T15S R30E S19 SW1/4. Drive up MNF road #21 about 3 miles from the Izee Road, past road #4955 .2 mile or so. Park at a large, obvious landing on the left just before the 21 road begins to climb. Walk up the narrow road in the draw on the left, and you will soon see the lady's-slippers on both sides. They only get more numerous as you approach the end of this short road and wander around the open basin. Our place is in T15S R30E S26 W1/2. From the lady's-slippers, if you have the time, drive road #4955 to its other end at Geary Creek Road (formerly road #49). This is a little rough, with a few potholes, but if our bug can handle it any other cars can. Just plan on 45 minutes driving time, and a stop at T15S R30E S8 SESE (a very wet spring, be sure to go up the road on its left and see what else is in it). Look where you cross Geary Crrek as well. This is mostly overlogged and overgrazed, but the views are nice. If you spend more time at the lady's slippers, just go back out to the Izee Road and drive 2 miles east (left), then turn in at Geary Creek Road and go 1 mile to our green gate on the right.