While on our way to the East Kootenays, we stopped at the Skunk Cabbage Trail in Revelstoke National Park.   The gate was closed but we walked down the roadway to the trailhead, then did the Boardwalk Loop.   Although we had done this walk a few times, we had not done it in early May when the skunk cabbage first emerges.   The route is only km, a good break while traveling east.

 

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The trail starts as a gravel track but then is all boardwalk through the swamp/

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Skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus) was just starting to flower above the mud.

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Pools of murky water were still cold and had little activity, except for a few water striders.

 

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The leaves of the skunk cabbage are lance-shaped and sometimes elliptical.   Many small flowers emerge from fleshy stalks called spadix.   A bright yellow hood (spathe) surrounds the stem.

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Other plants were also emerging around the muddy fringes of the swamps.   This is stinging nettle.

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Cow parsnip was also growing nearby.   It will grow to 2 to 3 m and will have large flat-topped white flowers in late spring-early summer.   the leaves were eaten as a food source by First Nations people.

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We also enjoy the other short walks in this area – the Giant Cedars Trail and the Rock Garden Trail (both westbound turn-offs), on our way through Rogers Pass.