Fireweed!

Reposted from June 2022 newsletter.

Fireweed!

Apparently, Common Fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium, can be found throughout most of the U.S. and Canada, but I had never seen it before Alaska.

It happens to be at the start of its bloom season and I found it on a pond edge along the Chena River. I've been wanting to sketch this plant for some time.
 

Fireweed is part of the Evening Primrose family and a hugely valuable plant to native peoples.

It's edible and very nutritious! Having deep roots, it propagates burn areas quite readily.

This is a typical journal page for me. A small habitat sketch, in this case there happens to be two, and element(s) from that habitat.
I love to zoom in on a subject, too. Step-by-step from placing it in the habitat it lives in, to highlighting a small segment of the object.

So often this is how I learn; this is the process by which my brain remembers things. I am a visual learner.

We drove 800 miles north to the Chena River Recreation Area, a completely different habitat from where we live.

The Chena River (Tanana Athabascan Ch'eno' "river of something (game)") runs right through Fairbanks, the second largest city in Alaska.

The interior region of Alaska is vast, made up of low mountain ranges and high ground.

Chena River is a place where locals fish, camp, hike, and canoe or kayak. The water level was kind of low, didn't look great for boating fun, but is classified as a Class II river.

Our trip was mainly reconnaissance... go as far north as we could in a single day and see a different part of the state.  Sounded like a good idea to us!  However, the mosquitos and gnats were waiting for us.

If that wasn't enough, we both were dealing with head colds, low energy, and the smoke smog from area wildfires was not helping. We left our hiking shoes in the car and simply enjoyed exploring along the road.

There's more written about the Chena River Rec Area and Fireweed on the journal page. Depending on your browser, you can click on the image for a larger look!