Grover Hot Springs Meadow Walk

I moved into Shay Creek Summer Homes, location of my cabin, during the summer of 2016. As I live essentially across the street from the state park, I have hiked around the meadow many times. During the summer of 2021 the Tamarack fire roared though the area. The town of Markleeville, Shay Creek, and Grover Hot Springs State Park survived – but not without some significant damage.

Once again I have begun to lead walks around the meadow. Here, I will describe a walk around the meadows. The sights, flowers, trees, waterways and damage caused by the fire. It is basically a summary of my weekly walks.

My Saturday morning walk begins at the overflow parking area. I start there and walk on the old waterfall/charity valley trail. The newly constructed accessible trail through the meadow is inadequate to a large group so I don’t use it.

The first thing to note is the hand dug ditch. It crosses under the road and flows all the way through the campground. It is a relic of the bygone era when all of the Hot Springs Valley had been cleared – ostensibly to help build mines and the surrounding towns. The result was that all of the valley had been turned into grazing lands. The ditch was used to water the resulting meadows and is visible all along the fist section of the trail

The second thing we note is that one of the stanchions for the gate that limited vehicle access to the road has been destroyed possibly by debris flow down a generally dry creek bed or possibly removed intentionally to allow better access for firefighters.. This is our first sight of damage from the Tamarack fire. While the fire didn’t cause the debris flow, it allowed it.

Shortly there is a nice bench from which to view the meadow. From there you can also see the south side of the canyon. Two things of note on the canyon wall are A. the fire and B. A large treeless gash in the hillside. The fire area has resulted in severe debris flows while the “gash”, formed from landslides, has resulted in mud flows as recently as 2017. There is also a nice view of the accessible walkway across the meadow.

Continuing on the road passes through the Jeffrey Pine forest. the Jeffrey Pine is a three needle pine with a large (softball/pineapple sized) cone. As with all pines the nuts are edible and “p”ine needles come in “p”ackets. There are also Cedars and Junipers. Cedars and Junipers have similar greenery but the Cedar looks as if it were ironed flat.

It is of interest to note that these Incense-Cedars are not true cedars (which come for the Mediterranean region). They are are part of the Calocedrus family rather than the Cedrus family. The Junipers have been mistaken for a Cedar to such an extent that there is Cedar City, Cedar Mountain and Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah – but no “Cedars” (not even the pretend to be Cedars) there. Juniper berries are the source of gin.

As the accessible trail joins the road, there is a forest opening containing Antelope Brush (Pershia Tridentata) and Sage Brush (Artemesia Tridentata) – the state flower of Nevada. Tridentata recognizes the three lobed leafs on each plant. While the sage smells like edible sage it is not. The spice sage comes from plants in the mint family. The antelope brush has yellow flowers and a wonderful aroma in the spring. It is readily visible along many foothill roads.

Also present is the Manzanita Bush – named for the little edible green berries (apples – manzana in Spanish) it grows. Its name’s origins are similar to Manzanar (near Independence CA). Manzanar was named for the apple orchards which had been in the area before it was turned into an interment camp for Americans of Japanese heritage during WWII. The Manzanita bush has a beautiful smooth, hard and dark red wood. The berries are “dry” and were crushed into flour by the Native Americans – generally the Washoe.

Along this section of trail you may find ground smoke (gayophytum diffusum), pussy paws, whisker brush, cinquefoils, yarrow, salsify (goatsbeard), phlox, monkeyflower and snowplant. The snowplant has no chlorophyll and is therefore not green. It is a beautiful red and is protected by state law.

As the road approaches the Hot Springs Cutoff trail, the fire and its damage is readily apparent. First, many trees have been burned, felled and removed. Second, the bridge crossing the ditch is gone. The bridge crossing Buck Creek is a visible charred wreck. Even Buck Creek which had gone under the road now goes over the road. The currants, ceanothus and alder trees that had been in the area are gone. It is interesting to note that the elderberries have begun to regrow.

Turning left on the Hot Springs Cutoff trail we soon enter the meadow area. One of the wildflowers visible here is the Lupine (there are many varieties of Lupine – I can’t get them straight). Lupines are named after the wolf (lupus in latin or as in Professor Lupin from Hogwarts). Because they grow in weak soils it was assumed that they “wolfed” the nutrients from the soil. In fact, the lupine is part of the legume family Fabaceae and fixes the nitrogen from the air into the soil – thus it can thrive in weak soils. The famous Texas Bluebonnets (of the bluebonnet highway) are a variety of Lupine.

Another omnipresent wildflower is the common dandelion. The dandelion is named for its “toothed” leaves. In French the flower is named for the “dent de lion” or the tooth of the lion. It has edible leaves and is known for making dandelion wine.

As you approach the river, there is a patch of willow and black cottonwood. The willow (a member of the salix family) is a source of salicylic acid. Native Indians used to chew the leaves to ameliorate tooth pain. Today we esterify the acid to form acetylsalicylic acid and market it as aspirin. We make the Bismuth salt, Bismuth_subsalicylate as the main ingredient of Pepto Bismol.

In the meadow to the right is a large cow parsnip (assuming that Mr. Bear has not destroyed it) as well as yarrow, groundsels, and cinquefoils.

Crossing the bridge over the Hot Springs Creek it is nice to notice that the creek valley is surrounded by high mountains. To the West is Carson pass, north is Luther, south is Ebbets and east is Monitor. After the crossing there is a large wild rose, (I named this one Pete because everyone knows Pete Rose). Wild roses give rise to Rose Hips – high in vitamin C and can be purchased in health food stores. There is also a rest area as part of the accessible trail just before entering the meadow beneath the Hot Springs.

There is a bridge over the intermittent/small outflow of the meadow. Old farm equipment is visible in the meadow. Much tumble mustard (an invasive weed) is visible – and becomes more so as you approach the hot springs. There is also Rydberg penstemon, groundsel, salsifify, cinquefoil, rabbitbrush, etc.

At the hot springs is some mint. Mint is edible, tasty, and aromatic. It has a square stem. Also, there is tall harry primrose (oenothara elata hirsitissimus), Indian blanket, and Brewer’s angelica. The primrose has a wonderful aroma that permeates the entire area on calm mornings. Also present in the hot springs area is a three sided sedge. Remember sedges have edges and rushes are round. Some rushes are visible along the road from the hot springs.

Farther down the access road the hot springs flow beneath the road and the warm water can be accessed easily.

Heading back to the park kiosk there are edible currants. There are also edible thimbleberries – but probably no berries. Finally, there is a nice growth of wooly sunflowers.

Careful viewing of the forest above the meadow shows that there are sugar pines (easily identified by the foot-long cones that hang down near the treetops). There is a large pile of runoff sediment and debris that came down from the fire and left the banks of Shay Creek.

As the road reenters the forest there is a white fir and a ponderosa pine. The ponderosa pine is the nations number one lumber tree and the state tree of Montana. This pine also has needles in packets of three but the cone is significantly smaller than the Jeffrey pine. The cone is also very “prickly”. The “p”rickly “p”onderosa cone is in contrast to the “g”entle “J”effrey cone. The bark comprises large scales and is yellowish (the ponderosa is also known as yellow pine). The white fir has individual needles curved upwards. “F”ir needles are “f”lat and grow singly on the branches.

While not present on this hike, spruce trees also have single needles (like the fir) but the needles are “s”quare and “s”harp. The douglas-fir (also not present) is not really a fir but rather its own genus a douglas-fir.

Shay Creek is crossed. There has been considerable reconstruction of the Shay Creek underflow that was damaged by debris runoff. A generator can be heard that powers the park as the electricity has not yet been restored since the fire.

The park kiosk garden has columbine, mint, sweet william, cut-leaved daisy, and penstemon (not the rydberg variety).