{"id":4263,"date":"2018-07-25T09:42:29","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T16:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northerncaliforniahikingtrails.com\/blog\/?p=4263"},"modified":"2025-03-17T15:45:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T22:45:06","slug":"trinity-alps-wildflowers-ken-decamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northerncaliforniahikingtrails.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/25\/trinity-alps-wildflowers-ken-decamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Trinity Alps Wildflowers with Author Ken DeCamp: Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WildflowersKen DeCamp’s all-color Wildflowers of the Trinity Alps<\/em> is a beautiful book covering 629 wildflower species, subspecies, and varieties. Here Ken discusses the book, his favorite Trinity Alps wildflower hikes, and the course of his career as a photographer and writer.<\/p>\n

Where to Purchase Wildflowers of the Trinity Alps<\/em><\/h2>\n

Wildflowers of the Trinity Alps: Including the Marble Mountain Wilderness, Russian Wilderness & Trinity Divide<\/em> is at select bookstores in Northern California and Southern Oregon. You can also order directly from Backcountry Press<\/a>, or you can buy it on Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Was Your First Trinity Alps Hike?<\/h2>\n

My first venture into the Trinity Alps was with my family on a three-day backpacking trip into Big Boulder Lake up Coffee Creek in 1956. The lake was beautiful, the fishing outstanding, and there were no people even though it was the 4th of July weekend. The following weekend we backpacked into Big Duck Lake in the Russian Wilderness and spent three days there in blissful solitude<\/a>. in those days, backpackers were few and far between and horse packers were a far more common sight.<\/p>\n

What Do You Like Most and Least About the Trinity Alps?<\/h2>\n

The Trinity Alps and Russian Wilderness offer up some of the most beautiful scenery to be found anywhere and I believe it\u2019s the amazing mix of geologies that make it so. Whether it\u2019s the limestone and metamorphic geology of the Green Trinities, the towering granitic peaks of the White Trinities and Russians, or the serpentines of the Red Trinities, these highly variable landscapes are absolutely stunning. Each displays its own unique beauty and while it\u2019s probably the granite country that gets most of the attention, they are all, none-the-less, worthy of a lot of individual attention.<\/p>\n

\"Ken
Ken DeCamp above the Sugar Pine Lake Basin, reached by trail from Coffee Creek in the Trinity Alps. (Photo by Ken DeCamp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Trip Is More Important Than the Destination<\/h3>\n

I like to think, and I\u2019ve stated this many times before, that the overall landscape, while certainly a beautiful visual feast, is nothing but a conglomeration of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of tiny fragments \u2013 both living and inert – that are the building blocks of that beauty. It is my contention that too few people actually take note of the little and seemingly inconsequential things they walk over and pass by when traversing this landscape. I learned long ago that the trip is more important than the destination, and I have often found myself falling short of the planned end of a backpack trip because of distractions along the way that put a halt to forward progress. These mountains are full of surprises and never cease to amaze me with new discoveries every time I step foot into them.<\/p>\n

\"Lewis
Lewis monkeyflower: Here is an eye opener! These stunning magenta-pink monkeyflowers can be found throughout the higher elevations of the Alps. They frequent springs and seeps, especially in places like Grizzly and Papoose Lakes and the upper reaches of the East Fork of Stuart Fork Trail as it approaches Bee Tree Gap. (Photo by Ken DeCamp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Decreased Solitude in the Trinity Alps<\/h3>\n

I think the thing I like least about the Trinity Alps today is, generally speaking, the growing lack of solitude<\/a> and respect for the landscape and other hikers. Up until the late 60s, solitude was an experience we took for granted. There were no crowds – even on the major holidays. Except for horse packers there just weren\u2019t a lot of visitors and you could really get a true wilderness experience no matter where you ventured.<\/p>\n

All that changed in 1972 when John Denver hit the airwaves with Rocky Mountain High and Sunshine on my Shoulders. It wasn\u2019t long before the \u201cback to nature\u201d crowd began to hit the trails en mass searching for that natural high, and with the crowds came noise and trash. I was working for the Forest Service when this happened and, overnight, places like Stuart Fork<\/a> and Canyon Creek<\/a> (especially Canyon Creek) saw an exponential increase in use and abuse and it has only gotten worse.<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago I was shooting wildflowers along Canyon Creek near Middle Falls<\/a> when a group of about 20 college kids from Humboldt passed by on their way to the lakes. Two of the young guys had keggers strapped to their pack frames while others carried their camping gear<\/a> for them. It didn\u2019t take an Einstein to figure out what they were after on this trip\u2026 one: to get away from coastal fog, and two: to party hearty. I heard later from the wilderness patrolman (a friend of mine) that several people at the lake stopped by the District Office in Weaverville<\/a> to complain about the noise and trash left behind by this group.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. I can still experience solitude – I just have to work a little harder to find it. Avoiding the crowds has become increasingly difficult as more and more people turn away from places like the Sierra and head for the northern mountains. That being said, I do have secret spots that I don\u2019t share with anyone but kids and grand-kids who have grown up exploring with me.<\/p>\n

I like the fact that some trailheads are only an hour’s drive from my home, which means I can pretty much be \u201cspur-of-the-moment\u201d with a decision to go hiking. This is important because, strangely enough, I love thunderstorms and love being in the high country when they break. When the storms develop you will find me heading into the mountains while most people already there are leaving. I\u2019ve had some great experiences in over-used places like Canyon Creek when storms drive the crowds out.<\/p>\n

When Did You First Get Interested in Wildflowers, Trinity Alps or Otherwise?<\/h2>\n

Finding Edible Plants<\/h3>\n

Looking back I think my interest in native plants really began with my parents and grandmother who hauled my 5-year-old butt along on outings to gather blackberries, chokecherries, currants, raspberries, and thimbleberries for making jams, jellies and syrups. We also spent many pleasant hours digging up wild ginger roots, which she boiled in a sugar solution and then dried to make a kind of spicy hot candy – I wouldn\u2019t encourage anyone to do that any more but, at the time – 60+ years ago – it was quite fun\u2026 not to mention tasty!<\/p>\n

Alice Jones, Author of the First Book on Trinity Alps Wildflowers<\/h3>\n
\"Fringed
Fringed gentian: This beautiful little gentian can be found (if you\u2019re observant) in wet meadows throughout the Trinity Alps. It is small and hides down in the surrounding grass, making it difficult to spot. (Photo by Ken DeCamp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, by the time I was 6, I could at least identify those plants with edible fruit. Then, when I was 10, a second thing happened in my life – I met Alice Jones. Alice\u2019s husband Horace was the Forest Service Ranger on the MInersville District and whenever we needed a fire permit or a map, we would stop at the station, which was a 15-minute drive from where we lived. So while Mom and Dad were getting their permit, I would talk to Alice who, to the best of my knowledge, was the first woman to graduate from the UC Berkeley School of Forestry as a full blown forester.<\/p>\n

Alice was always eager to share her knowledge of the local botany with anyone who would listen, but I think she had a special penchant for educating kids. So while the folks were taking care of business, she would show me around the compound, identifying the various trees, shrubs and wildflowers. That encounter led to a life-long casual friendship. When she published her book of Trinity Alps Wildflowers in the mid-80s, it became a permanent resident in my pack and eventually helped inspire me to publish my own work.<\/p>\n

When Did You Get Serious About Photography?<\/h2>\n

In the late 60s and early 70s I spent a lot of time drawing and painting native plants. I was a patrolman with the Forest Service at the time and always kept my sketch books and pencils with me so that during lunch hour I could spend a bit of time drawing. I carried them with me while backpacking and spent many pleasant hours in the backcountry working on drawings as well. I still have one of my first drawings hanging on the wall of my studio\u2026 a picture of nine bark leaves and flowers I sketched at a spring alongside the East Fork Stuart Fork Trail in 1975.<\/p>\n

I kept at my artwork for several years but it was in the very late 90s that I began to get interested wildflower photography. Gray scale drawings were nice but did little to capture the colorful essence of my subjects. A friend loaned me his 35mm camera and I began exploring the possibilities of wildflowers in color. My first attempts were quite amateurish and I have to say\u2026 pretty bad. But, the more I shot, the more I began to experiment until by the early 2000s I was beginning to get the hang of it. Those were the days of film and I would burn through 20 or 30 rolls on a pack trip finding, after they were processed, that I would have to throw most of the prints in the trash.<\/p>\n

It was when I bought my first Nikon digital camera and made friends with the folks at Crown Camera in Redding that I began to realize a major shift in my abilities with a camera. The quality of my photographs grew exponentially better, and the better they got the more I shot. I stopped using auto settings and went to manual exclusively, I purchased excellent lenses and polarizers and more adaptable tripods. More importantly\u2026 I began to slow down and take more time with my subjects\u2026 searching for better angles, better compositions and better lighting. From that point on the world of wildflowers, lichens, and fungi took on a whole new meaning for me and the main purpose for my excursions into the mountains became the search for those species I\u2019d yet to discover.<\/p>\n

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Explore the Wild and Rugged Trinity Alps With This New Map!<\/h4>\n

\"Trinity<\/p>\n

The alpine lakes and jagged peaks of the Trinity Alps Wilderness rival the scenery of the High Sierra, without the crowds. This new highly detailed map is perfect for your next backpacking trip or day hike:<\/strong><\/p>\n