My fascination with wildflowers continues, which makes me wonder if this and my other new passion for birdwatching means that I am becoming eccentric…? (don’t answer that.) During our weekend away in Northwestern MT’s Swan Valley, we saw oodles of beargrass. My favorite description comes from my pocket naturalist guide that I always make sure is in my hiking backpack: star-like creamy flowers bloom in a dense terminal spike. These elegant, 5 feet tall flowers are definitely stunners. Other interesting factoids: beargrass blooms in 5-7 year cycles, and Northwestern Native Americans have traditionally used the stems and roots in basket weaving. Someone in my family who did not want to be quoted likened their almost ghostly glow to a forest filled with fairies. Here are some of our glimpses of the enchanted forest. See more on one of my new fave MT blogs, Montana Outdoors.