For the second field trip day of the Native Orchid Conference symposium in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, we chose to go to Pennington Bog, near the small town of Pennington (also known as Cass River), Minnesota. The closest city is Bemidji, Minnesota. Although it was not on the original list of field trip areas, Rob Freeman,

Walter Ezell and I made the trip from Winnipeg, Manitoba through customs to Lake Itasca, Minnesota. We had used Winnipeg as our headquarters: renting a vehicle and spending the previous 9 days in the Churchill, Manitoba area with a fine group of ten other people. If you wish, you can go back and see the

Day 10 – Walter Ezell and I got up early to make the two-hour trip south from Winnipeg, Manitoba to just on the other side of the little town of Gardenton. This the location of the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie preserve. There was a lot of construction on the main road south out of Winnipeg,

Day 9 – We spent the day driving the 466 miles (738 km) from Thompson to Winnipeg, stopping along the way when we would see something that caught our attention. We wanted to get an early start, since the drive would take most of the day especially if we stopped along the way. So we

Day 8 – Today will be our last day in Churchill. We will take one final tour of the shore road then pack our bags and make our way the short distance to the Churchill airport. There, we are scheduled take the 1-hour, puddle-jumper back to Thompson for the night. So, we head out to

Day 7 – Today’s field trips found us hugging the shoreline of Hudson Bay looking for wildflowers and wildlife. The shore of Hudson Bay is quite rugged. In many places, it’s easy to see the high water mark of high tide — the rocks are a different color: As you see, the rocks are quite

It’s difficult for me to believe, but this is (drum roll…) Blog Post #100! Day 6 – Today’s field trips will take us back to the Dene Village area, Cape Merry, and to Polar Bear Jail in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. For you folks who appreciate Amerorchis rotundifolia forma lineata, this will be a

Day 5 – Orchids galore! Today’s field trips would take us to back to the Twin Lakes area as well as to the “Tank Farm” in the town of Churchill, Manitoba. Shortly after arising for the day, there was a knock on the door with the news that there was a Lagopus lagopus or Willow

Day 4 – orchids galore! Today’s field trips would take us to two specific locations: Dene Village and Twin Lakes as well as our normal drive along the shore looking for bears and other wildlife. The orchids in Dene Village spring from around the foundations of a failed re-location effort. Here is one of the