A most fitting ending

As I end my time on Yellow, April and May were quite the sendoff. I had over 850 visitors, not a record but the second most in my 20 springs here. in the last blog I wrote about having the legacy club members here. That constituency totaled nearly 200 people. The next large group was Friday Walkers, a group that visits almost every year with 40-49 people. The day after they were here, two member trips totaled nearly 60 people. 

Other groups included three brought here on the Orion owned and operated by Kevin Campion and his company Deep Green Wilderness. These groups consisted of about 15 individuals, the first from North Cascades Institute (NCI), the second from Outdoor Afros, and the third from Latinos Outdoors. Kevin is a great educator and strives to get people from all walks of life into the out of doors to appreciate nature. We are hoping that TNC can partner with Deep Green Wilderness in the future to get more groups out to Yellow.

So what did these groups see when they came to Yellow? This year was a spectacular flower year, perhaps the second most colorful in the last 20 years. 

Paintbrush, buttercup and camas, Yellow Island's big three that cover the meadow.

There was so much camas this year that I again wondered why the island wasn’t called Purple Island. 

A meadow of camas is foreground to a Pacific madrone in full flower

And yet there was also an abundance of paintbrush so Red Island also has a legitimate claim to the name. 

Harsh paintbrush in front of a pair of 250+ year old Douglas firs

As the major bloom was ending, broadleaf stonecrop covered the rocky balds. These plants growing out of a bed of reindeer lichen have to be among my favorite species.

Broadleaf stonecrop and reindeer lichen

With this my final season on Yellow, I feel true blessed. The last couple months with spectacular flowers, fascinating groups of people, special friends stopping by for a final walk around the island together, all let me know that life is good. The last 19+ years I've got to live the dream and I can't imagine a better ending. Thank you to all of you who have contributed in someway to make it possible.  It's now time to pass the baton; TNC couldn't be happier with their new hire Matt Axling!  Good luck Matt! 😊

Phil Green 

Yellow Island Steward

March, 1999 - May, 2018.