‘The fall time has a symphony of nature events that are occurring, and one of which is celebrated by many visitors across the Rockies and beyond are the golden larches’
There’s a slim window every year where Alberta’s landscape is painted with the golden hue of larch trees as the province shifts into fall.
The unmistakably beautiful autumn amber of larch season is something many nature lovers look forward to each year from about mid-September to early October.
Subalpine larch (or Larix Iyallii) is what most people go to see this time of year, as opposed to the similar western larch, said Jon Mee, department of biology chair and associate professor at Mount Royal University.
Larch trees are coniferous and deciduous, the latter meaning they drop their leaves, Mee says.
“There’s not many species that we have, at least in Canada, that are both coniferous and drop their leaves, or their needles in this case,” he said.
The yellow allure of the trees draws visitors to many places in the Canadian Rockies, including within Kananaskis and Banff National Park.
“The fall time has a symphony of nature events that are occurring, and one of which is celebrated by many visitors across the Rockies and beyond are the golden larches,” said Debbie Mucha, west Kananaskis area manager with Alberta Parks.
“We also call it larch madness,” Mucha said. “It’s an incredibly busy time of the year for visitation, not just to Kananaskis Country, but to the Rockies in general.”
Finding larches requires some elevation, planning
It may not be as easy as parking your vehicle and a short hike to see some gold-coated branches this year, with construction underway for some parts of Kananaskis.
“We’re working on improving some of those parking areas, like in Highwood Pass . . . that, unfortunately, aren’t great places to view larches this coming season,” said Mucha.
She says they’ll be even better next year, when hopes are construction is finished.
“Just double check before you’re going out that the area that you’re going to is open and that there’s no type of wildlife warnings, or advisories and that type of thing,” Mucha said, while also encouraging visitors to have a Plan B or Plan C just in case parking is full.
“We just don’t want folks to be disappointed and really put all their eggs in one basket for going to a location,” she said.
After being out near Sunshine Village over last weekend, she said the larches are starting to turn a sort of lime-green, with a bit of yellow — not quite there yet.
“I think this weekend’s going to be really, really great, like towards the end of this week and this weekend, and then I think into next week,” said Brewer.
Subalpine larch grow at about 1,800 to 2,400 metres above sea level, where the Town of Banff is around 1,400 metres, according to Brewer; Lake Louise is about 1,600 metres.
“You do have to go, get a fair bit of elevation there,” she said.
“(Larches don’t) just become like this bright yellow. It turns into this golden and if you can get to these points, obviously walking through them is pretty spectacular,” Brewer explained. “But I really love when you can get up above it and look down on it.”
“But as far as shorter distances and bang for your buck, that one’s amazing. Obviously going to be quite a bit busier,” Brewer said.
Some others she motioned were Burstall Pass Trail in Kananaskis, Healy Pass Trail in Banff and Taylor Lake.
How do larches get their distinctive yellow?
Mee said leaves (or needles) of larches, like other trees, are basically “solar panels” they use to get energy.
“They expend all this energy to make these leaves, like they grow them every year,” he said. “They put a lot of (what we) can think of as expensive compounds into them to do this stuff.”
Then they drop every year.
“Kind of a weird thing to do . . . given that they put so much energy into them, but to get a little bit of that expense back, they draw out some chemicals before dropping them.”
That “drawing out” takes with it the pigmentation of leaves, or in this case needles.
“What’s left is the coloration you see, either the reds or the yellows, depending on what pigments are left in the leaves,” Mee explained.
Warming climate could affect larches, other alpine plants
Subalpine larch are adapted to a particular “elevation band,” according to Mee.
“As climate warms, the elevation at which they’re going to be adapted to is going to go up and up and up,” he said.
“Eventually there’s a certain level at which there’s no more mountain.”
Mee explained that as temperature rises, they may reach the limit of their tolerance and adaptability.
He said it’s more of an issue for alpine-adapted plants, because there’s nowhere to go.
“Populations will probably be sort of lost off the top of the mountain, kind of, if you can think of it that way.”