The Crystal Valley is unique on Earth. The natural beauty of this drainage spans a variety of habitats — from high-mountain lakes and meadows to shady, cascading creeks. Among iconic peaks exist fleeting bursts of beauty that color the hills each summer season.
Gregory Staple, a former energy lawyer and entrepreneur, trained naturalist and enthusiastic photographer, took it upon himself to document this natural phenomena for years before compiling his research into an educational guide book with hundreds of original photographs. “Get Out There: Crystal River Valley Wildflowers” is a 310-page labor of love first published in June.
“I wrote this guide for the curious,” Staple told The Sopris Sun. Not only does the book serve as an excellent tool for identifying species, the book begins with a detailed primer that delves into topics ranging from the relationship between pollinators and flower evolution to renaming species that carry “noxious” names.
“The question has been raised in the birding community and zoological communities about the carrying forward of 18th and 19th century names that reflect colonial expeditions and in our part of the world, not so long ago … some of the military expeditions, surveying expeditions, had amateur botanists with them and they picked up the gun too and participated in some pretty barbarous raids against native peoples,” Staple described. “Should the flowers they found along the way still bear their names?”
The book exists as a snapshot in time, fully aware of the shifting nature of its delicate subject. Given the seasonal succession of floral generations, wildflowers afford us the opportunity to witness evolution in motion. In light of a changing climate, Staple considers it a “book-length conservation argument for preserving what we have in the Crystal Valley.”
Staple came to live in the Crystal Valley with his wife in 2015. They bought a house outside Marble and he was soon enraptured by the blooms he encountered while hiking. “Does this kind of diversity exist elsewhere? You look around and find out no,” he said. “This part of the Colorado Rockies has a remarkable amount of biodiversity.” In 2019, he identified a white variant of Parry’s harebells, which are typically blue.
Having himself discovered undocumented flower varieties, like a white variant of the typically blue Parry’s harebell, Staple considers wildflower exploration a “floristic frontier” that is still incomplete. “Patterns that don’t match can lead you to wonder and new discoveries,” he noted. “Forms are changing. Varieties within certain species vary from year to year.”
For example, a number of spurless columbines have been spotted in other parts of the state. Although it has not been documented in the Crystal Valley, this mutant is showing success, despite its lack of nectar. “Could Colorado’s iconic state flower lose its spurs?” Staple mused. “Stay tuned.”
The book boasts a modern design with pictograms to make identifying species easier. Descriptions of the 260-plus flowers provide context including etymologies — the meanings behind the names. The book concludes by highlighting conservation organizations including the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association. “It’s terribly important now,” Staple said. “In our lifetime, the climate is changing more rapidly than we expected.” He considers flowers “the canary in the coalmine,” telling about temperature, rainfall, health of the soil “and their numbers and diversity can provide a marker on seasonal and climate changes.”
Staple hopes that people will support local businesses by purchasing his self-financed, self-published book either at The Marble Hub, Raspberry Ridge Cafe, Redstone General Store, White River Books, Flowers on Main Street, Bristlecone Mountain Sports, Bookbinders Basalt, Explore Booksellers or Carl’s Pharmacy.
“We live in just a remarkable place,” he affirmed. “I have been moved by my time hiking in the Crystal River watershed and I wanted to share that and give people a sense of how important it is to do what they can to conserve what we have.”
It’s not too late to put the book to use. Staple rated the 2024 season as “remarkable” and stated that flowers above 9,500 feet “are still in great shape.”
For more about “Get Out There: Crystal River Valley Wildflowers” and updates highlighting additional species spotted since its publication, check out www.gotwildflowers.com
Photo by Gregory Staple
Photo by Gregory Staple