Happy Holidays from the Columbia River Gorge

Towhee in the snow

Ice on the edge of the Sandy River December 2009

Ice in Corbett 2013

 

 

 

Santa flies above Vista House

Into Another Gorge - Tonto Natural Bridge in Arizona

In September we went to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park in Arizona

 150 feet wide, over a 400 foot tunnel, this feature is found 10 miles North of Payson, Arizona off Highway 87.  (About one hour north of Phoenix area) It is made of travertine formed by the deposition of calcium carbonate from water that percolates through the surrounding rock formations.  Many caves are formed this way, Tonto Natural Bridge is like an above ground cave. (More here)

It costs $5 per person to enter the park - well worth it, even if you just take a look from above. 


We walked down the steep trail to the entrance.  You are warned to hike at your own risk, and you should take that seriously.

 Here is a cliff face that looks like a cave interior.

Then we decided to walk through the tunnel - looking back at the entrance

Looking through to the other side

 Water is dripping down everywhere,
the "trail" is slippery and is really a scramble over the slick rocks.

Here is another part of the "trail"

 If you slipped and fell into the pool, cracking your head on the way down it would be too bad, the ranger station is a mile away.

 Another view of the tunnel - see people in the foreground.

Arrows point the way like in Journey to the Center of the Earth

We made it to the other side where you can see cliffs inhabited by swallows and ground squirrels

Enough of the Wildflowers Already!

I am winding up my Wildflower Frenzy with this post, after finding 22 of the 25 flowers on the list.  I did intend to find them all, but such is life.   I  scored 40 points total, and counted my points 3 times.  Sounding a bit crabby because the list got the best of me, but I did enjoy the hunt and got to know several new (to me) flowers. 


Columbia Tiger Lily (Lilium columbianum) (2 points) was found at Bridalveil State Park on May 30, 2013.

Lonicera ciliosa - Orange Honeysuckle May 2013

Oregon stonecrop - Sedum oreganum July 2013

Fringed grass of parnassus (Parnassia fimbriata) May 2013

Common Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) are blooming now (end of July) in the Western Gorge.  This flower is found throughout the Northern part of the Northern Hemisphere (circumboreal).

The hay has been cut at home

Indian Pipe - on the flower list, this picture is from last year (end of July 2012) on the trail to Wahclella Falls.   This flower looks like a fungus but is a saprophytic plant (no chlorophyll, gets nutrition directly from other plants) Did not find it this year, am done looking!

Searching for Dutchman's Breeches - April/May 2013

 For the last few weeks, I have been searching in vain for Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria).
It is uncommon, I have seen it once before (in 2009).  I went to the Eagle Creek area and found another flower on the list - Rosy Plectritis (Plectritis congesta) - one point - pictured here with one of the Blue-eyed Marys.

Also found this big garter snake (Thamnophis species)

And Cliff Paintbrush - Castilleja rupicola - two points

I went to the Twin Tunnels trail - part of the Scenic Highway turned into a trail from Hood River to Mosier.  Did not see a cougar.  Did not see Dutchman's Breeches.





I have started using the iPhone app
Washington Wildflowers available from http://www.highcountryapps.com - very handy and doesn't require web access to use it.

Did see Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) - 2 points

Went back to Catharine Creek where the flower meadows are drying up
and found Bitterroot - two points - (Lewisia rediviva), but no breeches.

I have found 21 of the flowers on the list so far.  And a total of 38 points.
I will keep searching . . .

Catherine Creek - Wildflower Hotspot

4/20/13 - Started the day with lunch at the Solstice Wood Fire Cafe in Bingen, Washington (on WA Hwy 14) where we had a fabulous pizza with  morels, stinging nettle pesto, and goat cheese.  Stinging Nettles are edible if you smash them up or cook them, which destroys the stinging needles.  It was a mild tasting pesto, but good, and supposed to be full of vitamins.

 A few miles East of Bingen and
less than 1 mile West of Catherine Creek, we found these Artic Lupins Lupinus latifolius - by the side of the road. One (1) point.

And Barrett's Penstemon growing on a cliff face. This plant is endemic to the Gorge.  Any Penstemon is worth one (1) point.

At Catherine Creek, I walked through the lower area, which was carpeted with flowers.  Here is bicolored lupine - Lupinus bicolor.

I think this is Tomcat Clover - Trifolium willdenowii - rhizomes of native clovers were an food source for native peoples, dug out in the fall, after leaves had died back.

Camas (Camassia species - blue flower) and Meadow Death Camas (larger white flowers - Zigadenus venonosus)

Camas was an important food staple for native peoples, and Meadow Death Camas was to be avoided.  Camas  is worth 2 (two) points.






Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon species), pictured at left, were starting to fade, but still visible and worth 2 (two) points - I now have 28 points!

Western Gorge Flowers - 4/14/13 and 4/18/13

Looking East towards Crown Point 

It was a grey and rainy day in the Western Gorge, but there were flowers to be found just down the road. 

Stream violet- Viola glabella - blooms early and for a long time, this ground cover can be found in some lawns.

Pacific Bleeding Heart  - Dicentra Formosa - one of the most common flowers in the Western Gorge.  Seeds of this plant attract ants, who distribute them underground.

Larkspur - Delphinium species on the Flower Frenzy list for 1 point.  Just starting to bloom in Corbett, soon shady roadsides will be covered in these violet blooms.

Scouler's Corydalis - Corydalis scouleri - likes shady riparian areas, can be found along the trail around Latourell Falls.

Salmonberry - Rubus spectabilis -  also likes riparian areas.  
Sprouts and berries eaten by many native peoples.

Garlic Mustard, an invasive species just about to flower - pull it out! Leaves have a garlic-like taste and this plant was brought to North America as a garden plant.

Skunk Cabbage - Lysichiton americanum - large and smelly plant, attracts flies as pollinators - the flower head is the upright spike.  Skunk Cabbage is not a cabbage, but is in the Arum Lily family, as is the Easter Lily.

Hooker's Fairy Bells- Disporum hookeri - forms small orange-red fruits considered poisonous by most but were eaten by some native groups of Eastern British Columbia

False Solomon's Seal - Maianthemum racemosa - common ground cover in shaded forest areas.
Forms red berries that are edible, but not good tasting.  Resembles another plant that is the original "Solomon's seal".

Saskatoon also called June Berry - Amelanchier alnifolia -
highly regarded as a food and the wood also used for arrows, and digging sticks by native peoples East of the Cascades.

OSPREY!

Sitting in a Black Cottonwood next to the river, this osprey probably spent the winter in Mexico.  

Weisendanger Falls above Multnomah Falls

March Madness - 3/31/13

My own version of March Madness occurred on 3/31/13 while searching for more flowers on the Flower Frenzy list.  Near Shepperd's Dell (on the Historic Columbia River Highway a few miles East of Crown Point) I found Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria lanceolata) just about to bloom.  2 points on the list!

The same plant two days later

 

 Also at Shepperd's Dell a nonnative species - Honesty (Lunaria annua) common along roadsides in the Western Gorge.  Shepperd's Dell was donated to the City of Portland in 1915 by George Shepperd, a dairy farmer, and has a two-tiered waterfall in a narrow canyon.

And Sticky Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia rattanii)
in the photo below -
 - both of these flowers are usually late spring bloomers, out early this year.  Shepperd's Dell is sheltered and shady, with many species growing on the rock face. Zacheus Collins was an early American botanist.

Columbia Windflower
(Anemone deltoidea)
A small perennial blooming earlier than usual.

The tiny, adorable Mimulus alsinoides - Chickweed Monkeyflower  - on the list - 1 point

Along the road near Ainsworth - the rare and unexpected Fairy Slipper Orchid -  Calypso bulbosa - 3 points on the list!

Close by were Columbia Kittentails (Synthyris stellata) 3 points on the list!  This flower was new to me despite it blooming only a few miles from my house.

 Then on to the Twin Tunnels trail at Mosier (exit 69 on I-84).  Turn left as you come off the exit and wind up the hill to the Twin Tunnels parking area.  Glacier Lily (Erythronium grandiflorum) 1 point on the list - was blooming in the oak forest near the parking lot - look out - there's lots of Poison Oak here.  The corms (bulbs) of these lilies were eaten by some Native American tribes.

 Walking West toward the tunnel, at the base of the cliff, Miner's Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata)was blooming in a moist area.  Leaves are edible - miners and European settlers used it.  John Clayton was another early American botanist.

In open sunny areas, Balsamroot is starting to flower - on the list, 1 point (Balsamorhiza sp.)

 Mr. Thornsby reappears on this blog after a winter vacation.  He is overlooking Mosier Creek in a clump of Columbia Desert Parsley.
A sparse forest grows up through an ancient lava flow.

 The end of the day at The Thirsty Woman pub in Mosier - a great place for a microbrew and a meal to celebrate a total of 12 flowers and 21 points from the Flower Frenzy challenge.