Hiking in the Columbia Gorge

Celery-leaved Buttercup

Tuesday, May 17
Finished exploring and photographing the waterfalls along old Highway 30 on the Oregon side of the Columbia River gorge, we set out to do some hiking in the area of Horsetail Falls.  We had hoped to take the Rock of Ages trail to the top of the gorge, but without a map, which we had been unable to obtain, we could not find our trail and ended following the Gorge Trail first to the east and then to the west enjoying whatever we could find along the trail.

Herb Robert

Mountain Heliotrope

Large False Solomon's Seal and Western Baneberry

Tall Bugbane

Pacific Bleeding Heart

We hiked under one falls, Oneonta Falls, and when I say "under" that's exactly what we did.  It appears to me that at sometime a path was blasted behind the falls and this is where we went through to the other side.  It was hard to get pictures there, but I did try, though there are so many falls in the area, that after a while they are indistinguishable from each other.

We found a lot of wildflowers including two native orchids, the Western Fairy Slipper, Calypso bulbosa var, occidentalis, and the Western Heart-leaved Twayblade, Listera cordata var. cordata in both its color forms, though the red form was nearly finished blooming.  We also found another waterfall along the trail and had some spectacular views of the gorge.  The hike was not strenuous and not what we had expected, but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and were delighted to find the two orchids.

I managed, among other things to get some decent photos of a Stellar's Jay and of two favorite wildflowers, the Fairy Bells and Fendler's Waterleaf.  Finished hiking around 2:00, we headed for Portland and for my speaking engagement and the home of the some of the members of the Oregon Orchid Society at whose home we cleaned up, changed and got ready for the meeting.  After the meeting we drove home through the night and arrived back tired by satisfied.

Washington Park Again

We have had the worst spring here that I can remember - endless rain and cold weather with very few decent days. Yesterday was the second coldest day on record for the date (May 6th), and we have not had a day without rain this week. The mountains are still snowed in and everything is way behind schedule.

Yesterday afternoon things did dry out, though the sun never appeared and it was still chilly. Feeling like I was going to go crazy if I didn't get out, I headed for Washington Park in Anacortes for a few hours. Arriving about 5:00, I hiked the trails around the edge of the park looking for wildflowers and anything else of interest, finishing my brief trek at about 7:00.

The Fairy Slippers were still blooming, though many had begun to go by and set seed. The Common Camas had begun to bloom, so I concentrated on getting pictures of those along with some of the Fairy Slippers. Found some mushrooms also - not surprising in view of the wet weather - but not a lot else to photograph. It was good to be out for a little, though.

Fading Fairy Slipper

Common Camas

Red Banded Polypore

Couldn't resist some more pictures of the Shooting Stars which were growing right along the edge of the rocks near the sea.  They were starting to go by as well, but were still making a brave show.  Ended with a few timed exposures of the wavelets on the rocks and then headed out for a Deschutes Black Porter and home.  Had at least a few hours of being outdoors and seeing some of the spring wildflowers.  Hope the weather changes and very soon!

Few Flowered Shooting Stars