Derby Canyon Revisted

On our way home from Spokane and Medical Lake on the 10th of June we left early in the morning to give ourselves a bit of time for some sightseeing and hiking.  Our first stop was Derby Canyon, a favorite place of ours.  We went to see the Brownie Peony in bloom, but we were too late - it was already finished.

We did climb the ridge to see what other wildflowers were in bloom and found, as expected the Western Spotted Coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata var. occidentalis) and the Lyall's Mariposa Lily (Calochortus lyallii), along with a number of other interesting wildflowers.

Western Spotted Coralroot

Lyall's Mariposa Lily

Tall Silvercrown

Shrubby Penstemon

After an hour or so exploring we were leaving and saw the Mountain Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium montanum) growing on the bank right along the road.  There were only six plants, but they were all in flower, two smaller plants right at the roadside that looked like seedlings, and four larger plants with two flowers each.

We went back to where we had parked the car and walked back up the road to take pictures, a little difficult in the low light (the sun was just coming up), and with the plants growing on a rather steep bank.  We spent another hour or so taking pictures of this elegant orchid.

Catherine Creek

After leaving Snow Mountain Ranch on May 16th, we headed for the Columbia River gorge and Catherine Creek, one of our favorite places in the gorge.  On the way we stopped to take pictures in several different places both along Highway 82 and along Highway 14, the highway that runs the length of the gorge on the Washington side.

Arriving at Catherine Creek around 1:00 in the afternoon, we found that we were earlier than last year and that some of the flowers we had come to see were not blooming yet.  We did, however, find wildflowers we had not seen there before including the Bitterroots.  We photographed many of the flowers and the creek and scenery as well before heading on to our next location, the Oregon side of the gorge.

We saw more wildflowers than I could count.  Those shown here are (in order), Bitterroot (Lewsia rediviva), Broadleaf Stonecrop (2 pictures), Cornflower, Sea Blush (2 pictures), Chickweed Monkeyflower, White-top Clover and Fiddleneck.  My wife also had two encounters with rattlesnakes.  She almost stepped on a small one and was about to climb a rocky outcrop when she noticed a large snake sunning itself on the top of the rocks.  I was disappointed that I didn't at least get to see them.

We had hoped to visit Multnomah Falls in Oregon and do some hiking in that area.  We arrived there as the sun was going down and spent some time around the falls and scouting a place for the next day's hiking before going on to find a place to spend the night.  We ended up at a truck stop and after putting the curtains up in the back of our van and laying out our pads and sleeping bags spent a comfortable and quiet night there.

That is all the subject of another post, but we did stop in various places along the gorge to take pictures of the scenery, the wildflowers and other things of interest.  It was at one of these stops that I not only saw but was able to photograph as Scrub Jay, a new bird for me, and a very beautiful bird, too, in my opinion.  We saw him in place east of Bingen, Washington, where we had gotten out to explore.

Heliotrope Ridge

Large Purple Monkeyflower (Mimulus lewisii)

On Wednesday, July 29, 2010, my son Edward, a friend, Judah, and I hiked the Heliotrope Ridge Trail in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The trail, which is near the town of Glacier, is a very popular hike and usually very busy.

We had an early start and did not see too many others on the trail going in, but it was quite busy on the way out. The trail runs a little over three miles through the woods to a ridge overlooking Coleman Glacier and west face of Mount Baker.

We found several orchids on the way up, including both the green and red forms of Listera cordata var. cordata, the Heart-leaf Twayblade, a tiny little orchid about six inches tall. We also found the Northwestern Twayblade, Listera banksiana.

Listera cordata var. cordata

Both these orchids are small and easily missed, Listera banksiana being only a little larger than the other species, though we saw many plants of each species.

Listera banksiana

The only other orchid we saw was Platanthera stricta, the Slender Bog Orchis, easily identified by its narrow straight lip and its inflated spur, both visible in the picture.

We had to cross Kulshan Creek once and Glacier Creek several times and took quite a bit of time at the falls of Kulshan Creek to take some time exposures. Several of the crossings were a bit difficult because of snow-melt from the warm weather.

Along the way we stopped for a brief break, a drink and some dried fruit and nuts and were immediately visited by the Gray Jays or Camp Robbers looking for a handout. We fed them peanuts from our hands and Edward even put some peanuts on his head and allowed them to land there.

At the ridge-top we took pictures and enjoyed the fabulous scenery for a while, before heading back down the trail a little way and then up a side trail, the climbers' route to the top of Mount Baker.

This route leads to a very high ridge above the timberline, to even more spectacular views of Mount Baker and to alpine meadows filled with wildflowers and in this case numerous butterflies, one of which I was able to photograph and believe to be Edith's Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha).

Up the trail

Silky Phacelia (Phacelia sericea) and Broadleaf Lupine (Lupinus latifolius)

Down the Trail

Edith's Checkerspot

Sitka Valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)

A pink form of Davidson's Pentstemon (Penstemon davidsonii)

Indian Thistle (Cirsium edule) opening

We did not go all the way up but hiked about a mile to the top of the ridge where we enjoyed the view, photographed some of the wildflowers and played in the snow, before heading back to the car and home.

Note: eight of these pictures were taken by Judah and Edward, the pictures in the larger format by Judah.