The photo at right shows a close-up of cliff paintbrush, Castilleja rupicola as seen along the upper McCord Creek Falls Trail on April 2, 2005. The plants grow in cracks on the vertical (or sometimes hanging surfaces) of the cliffs.

*1. False Solomon Seal: Smilacina racemosa - (Several up to a foot tall and well formed, a few in bloom.)

*2. Clasping-leaf Twisted Stalk: Streptopus amplexicaulis - A few beginning to bloom in moist areas along the lower trail near Elowah Falls.

*3. Wood Lily/ Trillium: Trillium ovatum - A number of plants in bloom.

*4. Fairy Slipper Orchid/ Deer's-head Orchid: Calypso bulbosa - A number in bloom along the lower trail.

*5. Field Chickweed: Cerastium arvense - A few in bloom on cliffs along the upper trail.

*6.Big-leaf Sandwort: Moehringia macrophyllum - A few in bloom.

*7. Chickweed: Stellaria media - Common, especially along the road.

*8. Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata - A few in bloom.

*9. Candy Flower/ Siberian Spring Beauty: Claytonia (Montia) sibirica - Common.

10. Larkspur: Delphinium glareosum or D. menziesii - Almost in bloom.

*11. Western Meadow-rue: Thalictrum occidentale - A few in bloom at lower elevations.

*12. Bitter Cress: Cardamine hirsuta -

*13. Pennsylvania Bitter Cress: Cardamine pensylvanica ? - Several in bloom in moist areas along the lower trail near Elowah Falls.

*14. Slender Toothwort: Cardamine pulcherrima var. tenella - Scattered, but in full bloom.

*15. Shining Oregon Grape: Mahonia (Berberis) aquifolium - Fairly common in open areas.

*16. Cascade Oregon Grape: Mahonia (Berberis) nervosa - Mostly in bud, but a few flowers opening.

*17. Western Corydalis: Corydalis scouleri - A few in bloom, many nearly in bloom in moist areas near the end of the upper trail.

*18. Bleeding Heart: Dicentra formosa - A few in bloom.

*19. Smooth Prairie Star: Lithophragma glabra - A few in bloom.

*20. Western Saxifrage: Saxifraga occidentalis - Moderately common on moist cliff faces on the upper trail.

*21. Fringe Cup: Tellima grandiflora - A few beginning to bloom.

*22. Red-flowering Currant: Ribes sanguineum - Scattered but in full bloom.

*23. Serviceberry: Amelanchier alnifolia - A few beginning to bloom along the upper trail in forest openings or along the cliff.

*24. Wood Strawberry: Fragaria vesca var. bracteata - A number in bloom in more open areas.

*25. Sour Cherry: Prunus cerasus - In bloom at lower to mid-elevations.

*26. Salmonberry: Rubus spectabilis - Fairly common bloom in moist areas near the end of the upper trail.

*27. Robert Geranium: Geranium robertianum - The first of multitudes of this terrible weed are beginning to bloom.

*28. Martindale's Desert Parsley: Lomatium martindalei -

*29. Douglasia: Douglasia laevigata - In bloom on cliffs above the upper trail.

*30. Cliff Paintbrush: Castilleja rupicola - A few small plants beginning bloom on cliffs along the upper trail.

*31. Columbia Kittentails: Synthyris stellata - Common on some steep, rocky slopes on the upper reaches of the upper trail.

*32. Red Elderberry: Sambucus racemosa var. arborescens - A few beginning to bloom.

*33. Scouler's Valerian: Valeriana scouleri - Fairly common, plants are small.

*34. Streambank Arnica: Arnica amplexicaulis ? - A few in bloom on the cliffs above the upper trail. From a distance, they looked like Crocidium multicaule, but on closer inspection (about 20 feet above me on the cliffs, they appeared as Arnica with a number of slender stem leaves.

Animals Seen or Heard: Golden-crowned Kinglets, Winter Wren, Pika.