Weather: Temperature - 40s-low 50s. Partly cloudy. Winds 30-40 mph. Always carry appropriate clothing for all kinds of weather at this time of year! Today, windward areas were bitterly cold and nearly impossible to photograph in, while the leeward slopes exposed to the sun were very comfortable!
* Indicates a wildflower currently in bloom.
* Bicolored Harvest Lily: Triteleia grandiflora var. howellii - Beginning bloom at lower to medium elevations.
* Pale-anthered Glacier Lily: Erythronium grandiflorum var. pallidum - In massive bloom under the oak trees just below the north side of the summit ridge.
* Yellow Bells: Fritillaria pudica - Good bloom yet on the upper, north-facing slopes of the ridge..
Scabland Wild Buckwheat: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. sublineare - A few with bright reddish flower buds.
* Lance-leaved Spring-beauty: Claytonia lanceolata - Numerous in deeper, grassy soils on the uppermost, north-facing and east-facing slopes. See photo below.
* Miner's Lettuce: Claytonia perfoliata
* Pale Montia: Montia exigua (M. spathulata) - Mostly past bloom.
Franklin's Sandwort: Arenaria franklinii var. franklinii - No blooms yet.
* Upland Larkspur: Delphinium nuttallianum - Common at all elevations.
* The Dalles Mt. Buttercup: Ranunculus triternatus - A few still in bloom at the highest elevations and on the north-facing slopes.
* Sickle-pod Rock Cress: Boechera atrorubens - Beginning bloom at the highest elevations of the summit ridge.
* Oaks Toothwort: Cardamine nuttallii
* Douglas' Draba: Cusickiella doulgasii - Mostly out of bloom, but a few still in bloom.
Scale Pod: Idahoa scapigera - Fruits only.
*15. Dagger Pod: Phoenicaulis cheiranthoides - Fairly numerous bloom at the higher elevations.
*16. Fringe Pod: Thysanocarpus curvipes - Still in bloom with lots of ripe seed pods.
Lance-leaved Stonecrop: Sedum lanceolatum
Leiberg's Stonecrop: Sedum leibergii
* Bulblet prairie Star: Lithophragma bulbifera (Now included as part of Lithophragma glabrum) - Common at the highest elevations.
* Smooth Prairie Star: Lithophragma glabrum - A few in bloom.
* Small-flowerd Prairie Star: Lithophragma parviflorum - A few in bloom.
* Northwestern Saxifrage: Micranthes integrifolia - A few in bloom near the summit.
* Hood River Milk-vetch: Astragalus hoodianus - Beginning bloom in the grassy patches at the intersection of WA State Highway 14 and The Dalles Mt. Rd.
* Woolly-pod Milk-vetch: Astragalus purshii - Several seen still in bloom.
* Yakima Milk-vetch: Astragalus reventiformis - Beginning to bloom at middle elevations.
* Columbia Gorge Broad-leaf Lupine: Lupinus latifolius var. latifolius (formerly var. thompsonianus) - Beginning bloom.
* Spurred Lupine: Lupinus laxiflorus - Some with racemes developing.
* Stony-ground Lupine ?: Lupinus polyphyllus var. saxosus - Several dozen plants found on thin, rocky soils near the top of the ridge.
* Big-head Clover: Trifolium macrocephalum - A few beginning to bloom.
* Filaree: Erodium cicutarium - Very common.
* Canby's Desert Parsley: Lomatium canbyi - A few still in bloom at the highest elevations.
* Gray-leaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium macrocarpum - White flowered form, fairly common above 2000'.
* Bare-stem Desert Parsley: Lomatium nudicaule - Small plants, but numerous bloom.
* Butterfly-loving (Pungent) Desert Parsley: Lomatium papilioniferum
* Salt and Pepper: Lomatium piperi - A few plants still in bloom on the upper, north-facing slopes where snow lay late into the spring.
* Nine-leaf Desert Parsley: Lomatium triternatum var. triternatum
* Watson's Desert Parsley: Lomatium watsonii - Very much in bloom along the top of the summit ridge.
* Columbia Frasera: Frasera albicaulis var. nidida - Buds forming below.
* Desert Shooting Star: Dodecatheon conjugens - Fairly good bloom at the highest elevations, and on moist north-facing slopes.
* Midget Phlox: Microsteris gracilis - A few in bloom along the uppermost, north-facing slopes.
* Hood's Phlox: Phlox hoodii- Moderate bloom above.
* Showy Phlox: Phlox speciosa- Moderate bloom above.
* Ball-head Waterleaf: Hydrophyllum capitatum var. thompsonii - A few beginning to bloom only in the oak forest on the north side of the Columbia Hills.
* Fiddleneck: Amsinckia retrorsa - Small plants, but common.
* Puccoon: Lithospermum ruderale - A few well developed plants seen.
* Harsh Paintbrush: Castilleja hispida var. acuta - A few dozen plants are now beginning to bloom in the moister soils of the higher slopes. See photo above.
* Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary: Collinsia parviflora - Fairly abundant above.
* Annual Bedstraw: Galium aparine
* White Plectritis: Plectritis macrocera
* Yarrow: Achillea millefolium - In bud on the lower slopes.
* Annual Agoseris: Agoseris heterophylla - Fairly common at all elevations.
* Low Pussytoes: Antennaria dimorpha - Fairly common at all elevations.
* Carey's Hybrid Balsamroot: Balsamhoriza careyana x deltoidea - Plants are small but numerous below, just beginning to bloom at the summit of the ridge.
* Gold Stars: Crocidium multicaule - Moderate bloom only at the summit.
* Woolly Sunflower: Eriophyllum lanatum - A few in bloom along State Road 14. Much more common along the highway east of US 97.
* False Agoseris: Microseris troximoides - A few in bloom at lower and medium elevations.
* Yellow Western Groundsel: Senecio integerrimus var. exaltus - A few beginning to bloom.
1. Ravens
3. Horned Larks
4. Meadow Lark
6. Unidentified sparrow
8. Shorthorn Lizards
9. Voles or meadow mice