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. Douglas Maple: Acer glabrum var. douglasii - Beginning to bloom.

*2. Big-leaf Maple: Acer macrophyllum - In good bloom.

*3. Hooker's Fairy Bells: Disporum hookeri - A good beginning bloom.

*4. Chocolate Lily: Fritillaria lanceolata - A few in bloom along the upper trail.

5. Columbia Tiger Lily: Lilium columbianum - Several leafy plants of good height.

*6. False Solomon Seal: Smilacina racemosa - (Several in bloom along the lower trail.)

7. Star-flowered False Solomon Seal: Smilacina stellatum - A few with flower buds.

*8. Clasping-leaf Twisted Stalk: Streptopus amplexicaulis - A few with well-developed flower buds in moist areas along the lower trail near Elowah Falls.

*9. Wood Lily, Trillium: Trillium ovatum - A few plants in bloom, most fading out of bloom.

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

11. Field Chickweed: Cerastium arvense - No flower buds on plants on the cliffs along the upper trail.

*12. Big-leaf Sandwort: Moehringia macrophyllum - A few in bloom along the lower trail.

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

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

*15. Candy Flower, Siberian Spring Beauty: Claytonia (Montia) sibirica - Common.

16. Baneberry: Actaea rubra - Not blooming yet.

17. Columbia Wind Flower: Anemone deltoidea - A few in bud.

*18. Rockslide Larkspur: probably Delphinium glareosum but possibly D. menziesii var. pyramidale - Now in bloom. Stems noticeably hollow. Sorry, I haven't had a chance to really key this one out yet!

*19. Western Meadow-rue: Thalictrum occidentale - Beginning to bloom at lower elevations.

*20. Bitter Cress: Cardamine hirsuta -

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

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

*23. Spring Whitlow-grass: Draba verna - A few in bloom.

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

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

*26. Western Corydalis: Corydalis scouleri - A few in bloom in moist areas near the end of the upper trail, probably in full bloom within a week..

*27. Bleeding Heart: Dicentra formosa - Good bloom.

28. Small-flowered Alumroot: Heuchera micrantha - Only leaves so far.

29. Matted Saxifrage: Saxifraga bronchialis var. vespertina - Some flower buds beginning to form on the cliffs along the upper trail.

*30. Merten's Saxifrage: Saxifraga mertensiana - A few beginning to bloom on the cliffs along the upper trail.

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

*32. Fringe Cup: Tellima grandiflora - Good bloom.

*33. Red-flowering Currant: Ribes sanguineum - Full bloom along cliffs of the upper trail.

*34. Serviceberry: Amelanchier alnifolia - Beginning to bloom along the upper trail.

35. Wood Strawberry: Fragaria vesca var. bracteata - Not in bloom yet.

*36. Sour Cherry: Prunus cerasus - In good bloom, being worked over by rufous hummingbirds.

37. Thimbleberry: Rubus parviflora - Some with flower buds forming near the trailhead.

*38. Salmonberry: Rubus spectabilis - Fairly common bloom in moist areas near the end of the upper and lower trails.

39. Robert Geranium: Geranium robertianum - Fairly abundant but fortunately not in bloom yet.

*40. Martindale's Desert Parsley: Lomatium martindalei - Good bloom on the upper cliffs.

*41. Douglasia: Douglasia laevigata - A few still in bloom on cliffs above the upper trail.

*42. Sitka Mist Maidens: Romanzoffia sitchensis - Fairly good bloom on large rocks or the cliffs along the upper trail.

43. Woods Nemophila: Nemophila parviflora - Not in bloom yet.

*44. Cliff Paintbrush: Castilleja rupicola - Good bloom on cliffs along the upper trail.

*45. Chickweed Monkey Flower: Mimulus alsinoides - A few in bloom on the open, rocky slopes.

*46. Columbia Kittentails: Synthyris stellata - A few still in bloom on the steep, rocky slopes on the upper reaches of the upper trail.

*47. Scouler's Valerian: Valeriana scouleri - Fairly common bloom.

48. Howell's Fleabane: Erigeron howellii - Several in bud.

49. Columbia Gorge Daisy: Erigeron oregana - Several in bud.

*50. Common Dandelion: Taraxacum officinale - Too common along the trail.

Pika, dark-eyed junco, black-capped chickadees, rufous hummingbirds, violet-green swallows, kinglets, hermit thrush, stellers jay, turkey vultures, chipmunks, small dark ticks, several garter snakes (both the common garter snake - Thamnophis sirtalis and western terrestrial garter snake - Thamnophis elegans.