Wildflowers Blooming in the eastern Columbia River Gorge: January 26, 2011

Wildflowers Blooming At Various Locations in the Central Columbia River Gorge

Smooth desert parsley beginning to bloom east of US Highway 197, Columbia River Gorge............January 26, 2011.

* denotes the wildflower was observed currently in bloom.

Weather: White Salmon to The Dalles - Mostly cloudy with high clouds and a lower layer of fog above the Columbia from just east of Catherine Creek east (probably to the Tri Cities), very light wind, temperatures in the mid 40s. Upper Swale Canyon - Partly sunny with very light wind, temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s.

* Grass Widow: Olsynium douglasii (old var. douglasii) - Several dozen in various stages of blooming on slopes near Horsethief Butte and along the Three Bench Loop trail near Doug's Beach.

* Columbia Desert Parsley: Lomatium columbianum - Beginning to bloom on basalt rock outcrops and scree along old Highway 30 about 0.5 miles south of the entrance to the Dalles Discovery Center.

* Pungent Desert Parsley: Lomatium grayi - Beginning to bloom on basalt rock outcrops and scree along old Highway 30 about 0.5 miles south of the entrance to the Dalles Discovery Center. Leaves visible on a number of plants at Horsethief Butte and along the Klickitat Trail in upper Swale Canyon.

* Smooth Desert Parsley: Lomatium laevigatum - One in bloom along Washington Highway 14 east of US 197.

* Salt and Pepper: Lomatium piperi - Numerous plants seen in bloom on grassy slopes near Horsethief Butte.

Panicled Deathcamas: Toxicoscordion paniculatum - Leaves emerging from the ground on the lower portion of the Three Bench Loop trail near Doug's Beach. They shouldn't flower yet for 4-6 weeks.

Yellow Bells: Fritillaria pudica - I checked the place I find it in bloom the earliest (usually early February) and there's no sign of them yet.

Dalles Mt. Buttercup (Obscure Buttercup): Ranunculus triternatus - I checked one of the sites where this is found in large numbers and there was still no sign of it. I will check another site where it often blooms in early February in a week or so.

Numerous willows with pussy willlows pushing out of their buds along Swale Creek. The effect of the silvery pussy willows on the yellow-orange to reddish stems on the masses of willows lining the creek is quite beautiful, especially in the filtered sunshine that is still low in the sky.

I should point out for those that haven't heard this that they are currently constructing access roads to build new wind towers on the north side of the Columbia Hills at a point between Haystack Butte on the east and where the Dalles Mt. Road descends to the Klickitat Valley in the west. Will Klickitat County eventually put them in all the way westward to the Klickitat River?

California Ground Squirrels - out of torpor, playing chicken on the Lyle-Centerville Highway

Numerous bald eagles (both adult and juvenile) along the Columbia River west of the Klickitat River

Horned larks - singing in the distance on grassy slopes near the Klickitat Trail at Harms Road

Canyon wrens serenading me from many basalt outcrops on the rim along upper Swale Canyon

View west down Swale Creek from Harms Road. This is the trailhead for entry onto the Klickitat Trail in upper Swale Canyon............January 26, 2011. Stacker Butte in the Columbia Hills is visible on the skyline at center.