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I am currently spending time hiking and making plant lists for those trails and cross country routes that aren't well represented in the Columbia River and Klickitat River Gorges this season, so if you don't see your favorite hike here, please check the lists from previous years above to see what you'd see along those hikes. Comprehensive plant lists for a number of hikes in the Columbia River Gorge (Look under the state and county they are found in.) can be found at http://science.halleyhosting.com/nature/bloomtime/lists/plantlists.html
October 12, 2013: Crawford Oaks Trailhead to Devils Gap and then to near the Dalles Mt. Ranch, Columbia Hills State Park - Note: The Crawford Oaks Trailhead is still under construction although it is nearing completion.
July 11, 2013: Silver Star Mountain
June 17, 2013: Private camas meadows at Panakanic
May 28, 2013: Major Creek, Highway 8 to State Highway 14
May 28, 2013: Private forest property near the headwaters of Major Creek
May 20, 2013: Eagle Creek Trail to High Bridge
May 17, 2013: Private camas meadows at Panakanic.
May 15, 2013: old Champion Lumber Company Road (Leidl Park to north washout) - Columbia Land Trust right of way and Klickitat Wildlife Area lands.
May 14, 2013: Bonneville Dam (Oregon side of Columbia River)
May 7, 2013: Wahclella Falls Trail
May 5, 2013: Four Sisters (Columbia Land Trust Property) - A Native Plant Society of Oregon hike. The property owners should be contacted before visiting this site. A Portland chapter NPSO field trip will visit this site May 5, 2013.
May 2, 2013: Major Creek
April 22, 2013: Wahclella Falls Trail
April 21, 2013: Chenoweth Table
April 21, 2013: Four Sisters (Columbia Land Trust Property) - The property owners should be contacted before visiting this site. A Portland chapter NPSO field trip will visit this site in early May 2013.
April 18, 2013: Champion Lumber Company Road (Wahkiacus to near Beeks Canyon)
April 11 & 16, 2013: Eagle Creek Trail (The latter date was a Native Plant Society of Oregon hike.)
April 14, 2013: Crawford Oaks Trailhead to Devils Gap and then to near the Dalles Mt. Ranch, Columbia Hills State Park - Note: The Crawford Oaks Trailhead is under construction for the next few months, so after witnessing a near collision, it probably is best to access this area by parking at the Dalles Mt. Ranch.
April 6, 2013: Klickitat Wildlife Area between the Glenwood-Goldendale Highway and Canyon Creek
April 3, 2013: Columbia Hills State Park and Columbia Hills Natural Area Preserve
April 1, 2013: Cherry Orchard Trail (DNR & Friends of the Columbia River Gorge lands)
March 28, 2013: Four Sisters (Columbia Land Trust Property) - The property owners should be contacted before visiting this site. A Portland chapter NPSO field trip will visit this site in early May 2013.
March 28, 2013: Chenoweth Table
March 26, 2013: Cherry Orchard Trail (DNR & Friends of the Columbia River Gorge lands)
March 22 & 24, 2013: Memaloose State Park (Both North and South of Interstate 84) Native Plant Society of Oregon events
March 19 & 20, 2013: Columbia Hills Natural Area Preserve
March 12 & 17, 2013: Catherine Creek - Wildflower bloom at the east side of the Columbia River Gorge appears to be about 2-3 weeks ahead of the previous 4 or 5 years!
March 16, 2013: USFS land opposite the Balfour Klickitat trailhead (Uphill and west of the old gravel quarry).
March 16, 2013: Cherry Orchard Trail (Friends of the Columbia River Gorge lands)
March 15, 2013: DNR land off Horshoebend Road (T4N R14E S16)
March 9, 2013: Four Sisters (Columbia Land Trust Property) - The property owners should be contacted before visiting this site. A Portland chapter NPSO field trip will visit this site in early May 2013.
March 9, 2013: Chenoweth Table
March 7, 2013: Wahclella Falls Trail
March 2, 2013: Columbia Hills State Park (Crawford Oaks Trailhead to Devils Gap)
February 18, 2013: Memaloose Trail (Memaloose Overlook to Lone Pine Hills). Gold stars (Crocidium multicaule), Columbia desert parsley (Lomatium columbianum), pungent desert parsley (Lomatium grayi), salt and pepper (Lomatium piperi), grass widows (Olsynium douglasii) and the first western buttercup (Ranunculus occidentalis) were observed near Memaloose today. The Columbia desert parsleys are much bigger and more numerous today, although they are still just coming out of the ground. The grass widows are much more numerous, perhaps 100 per acre rather than the couple per acre in weeks past. They will be peaking in about 2-3 weeks unless there is a big change in the weather.
February 9, 2013: The Cherry Orchard Trail. Woollypod milkvetch (Astragalus purhsii), Little western bittercress (Cardamine oligosperma), spring whitlow-grass (Draba verna), gold stars (Crocidium multicaule), smooth prairie stars (Lithophragma glabrum), smallflowered prairie stars (Lithophragma parviflorum), Columbia desert parsley (Lomatium columbianum), salt and pepper (Lomatium piperi) and grass widows (Olsynium douglasii). Most flowers are pretty sparse yet in terms of bloom, but look on south-facing slopes among rocks to find them.
February 4, 2013: The first Dalles Mt. buttercups (Ranunculus triternatus) were observed blooming in Columbia Hills State Park.
February 4, 2013: The first gold stars (Crocidium multicaule) were observed in bloom near the north end of the US Highway 197 bridge at The Dalles.
February 3, 2013: The first ticks of the year were observed in search of human blood today!
February 2, 2013: Cherry Orchard Trail. Salt and peppers (Lomatium piperi), smooth prairie stars (Lithophragma glabrum) and grass widows (Olsynium douglasii) were observed in bloom along the trail
February 2, 2013: Labyrinth and Maui Falls Biker Trail. Several salt and peppers (probably Lomatium piperi), smooth prairie stars (Lithophragma glabrum) and grass widows (Olsynium douglasii) were observed in bloom along the trail.
January 19, 2013: East Bank of the Deschutes River. The white alder (Alnus rhombifolia) are beginning to bloom along the lower Deschutes River. It is the pendant male catkins that are beginning to open so that the pollen-filled interiors are observable. Several salt and peppers (probably Lomatium piperi) were observed in bloom along the trail that winds along the east bank near milepost 2.
January 11, 2012: Columbia Hills State Park. More than a dozen Dalles Mt. buttercups (Ranunculus triternatus) were observed (no flowers or flower buds yet) along with several salt and peppers (probably Lomatium piperi, again not in flower yet).
January 9, 2013: The first grass widow (Olsynium douglasii) was observed in bloom at Catherine Creek.
December 30, 2012: Salt and pepper (Lomatium piperi) was observed in bloom on burned grasslands near Horsethief Butte in the Columbia Hills State Park, this despite several inches of crusty snow on the ground. A few of last fall's hairy goldasters (Heterotheca villosa) were also observed still in bloom. An animal highlight was a red fox which was seen along with its tracks.
December 22, 2012: The first salt and pepper (Lomatium piperi) was observed in bloom along the bike trail near Maui Falls between Coyote Wall and the Labyrinth. A Hood's phlox (Phlox hoodii) was observed in bud atop rock outcrops near the upper end of the Labyrinth.
