Today the weather was in the upper 40s to low 50s with partly to mostly sunny skies and winds 5-15 mph from the west with gusts to 25 mph.
Note: Hunting season for turkeys is currently underway. Wear bright clothes. We heard gunfire at times, although some of that may have been target practice on adjacent private lands. We did ruin the hunt for 2 hunters that had hunkered down in the oaks with a decoy in the meadows, trying to call some hens into the open......
Ponderosa Pine: Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa
Douglas Fir: Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Oregon White Oak: Quercus garryana var. garryana
Pale-anther Glacier Lilies: Erythronium grandiflorum var. pallidum - A few leaves.
* Yellow Bells: Fritillaria pudica - Beginning to bloom.
Panicled Death Camas: Toxicoscordion paniculatum - Leaves.
Bicolored Cluster Lily: Triteleia grandiflora var. howellii - One plant with flower buds.
* Grass Widows: Olsynium douglasii var. douglasii - Some swales with nice bloom.
Heartleaf Buckwheat: Eriogonum compositum var. compositum
Scabland Wild Buckwheat: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. sublineare
* Dwarf Miner's Lettuce: Montia dichotoma
Lineleaf Montia: Montia linearis - In bud.
* Oak Toothwort: Cardamine nuttallii - Beginning to bloom.
* Spring Whitlow Grass: Draba verna
* Scalepod: Idahoa scapigera
* Smooth Prairie Star: Lithophragma glabrum (Synonym: Lithophragma glabra) - Beginning to bloom.
Hood River Milkvetch: Astragalus hoodianus - Numerous mounds of leaves emerging from the ground.
Cutleaf Violet: Viola sheltonii - Leaves.
* Sagebrush Violet: Viola trinervata - Beginning to bloom.
Diamond Clarkia: Clarkia rhomboidea - Colorful leaves are up.
* Columbia Desert Parsley: Lomatium columbianum - Beginning to bloom.
* Klickitat (Pungent) Desert Parsley: Lomatium klickitatense - Beginning to bloom.
* Biscuitroot: Lomatium macrocarpum - Beginning to bloom.
Barestem Desert Parsley: Lomatium nudicaule
* Butterfly-loving (Pungent) Desert Parsley: Lomatium papilioniferum
* Salt and Pepper: Lomatium piperi
Showy Phlox: Phlox speciosa
Ballhead Desert Parsley: Hydrophyllum capitatum var. thompsonii - Basal leaves.
* Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary: Collinsia parviflora
Yarrow: Achillea millefolium
Low Pussytoes: Antennaria dimorpha - In bud.
Carey's Balsamroot: Balsamorhiza careyana - Leaves are coming up.
* Gold Stars: Crocidium multicaule - Fairly numerous on upper south-facing slopes.
Animals Seen During This Hike:
Lots of deer and elk sign (tracks and scat)
Ravens
Northern Flicker - Calling.
American Robins
Western Bluebirds
Dark-eyed Juncos
Mountain Chickadees
Tree Frogs - Croaking in game ponds.