A Stroll Through Hoyt Arboretum

Late March and early April are beautiful months in northwestern Oregon.  In early to mid-March, trees begin blooming, beginning with the cherry trees and continuing with many other species throughout April and into May.  The winter's rains turn ground vegetation into a vibrant shade of green.  Birds begin singing.  It's an absolutely wonderful time of the year.

Frilly cherry blossoms

Although I'm usually out scouring the nearby Columbia River Gorge's fabulous flower fields, two weeks ago I decided to stay closer to home.  Someone on Facebook mentioned that the magnolia trees were flowering in nearby Hoyt Arboretum.  A place I usually visit during the fall to take in leaf colors, I decided it was high time to check out the spring bloom.  So I invited my good friend Kim to join me for an urban hike through one of Portland's finest nature parks.  

An explosion of pink

Perched atop the West Hills, Hoyt Arboretum is a wonderful 190-acre museum of living trees.  Nestled in between the Oregon Zoo and Forest Park, twelve miles of hiking trails crisscross inside its boundaries.  This peaceful sanctuary is a great place to escape from the hustle and noise of city life.

Beautiful blooms on the Magnolia trail

After parking, Kim and I huffed and puffed up the Wildwood trail, and then took a side trail that led us past a large grove of blooming cherry trees.  Their blossoms were so pink and frilly!  

A frenzy of star magnolia blossoms

From the cherry trees, we took a side trail that zigzagged downhill to an area full of pink and white flowering trees.  Here were the magnolias, many in full-on bloom mode!

Kind of droopy, but still lovely

Of course, a lengthy photo session commenced.  Not very well versed in trees, I was amazed to learn there were several different varieties of magnolias, all producing unique and lovely flowers.  There were star magnolias, that grew many-petaled frilly blossoms; lily magnolias with beautiful pink upright flowers; and saucer magnolias sporting striped white and pink blooms.  Lucky for me, the arboretum had thoughtfully placed signs throughout the grove identifying each species.  

So. Many. Photo ops

I'm going to let you enjoy the next few magnolia images free from my commentary.....

These pink flowers were my favorite

A tender bud, ready to bloom

Color everywhere!

Loved the bark of this old cedar tree

An unusual plant in the winter garden

Kim and I also walked through the nearby "Winter Garden" which appeared to feature flora suited for our wet and chilly winter weather.  There were a few interesting plants but my favorite was a huge western red cedar tree.  I just love how their bark looks like wrinkled elephant skin.

Gorgeous striped flowers

The greenery and flowering trees of spring make my heart sing with joy.  I hope these photos have made you smile too.  

(FYI - I'm off on another fantastic adventure, so I'll be absent from blogland for the next three weeks or so.  But don't worry, I plan to post all about it when I return.  Ciao!) 

More Wildflowers in the Gorge

It's that time of year again when I tromp around the Columbia River Gorge in search of spring wildflowers.  In late March, my friend Young and I decided to return to the Labyrinth trail and see what was blooming.

Shooting stars

Boy did we hit the jackpot!  Right away at the trailhead we noticed lots of yellow desert parley coloring the meadows.  The first half mile of this hike followed an abandoned road cut into the side of tall cliff.  As we walked by a small waterfall gushing next to the cracked pavement, I saw huge swaths of delicate white prairie stars covering the adjacent steep slopes.

Lots of flowers along the trail

Where the old road intersected with the Labyrinth trail proper, lots of colorful things were blooming.  More desert parsley, prairie stars, larkspur, and some tiny white flowers I couldn't identify.  And I even spotted a small patch of shooting stars, their vivid magenta color most photogenic.

Larkspur

Young and I climbed through the rocky outcrops of columnar basalt that formed here many, many years ago.  We wound around several huge boulders and past small forests of brown-leafed oak trees, killed in a wildfire the previous summer.  We followed a tiny creek and passed by another waterfall, happily splashing through the rough terrain.

Heading through the Labyrinth

We came to a little meadow full of bright green grass, where tiny yellow flowers bloomed in massive numbers.  With my limited knowledge of botany, I thought these little blooms might be buttercups.

Monkeyflowers and prairie stars

Monkeyflowers tended to bloom in damp or wet areas, and as we passed by a tiny spring, I noticed a massive clump of delicate yellow monkeyflowers accented with tons of white prairie stars.

Nice pop of bright green new leaves

Not only were the flowers pretty - I liked the pop of uber-green new leaves sprouting from the few surviving trees.  And one of them really stood out amongst the tall basalt rock columns of a nearby cliff face.  It was nice to see that some of the trees didn't perish in the wildfire!

Lots of purple and white here!

Young and I passed by a slope absolutely covered with purple larkspur blooms, and more prairie stars.

Huge carpet of desert parsley

And another meadow covered with a huge carpet of desert parsley.  (As you can imagine, all these wildflower sightings really slowed our progress!)

Some pink prairie stars

Purple carpet of Larkspur below the trail

Young gets up close and personal

But finally we were able to cover the two-plus miles of the Labyrinth trail and came upon its junction with Atwood Road.  This old road ran along the top of the ridge here, connecting the Catherine Creek area to the east with the Coyote Wall trail system to the west.

Junction with Atwood Road

Normally when hiking the Labyrinth trail, I'd go eastward towards Catherine Creek and then loop back.  However, today I wanted to try a different route and suggested we instead head west to check out the Coyote Wall trails.  Young was all for it.

We found a few glacier lilies!

While trekking along Atwood Road, I spotted a small patch of lovely yellow glacier lilies.  An unusual find, these usually bloom high up in the mountains.

Lunch spot on a scenic bench

Not only hikers, mountain bikers also used the trails in this area, so Young and I were always on high alert.  As we approached a junction with the Old Ranch Road, which we decided would be part of our return loop, we came upon a group of four men with bikes.  Luckily, they were stopped for a break, so we chatted with them briefly.  It now being close to lunchtime, I commented to Young we needed to find a good spot to eat, and the bikers told us of a bench a short ways down an adjacent side trail.  Taking their advice, we found the aforementioned bench situated in a very scenic spot.  A great place for a lunch break - thanks to the mountain biking men!

Walking under the arch of a few large oak trees

After lunch, Young and I started down the Old Ranch Road, crossing under the scraggly branches of several huge oak trees.

Huge fields of prairie stars

The views from the Old Ranch Road were some of the best of the day!  The mighty Columbia River spread out below, anchored by ultra-green meadows dotted with thousands of blooming prairie stars.

More close-ups of pretty prairie stars

I've never seen such a high concentration of prairie stars ever!  I'm sure the abundance of wildflowers here had a lot to do with the wildfire that tore through this area last summer.

Heading down the Little Maui trail

From the Old Ranch Road, we walked steeply downhill for a mile or so until it intersected with our return path, called the Little Maui trail.

Huge patches of pink sea thrift

The Little Maui trail continued the wildflower theme with lots of wild cucumber plants, their blooms a delicate white, and many patches of tiny pink flowers called sea thrift.

Young points out a pink patch

The Little Maui trail also boasted many stunning vistas of the Columbia River and its gorge.

The Columbia River is in view

And another waterfall!  I'm not sure the name, but I'd guess it's probably Little Maui Falls.  It was a cute two-tier feature that trickled merrily through the rocks.

Little Maui falls

Heading back toward the Labyrinth trail

From here, Young and I headed back towards the huge basalt monolith that marked the Labyrinth trail's beginning. 

Huge basalt formations

We passed by huge patches of wild cucumber and yet more prairie stars.  It was definitely a good year for these delicate white blooms.

Wildflowers make me smile!

A great day to be outside enjoying all the beauty of nature!  Wildflowers always make me smile, and today I had lots to grin about.

Turkey Talk

In late February I made a trip to South Dakota to visit my parents.  The neighborhood where they live is right on the edge of town, and their property backs up to a wooded hillside.  Due to their proximity to this forest, my parents see all sorts of wildlife, but their most frequent visitors are the deer and wild turkeys.  On this day, I witnessed a large flock of turkeys hanging out in my parent's backyard, the male toms all fluffed out, trying to impress the ladies.  One of my brothers does a very realistic turkey call, and is always successful in getting the birds to gobble back.  Although I'm nowhere near a decent gobbler, I decided to try my hand at turkey talk.  The two videos below were my results:

I hope these two videos bring a smile to your face and maybe even a chuckle or two.  They sure made me laugh!

More wildflower photos coming in my next post.......

Spring Wildflowers are Back!

 Warning!!!  

I'm about to inundate you with bunches of purple flower photos.  Yes - wildflower season is finally here and I couldn't be happier.

Striped grass widows

In March and April when the local wildflowers start blooming, my attention gets divided between skiing and wildflower hikes.  I usually find it difficult to balance these two desires.  However thanks to the mountain's current skimpy snowpack, this year's decision has been much easier.

Flooded trail

So in mid-March after a soggy week that saw record rainfall in Northwestern Oregon, I convinced my hubby to join me for a shakedown hike to visit two of my favorite wildflower areas in the eastern Columbia River Gorge.  After hearing rumors of a huge grass widow superbloom in the Memaloose Hills and Rowena Plateau, I was dying to get boots on the trail and see it for myself.

Lovely yellow bell

Our first stop that morning was the Memaloose Hills trail.  This area was known for its prolific spring wildflower meadows.  A short path took visitors to the summits of two small bluffs near the town of Mosier.  I usually visited later in April, when yellow basalmroot blooms carpeted the slopes, so today's trek was about a month earlier than normal.

Mt Hood view atop Chatfield Hill

Grass widows are tiny, six-petaled purple flowers that bloom in the eastern reaches of the Columbia River Gorge.  Known as the first wildflower of the season, when the grass widows begin to emerge, you know spring is on it's way.  Usually grass widows bloom in early March, but due to our unseasonably warm winter, some of these flowers had already been spotted in late January on the Washington side of the Gorge.

Columbia desert parsley

Much to my delight, I spotted the tiny purple blossoms of grass widow flowers right from the parking area.  As hubby and I started the gradual climb to the first hill, we traveled through a scrubby oak forest, its floor dotted with purple blooms.  The previous week's rainstorms had left huge puddles in places - a few totally blocking the trail, which required some creative reroutes.

A nice cluster of grass widows

Not only grass widows, delicate flowers called yellow bells also bloomed amongst the oak trees.  And occasionally I spotted clumps of Columbia desert parsley.  Endemic to the Columbia River Gorge, this rare plant sported purple flowers, instead of the more common yellow color of regular desert parsley.

More purple goodness

Hubby and I made our way up Chatfield Hill, the first of the two Memaloose Hills.  We took in wonderful views of Mt Hood and nearby farms as we made our way to the top.  Purple grass widows dotted an otherwise empty hillside.  Normally I only hike here during the peak balsamroot bloom, so it was quite different to see the place without it's usual fields of yellow.  

The flowers were out on the Rowena Plateau

After a quick scenery and snack break atop Chatfield Hill, hubby and I retraced our steps back down and headed for the neighboring knoll, Marsh Hill.  This hill was also known for its prolific balsamroot blooms, but again we were a couple of weeks too soon.  I did spot one or two yellow blossoms just beginning to emerge, a sign of things to come.

These flowers bloomed in a puddle of standing water

I stopped and admired a huge patch of grass widows scattered amongst the rocks on Marsh Hill's summit.  Views of the mighty Columbia River extended both east and west.  The trail then looped around Marsh Hill's backside, through some oak woods and past a cute frog pond, before reuniting with the main path.  

Purple-dotted meadow

Our Memaloose Hills meanderings had taken up most of the morning, so before heading to our second hiking destination, hubby and I made a lunch stop at my favorite taco truck in the nearby town of Mosier.  After stuffing ourselves with their delicious tacos and splitting a burrito, we waddled back to the car for our next hike, the Rowena Plateau.

A perfect specimen!

Time to walk off some calories!  The Rowena Plateau, owned by the Nature Conservancy, was another early spring wildflower destination.  Like the Memaloose Hills, it was also known for its prolific basalmroot bloom.  But I was pleased to discover balsamroot was not the only flower that unfurled its petals in the spring.  As hubby and I made our way along Rowena Plateau's wide open plain, I spotted thousands of purple dots covering the meadows.

Flower fields like these make me happy

Oh it was wildflower perfection!  We wound along trails lined with little purple flowers, my camera shutter clicking nonstop.

Looking out over the Columbia River

As we'd encountered at Memaloose Hills, the trail here had also been flooded in places.  Hubby and I gingerly hopped over some puddles, while having to make our own detours around others.  One spur trail led to a most excellent viewpoint of the Columbia River and Washington side of the Gorge.

Grass widows blooming in the low spots

I couldn't believe the sheer concentration of grass widows in some areas.  Huge purple patches colored low spots between small rises in the terrain.  In other places, large purple-dotted meadows spread across the plains.

Tiptoe through the wildflowers

Hubby and I spent a happy afternoon walking around the flower fields of the Rowena Plateau.  Enjoy the next few photos - I took so many it was hard to decide what to include.

Nearby California scrub jay

A cheerful bunch of flowers

More pretty grass widows

Yay!  It's hiking season again!

There's nothing that makes me happier than walking through a trail lined with colorful wildflowers.  I'm so glad spring is finally here.  It's time to get outside and hike!