Butterflies Galore!

2018 has been the summer of the butterfly.  In early July, a massive migration of these beautiful winged insects swept through the Oregon Cascades.

Colorful orange butterfly

Anyplace wildflowers were blooming, butterflies thrived.  I planned an early July weekend trip to the Central Oregon Cascades to check out a reported huge wildflower bloom on the Browder Ridge Trail.

I liked this shade of orange

The flower report turned out to be a bust, but the concentration of butterflies flitting among the scraggly flowers more than made up for it.

This one had orange and gold spots

The heat of afternoon seemed to bring these winged beauties to life.  It was fun to watch them zipping amongst the flowers.  But boy were they difficult subjects to photograph!  Soaring from one blossom to the next, I'd just get one in focus and it would fly away.

A lovely blue specimen

But I persisted, and after a bit of waiting, watching, and a lot of patience, I did manage to capture a few butterflies as they settled in on blossoms. 

A two-fer, butterfly and bee

Although I found the Browder Ridge Trail mostly steep, hot and boring, there were a few lovely wildflowers about.  Like this creamy white Washington Lily (also called the Cascade Lily).

Washington lily

And these mossy tree trunks were quite interesting.  Kind of looked like green hair.

Hairy moss

The trail did have some nice mountain views.  But midday light made for some terrible images, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  However, at one point the trees parted for a nice glimpse of Mt Jefferson.

Mt Jefferson

The lupine were just starting to burst into color.

Tiny purple lupine

The butterflies seemed to really like the bright yellow Oregon Sunshine flowers.  (Can't say as I blame them....I like those flowers too)

Another butterfly! (just 'cause)

I came upon some vivid red-orange Scarlet Gilia.  An unusual tube-shaped flower, it was one I'd only seen in the Central Cascades.

Scarlet Gilia

On my return trip, I stumbled upon a huge group of blue butterflies strung across some vegetation.  It was a regular butterfly convention!  (Wonder what they were talking about?)

A butterfly convention!

Luckily, the gang held still while I carefully snapped a few dozen photos.

Blue butterflies all in a row

I think these blue butterflies were my favorites.

Lovely shade of blue

After completing the Browder Ridge Trail, it was still early afternoon, so I decided to tackle one more hike.  The Iron Mountain/Cone Peak Trail wasn't far.  Known for it's spectacular wildflower bloom, I couldn't resist adding it to the day's agenda.

Nice evening light on the lupine

Leaving the trailhead at 3 pm, I knew I'd have to hustle to make it back to my car by sundown.  That meant keeping the photo breaks to a minimum.

Fuzzy butterfly

Turned out not to be a huge problem.  The wildflowers were pretty much past peak, and most of the ones in open areas had already been baked by the hot summer sun.  I ascended Cone Peak in record time, and only took a short break to capture a nice lupine patch and one more fuzzy butterfly.

Four-peak view from Iron Mtn

Then across a long saddle and up, up, the steep trail to Iron Mountain.  By the time I reached its summit, it was after 6 pm and the sun was quickly starting to drop.  Despite the late hour, I lingered long enough to enjoy the fabulous four-peak view and solitude (I was the only person there!)

Flower fields on Iron Mtn

Then it was a race to cover the final three miles back to my car before darkness set in.  I just barely made it!

Instead of driving the 3-plus hours back home that evening I instead found a quiet forest service road, parked for the night, and slept in my car.  I learned two things from this experience - 1.  With the back seat folded down, I just barely fit lying down, and 2.  Sleeping in my car is the most uncomfortable night of sleep I've ever experienced!  But waking up for a midnight potty break, I gaped in wonder at the star-filled night sky.

Color below the summit

So hiking the Central Cascade trails in early July was kind of a wildflower bust, but the concentration of butterflies made up for it.  (At least my readers have something new to look at if they're getting sick of flower photos!)