Spring Wildflowers in the Gorge

Wildflower season has begun!

The eastern Columbia River Gorge always produces spring's first wildflowers, the lovely purple grass widows.  The best place to see these flowers en masse is at Catherine Creek, on the Washington side of the Gorge.

Grass widow blooms....a sure sign of spring!

One sunny day in late March I rallied friends Debbie and Barry to join me on a hike through Catherine Creek's flower fields.

Hiking above Catherine Creek

The usual loop trail through the Catherine Creek area is a mere 3 miles.  Desiring a bit more distance, my friends and I put our heads and resources together to devise a longer trek.  Barry found a hike recommended on his All Trails app that fit the bill, so off we went to check it out.

I was excited to find yellow bells blooming

Of course, we'd barely left the parking lot when I spied my first clump of grass widows.  The camera came out, and my friends waited patiently while I clicked away.  

More purple beauties

There were much more grass widows to be found, and as we crossed the bridge over Catherine Creek and started up the opposite bank, I spied more of those purple beauties.  Not only grass widows, the slopes also revealed a respectable amount of lovely yellow bells.  The first ones of the season, I was excited to discover these flowers already in bloom.

Another fine specimen

The grass widows were thick out here - they appeared to be at peak.  Other wildflowers were also showing their colorful sides, among them the rare, purple Columbia desert parsley.  I even caught a bee pollinating a clump!

Columbia desert parsley being pollinated

Our trail wound through a wide-open grassland directly east of Catherine Creek's cliffs.  As we climbed higher, wonderful views of the Columbia River looking eastward began to appear.

Grass widows were everywhere!

But, of course, the star of this show was still the proliferation of grass widow blooms.

The flowers carpeted the ground

Not only wildflowers, we heard plenty of birds singing their spring mating songs.  The most beautiful of them all were the melodic tones of the Western meadowlark.  We kept hearing meadowlarks chirping, but being the cagey birds they are, none of us were having any luck actually spotting one.

Meadowlark sighting

We'd started our hike later in the morning, so it didn't take long before my friends and I were ready for lunch.  Spotting a nice log overlooking the grassy meadows, we all agreed to take a break and fill our bellies.  While enjoying our sandwiches, Barry spotted a meadowlark perched on top of a nearby tree.  I zoomed in as best I could and captured a few images of the pretty yellow bird.  We were happy to spot one meadowlark, even if it was a bit far away.

Time for some uphill hiking!

Lunch now finished, it was time to explore more of Barry's All Trails loop.  Our trail intersected with an old road that took up further uphill past a grove of gnarled oak trees.

Interesting gnarled oak tree

Past the oak forest, our trail kept leading uphill through another grassy meadow.  

Another big patch of grass widows

I spied a huge patch of grass widows that made all of us smile.

The abundance of wildflowers made Barry smile

According to his app, Barry said this route headed uphill to the top of the bluffs before heading west and crossing a ravine.  Although the trail we were following was getting a bit faint, we put our faith in All Trails and Barry as a navigator and kept on going.

Open grassland

Three trail runners came bombing down the hill going the opposite direction.  Seeing other people on the trail reinforced that we were indeed going the right way.

Columbia River view looking east

The Gorge views from on top were spectacular.  I snapped a few photos and then it was time to head west across the top of the bluffs.

Through the oak forest

Our route took my friends and I through another oak forest.  Once through this forest, we came across another grassland.  The trail then dived steeply into a drainage, before contouring downhill back towards the river.

Wonderful river views

The river views here were nothing short of wonderful.

Yellow desert parsley lined our trail

But now eager to get back to our car, we didn't linger long.  We kept traveling downhill, through intermittent oak forests and grasslands.  Desert parsley lined the trail, adding a splash of yellow to all the green vegetation.

Looking back from where we came

A high voltage utility line cuts through a lower portion of the Catherine Creek area.  As we wound downhill, I spied one of the huge metal towers.  As luck would have it, our route took us right underneath it.

Hiking under a huge utility tower

This trail ended up intersecting with the main trail (an old road) through the heart of the Catherine Creek area.  The rest of the way was very familiar.  Having hiked this portion of the trail many times, we enjoyed seeing the well-known rock arch that sits high above the creek and old ranch.

Famous Catherine Creek arch

It was fun to hike through the old fences and corrals from a long-ago ranch.

Old corrals

Lastly, my friends and I crossed the upper portion of Catherine Creek via a wide board that has been in place for many years.

Crossing Catherine Creek

Climbing the final half mile to the parking area, the west banks of Catherine Creek put on one last wildflower show.  Tons of grass widows interspersed with small yellow buttercups, white prairie stars, and other colorful flora that I couldn't identify.  I tried taking photos, but my images just didn't do it justice.  So you'll just have to take my word for it, the wildflowers were outstanding!

The final half mile was chock full of flowers

We all agreed the loop Barry had found on All Trails was a winner.  It came in just over 5 miles with 1500 feet of elevation gain, which was perfect.  And we'd had sunny, but chilly weather, a good display of wildflowers, and even a meadowlark sighting.  Spring days in the Gorge don't get any better than that!