Natural History Wanderings

Pacific Northwest Wildflower Bloom Reports has been publishing detailed plant and animal observations for the Columbia River Gorge. Here are the ones published to date

• February 23, 2016: Catherine Creek – Path from the Parking Area to Catherine Creek and the area below the Arch.
• February 23, 2016: South-facing Slopes above Washington Highway SR14, Crawford Oaks Trailhead, Columbia Hills State Park.
• February 21, 2016: Memaloose – There’s now a fair amount of grasswidows in bloom along Old Highway 30 between the Memaloose Overlook and Rowena. And it’s not a bad time to hike from the Overlook south to Marsh or Castilleja Hill.
• February 20, 2016: East Bank of the John Day River at Cottonwood Canyon State Park
• February 15, 2016: Sevenmile Hill (USFS) from Sevenmile Hill Road
• February 7, 2016: Memaloose Trail from Eastbound Memaloose Rest Area on Interstate 84 west up to Memaloose Overlook (on US 30), south to Marsh Hill, south and then east across Marsh Cutoff Road across public lands towards Dell Road, then back north across US 30 to the east end of the rest area. Plants are slower to bloom here than on the Washington side of the river.. – Columbia desert parsley (Lomatium columbianum)is beginning to bloom on Marsh Hill while a few Douglas’ grass widows (Olsynium douglasii var. douglasii) are beginning to bloom in scablands just east of the rest area. Hairy manzanita (Arctostaphylos columbiana) is in bud in plantings at the east end of the rest area (the dog walk area).
• February 2, 2016: Cherry Orchard Trailhead off SR 14 – Columbia Desert Parsley (Lomatium columbianum) was observed beginning to bloom on the cut banks above SR 14 at the east end of the parking area.
• February 2, 2016: Columbia Hills State Park (from the Dalles Mountain Ranch) up the road through the Columbia Hills Natural Area Preserve to Stacker Butte – Recent snows linger in the Columbia Hills NAP, so nothing in bloom their this year. Gorman’s salt and peppers(Lomatium gormanii) are in bud and the leaves of grasswidows are coming up (Olsynium douglasii). A single obscure buttercup (Ranunculus triternatus) was observed in bloom in Columbia Hills State Park.
• February 20, 2016: Cottonwood State Park: East Bank of the John Day River from JS Buress State Park to the Esau Corral (Gilliam County) in Oregon