7 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Started out the day hiking Elowah falls & Upper McCord creek. The cliff at McCord creek is exploding with color! Pink, Red, Purple, Yellow, white... Lots of cliff paintbrush, smooth leaf douglasia, larkspur, Howell's daisy, white shooting starts, hot pink rock penstemon and tons of 5 ft ferns. It really is a sight to see, and so amazing such a variety of colorful wildflowers can grow on a rocky cliff wall.
Next I ventured up to Mitchell point where I met a flower lovers paradise, along the trail I found 17, yes , SEVENTEEN calypso orchids! all within 20 feet of one another! It was amazing. I also came across a couple bunches of naked broomrape (tee hee hee) a ton of bright purple Oregon anemone's, and some tall white groundsel. It was sunny and warm(ish) in the Hood River area with some partly cloudy skies, lending to decent views, but no mountain peaks.
Comments
Eric Peterson
May 31, 2011
Plus you got a good workout! Nice
Jen
June 4, 2011
Wonderful variety of flowers. Thank you for sharing these photos. I'm curious about the fourth and sixth shots. Is that an eriogonum, and a albino shotting star respectively??
Phoebe "BertMoss"
June 6, 2011
Well Jen, I am no flower expert, but I do have 2 excellent reference books. Photo 6 is a "white shooting star" they are not albino's of the purple ones that grow in the East Gorge, they are a "cousin" that grows on moist cliffs near waterfalls. and Photo #4, I am not really sure, there were at least 2 varieties of daisy-like flowers at McCord Creek.
Kyle Meyer
May 31, 2011
Wow! Guess I have to go here soon.