Blooming Good Time

It's been more than two weeks since we began our personal wildflower viewing season with a trip to Catherine Creek, on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge 

We are still learning wildflowers and not as confident on identification as with birds, but here goes our best guesses.

Grass widows (Olsynium douglasii) were numerous and toward the end of their peak.

Western Saxifrage (Saxifraga occidentalis)

 Gray's desert parsley (Lomatium grayi) 

Buttercup (Rananculus sp) - (someday we'll know all these)

 Prairie Star (Lithophragma parviflorum) and bitter root basal leaves

 Salt and Pepper (Lomatium piperi)

Small flower Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora)

Columbia desert parsley (Lomatium columbianum)

Finally on solid ground - this is definitely a western bluebird, kind enough to pose so that I could take this picture through the windshield.

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Ice is Nice, Last Installment (for this winter, I hope)

Because our winters are relatively mild, I haven't had much experience with the different forms in which ice manifests itself.  For example, ice seems to push out of the soft ground in long columns. I don't know how this works. 

The two following photos are examples of rime ice.  We all thought water froze at 32 degrees, but surprise! Pure water can be much colder than that before it turns to a solid. Unless the water has something to freeze on or around, it can just float in the air in its super-cooled state until it does make contact with something, then freezes on contact. Ice loves to form on ice so we get these feathery formations of frozen droplets stacked on one another.

 And finally, we saw this weird icicle.  I guess there must have been some water flowing in a crack in the log that froze as it hit the cold air.  The icicle had a tinge of sap color and I had to touch it to make sure it was really ice and not a thick sap.

These photos were all taken at the Magness Tree Farm.

Ice is Nice, Part 3

The footing was bit treacherous in places.

Water not moving fast enough to avoid the freeze.

Near South Falls, Silver Creek Falls State Park

Behind Upper South Falls

Who knew ice could be so much fun?

Or so dangerous?

Ice is Nice, Part 2

A cold morning at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

The yellow gold morning sunlight tints slightly pink as it shines through the frost collected on winter's vegetation. 

 The boardwalk had a nice glaze, which up close was fuzzy.

 Early January's sunny days coming to an end and the poor waterfowl wait for the thaw.

Ice Is Nice, Part 1

Mima Mounds in Washington

Generally, winters in our area of the Pacific Northwest consist of gray days, above-freezing temperatures and lots of water in the air and on the ground.  This year, we've enjoyed(?) many cold, clear days and the water has taken on a form we don't experience often.

Taking the "any excuse to get out" approach, we've spent several days in the cold, relishing the variety of nature.

The End

Given that this is the last day before the destruction of the Mayan civilization, or the last day of autumn, or the end of something....yes, a new post!  And as far as I am concerned, today was just the end of a long period of nature deprivation.  We needed a day outdoors.

First stop to see some elk 
On the way to Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area, we climbed into the Coast Range, where the precipitation splashing against the windshield gradually turned into a white whisper.  By the time we reached our first stop it was snowing heavily and the parking areas were slushy, but the elk were cooperative.

With my 5x zoom

Snowy Owl Hunt

Our main goal was to see if we could find a snowy owl, as we had been seeing many reports of sightings on the South Jetty of the Columbia River.  So we continued on through the snow, which disappeared by the time we reached Astoria.  We drove into Fort Stevens, out to the spit and into Area C.  I scanned the area with my binoculars and, wow!  Is that little white dot out there a snowy owl?  It was was raining hard by this time and we all had to bail out of the car to get closer.  Sure enough, we spotted our lifer snowy owl just that easy!

Because of the hard rain, no camera equipment made it out of the car.  By the time my husband hustled back to remedy that problem, the owl had lifted from its low perch and flapped away.  But what a sight!  Our owl might have been sitting on this same perch.

Now What?

That was too easy.  So we headed over to Fort Clatsop National Memorial.  I had seen a sliver of sunlight to the west so we waited in the car to see if there would be break in the weather when we could dash into the visitors center.  Another surprise: the skies cleared!

We walked to Netul Landing in bright sunlight.

It was beautiful for nearly an hour, but it is the coast, after all, and the rain began again.

And this is what it looked like in the Coast Range on the way home:

If the world were truly coming to an end tomorrow, this is just the type of day I'd want to have as my last.

Camassia - Wow, is it spring again?

We've seen it in the fall and we saw it again last spring, when sunny days in Portland happened only above the clouds. Now we've seen sun and flowers together.

Is it better than last spring? No, only different.

Gorgeous!

Our great weather on Monday prompted us to get to the Columbia Gorge. The wildflowers and falls were fabulous.

Fringe Cup (Tellima grandiflora)

Western meadow rue (Thalictrum occidentale)

Fairy bells (Disporum hookeri)

View from behind Ponytail Falls

Overlooking Triple Falls (that little blue dot on the bridge is me) Photography by Cal Crandall

Ferry Land

Taking a small ferry ranks in my top ten list of cheap thrills. On our two transits of the Columbia River via the Wahkiakum Ferry, we have seen scaup, ring necks, western grebes and double crested cormorants. The last ferry operating on the lower Columbia, it travels between Westport, Oregon and Cathlamet, Washington. Besides a fun ride, it's our favorite way access the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge.

Another ferry in our vicinity is the Wheatland Ferry--a bargain price, but right now you have to swim out to catch it.

Camassia-Spring

Last autumn, we took a walk at Camassia Natural Area. We knew that the little island of nature was not in its prime during the fall, but wanted to check out the location so we'd be ready for spring. When spring rolled around, we almost missed the show, but snuck over there right before leaving on a trip. These photos were taken on May 17th.

As it was many days this spring, the sky was overcast and it looked to be on the edge of drizzle the entire time we were there. But we hardly noticed, as the camas flowers, bright blue against the spring green, seemed to be glowing themselves. Several other wildflower species made an appearance, but the camas is the star of the show. I'd rank this as a "must see" and it'll be on our calendar for next spring as well.

Located in West Linn, Oregon. Entrance located at GPS N 45.35922, W 122.61824. More information here.

And thanks to my sister for bugging me about posting on my blog!

Willapa Hills Trail

Flat and fast across farmland, this rails-to-trails is a great way to spend a morning, and eventually, a long day. Now, only a few sections of the trail are paved. In the future, a 56-mile ride from Chehalis to South Bend, Washington will be possible.

We started out at the Chehalis trail head (GPS N46.64750, W122.97419), just west of I-5 at Hillburger Road on the Saturday before Easter. The trail immediately passes over a lengthy bridge then heads straight through farm country. It was the first pleasant morning after a long period of rainy days and the birds seemed as excited as we were about the change in the weather.

The trail intersects a few quiet country roads. The pavement is nearly flawless until it turns to gravel as we near the busiest crossing, which is Hwy 6. The reward for bouncing over the short span of gravel is a marshy area just beyond the crossing hopping with marsh wrens. Trail side mile markers advise us of our distance.

We pass another trail head at Adna, cross another highway and then find a “trail closed” sign at another bridge. This bridge lacks the decking for a bike ride over it. We turn back the way we came for a ride of just over 11 miles.

We walked another section of the trail from Rainbow Falls State Park. The trail is not paved there, but the packed gravel would not be a problem. What is a problem, unless you are Evel Kneivel, is the missing bridge over the Chehalis River about two and half miles to the west of the park.
More information here.

Rainbow Falls State Park

As waterfalls go, this one is barely a ripple, at least this time of the year. Perhaps as water levels drop? We did, however, spot two raccoons racing along the bank opposite the highway.

We parked on Highway 6 and walked the barely two miles of trail on the south side of the highway on April 21. Lots of trillium were in bloom, as were a few skunk cabbage, and Cardimine nuttalli. Bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) was in bud and we could recognize the leaves of oxalis and meadow rue (Thalictrum occidentale). Birds included Pacific wrens, varied thrush, and a pileated woodpecker.

The remainder of the park is across the Chehalis River and requires a drive east to a big bridge or west to a tiny bridge. We walked from the campground out to the Willapa Hills trail then turned east on what is currently hard packed gravel until we could go no more; the bridge is out!

Rainbow Falls State Park is located about 17 miles west of I-5 near Chehalis on Highway 6.

Signs of Spring in the Pacific Northwest