Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Salmon River

Western Oregon is so green, especially from the perspective of a naturalist who moved back to California recently. Last week I returned to the northwest for two weeks of professional meetings and field work, but I was able to explore a bit on my days off during the Memorial day weekend. Yesterday, I headed east from Portland towards Mt. Hood. On a clear day this beautiful white peak presents a marvelous site from Portland. The Mt. Hood area is home to three wildernesses: Mt. Hood Wilderness encompassing the mountain's summit and its slopes to the east and west, Badger Creek to the east, and Salmon-Huckleberry to the southwest. I spent one night backpacking into the green coniferous forest of Salmon-Huckleberry and its lush green understory. Here are some photos from the wilderness and surrounding Mt. Hood National Forest.

The diminutive Cornus unalaschkensis.

This is an incredible spider that I encountered. Its brown body was not more than a centimeter long but each of the needle-like black legs were a few inches long!

Two of the three Maianthemum species present in the area: M. stellatum (left) and M. racemosum (right).

Flowers of the Iron Mountain Area

There is a great hike in the vicinity of Iron Mountain in the Willamette National Forest. I first visited last year about this time with a group of hikers from the Native Plant Society of Oregon. I repeated part of that hike yesterday. The trail begins near US20 (at roughly 4000 ft elevation) and passes through a variety of plant associations, including coniferous forest and rocky meadows. Delphinium, Calochortus subalpinus, Castilleja and other species created abundant color in the open meadows. There were also blooms in the forest understory including Clintonia uniflora, Maianthemum stellatum and Maianthemum racemosum.

Another interesting botanical feature on this hike is a population of Alaska cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), a more northerly species that appears to occupy only relatively small areas in Oregon and northern California (Jensen and Ross 2005: Trees to Know in Oregon). A few photos below:



Left: Clintonia uniflora (Liliaceae). Right: Castilleja sp. (Scrophulariaceae).



Left: Maianthemum stellatum (Liliaceae). Right: Achlys triphylla (Berberidaceae).



Left: Aquilegia formosa (Ranunculaceae). Right: Ipomopsis aggregata (Polemoniaceae).



Left: Trifolium longipes (Fabaceae). Right: Phlox sp. (Polemoniaceae).