June 23, 2007: Gresham, Multnomah County, OR: Chris found this June bug crawling on the back porch. They appear at least annually but are a rare event. According to what I read they nibble on conifer needles at night. If disturbed they will hiss like a cat. Chris assures me they don’t bite. This one is about the size of my thumb from the last knuckle to the end. I picked it up… it hissed but didn’t bite.
byLarry
June 22, 2007: Round Lake, Marion County, OR: Chris and I have been watching a plant and hoping that we might see it bloom. We expected to see an Iris unfold so we have been stopping by every week since we found the plant. Today was one of those days and were we surprised. It wasn’t an Iris at all but it was a Rush. If I got it right it is Juncus ensifolius.
Bear Grass is at its peak… at least at 4,000 feet elevation…
and Washington Lily is just starting.
We also saw some Tiger Lily along the Clackamas River. Penstemon is just gorgeous at the higher elevation. It’s a good time to be in the woods.
byLarry
June 21, 2007: South Prairie, Skamania County, WA: Reports of a bog with the special plants associated enticed us to wander into the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest looking for adventure. Road 66 northwest of Willard skirts an old lava flow which also might have some interesting wildflowers. At any rate Chris and I had enough excuse to spend the first day of summer in the field. We had no trouble finding the bog.
Butterflies everywhere: After reading in “The Butterflies of Cascadia” by Robert Pyle that butterflies suck up road kill, bear poop, and horse pee I’m not sure I should publish this picture… I wonder why butterflies like me.
Frogs are numerous in the bog and one in particular caught my eye. It was white and black with just a bit of green (chartreuse) around the mouth. It had the look of the tree frog “Hyla regilla” but didn’t match any color phase I knew about.
After the bog we continued following roads to Trout Lake, stopping at the Forest Service headquarters to chat about road conditions to Bird Creek Meadows. We were happy to learn the road would be opened on June 25th.
byLarry
June 18, 2007: Iron Mountain, Linn County, OR: The promise of a nice spring day lured us back to Iron Mountain. Marvin had never been to the summit so that was our goal. The tree that blocked the access road had been removed so this trip we were able to use the parking lot provided by the Forest Service.
We enjoyed the view from the summit. We could see the Three Sisters, Mount Washington, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood and way off in the distance, Mount Adams.
While we admired the view a pair of Anicia Checkerspot butterflies performed their pas de deux, spiraling dizzily upward out of sight. Not to be outdone a pair of swallowtails duplicated the performance. We watched for awhile and soon the males returned alone to await another female.
The Checkerspot would chase the swallowtail away and then return to his perch.
We passed a half dozen hikers coming uphill as we were leaving so we didn’t have the woods to ourselves on this trip.
Before starting home we stopped by Sahalie and Koosah Falls on the McKenzie River. The water grade trail along the river is delightful and offers scenic views of the falls. And, coming across from Detroit to Estacada on FSD 46 a half dozen elk crossed the road in front of us. A good sized bull was escorting the herd. They were much too quick for pictures but left evidence of their passage in our memory.
It was just a great day.
byLarry
June 16, 2007: Rainier, Columbia County, OR: Marvin found this deer outstanding in his field… looks like he will have a good crop of hay too.
byLarry