Gorge Climatology: Wildflower Quest

Gorge Climatology: Wildflower Quest on February 20th

The climate of the Columbia River Gorge is unique because it telescopes several climate zones into the space of 70 miles.  It extends from the arid, warm east-side near The Dalles, OR to the center of the rain forest near Cascades Locks, OR to the temperate west-side at Portland. The annual rainfall numbers are startling.  Portland gets 37 inches of rain a year, while The Dalles gets 14 inches and Cascade Locks gets a whopping 76 inches!

With less rain and more sun, the east end of the Gorge tends to get warmer daytime temperatures. That’s why our pursuit of spring wildflowers begins along a region near Lyle, WA and Mosier, OR. Catherine Creek, just west of Lyle, seems to come to life first. With an open south-facing meadow, it catches the sun and gets the warmth of the river waters.

View of Catherine Creek from Memaloose Overlook

Last Wednesday, we checked on the progress of spring wildflowers in four more of our favorite places.

Map from: "Wildflowers of the Columbia Gorge", Russ Jolley

The first stop was Memaloose Overlook (part of Memaloose State Park). It is directly across the river from Catherine Creek. Like Catherine Creek it is a meadow with good sun exposure, but it is not tilted quite as favorably toward the sun and lags in flower development by a couple of weeks. Since there were only a few pitiful wind-whipped Grass Widows, we paused  long enough to photograph the castle-like rocks on both sides of the Columbia.

And to take a look at the basaltic rocks along the path down to the rest area at Memaloose State Park.  We saw these tiny Cladonia lichen which look like miniature golf tees.

We moved on to Tom McCall Preserve. This perpetually windy spot gets plenty of sun but is harsh for plants because of its exposure to the river winds. Before we opened the car doors we spotted this squirrel with its unique white eye ring sitting on the ground as though praying. It is a Douglas’ Squirrel. Usually he stays in the nearby Doug Fir forests.

      We spotted a few hardy Grass Widows.  

Then we were treated to an aerial display by a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk.

Next we drove over to the north side of the Columbia to Washington. Just east of Lyle is the trailhead for the Cherry Orchard Trail. In the parking area at the bottom of the rocks was a wild cucumber vine ( J-600). ). It had found a secluded niche in the rocks and was growing rapidly.

The first quarter mile of the trail goes through a small oak savannah.   We climbed up the steep slope to the sign-in, and then out to a basaltic outcrop where the pink Columbia Gorge Parsley was blooming at the base of this giant  fortress-like stone formation.

 

But the highlight was the discovery of a couple of Yellow Bells (J-28). These dainty lilies are harbingers of their cousins the Chocolate Lilies and Glacier Lilies. We will return here often in coming weeks looking for them.

Finally, we moved on to another rocky area, the trailhead of the Labyrinth Trail. On our way we spotted Mt Hood.  Its sides were being lapped at by wispy fast-moving storm clouds. The mountain was our weather forecast.

The Labyrinth Trail starts out following the Old Highway 14. It was blasted out of a basalt cliff and is now abandoned and left for hikers to enjoy. Water tumbles over the top and seeps through cracks in the rock. During the summer Ravens and Cliff Swallows make their home here. But for now it is the quiet determination of the lichens and moss and the stonecrop (J-197ff)  which are beginning to come to life.

The weather here is doing its usual dance – two steps toward the warmth and one step back to cold. Forty-eight hours after we left, this area received a dusting of snow. But we’ll be back in two weeks to check on progress.

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