Columbia Hills State Park - Crawford Oaks — Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017

Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA

The snow finally has melted and sun was in the forecast for a single day, so we headed to the eastern Columbia River Gorge to see what wildflowers might be blooming. We met up with friends at the Crawford Oaks trailhead to make a group of 10 plus two dogs. We headed up the Access Road Trail but found the water in Eightmile Creek to be too high to cross the ford without getting water in our boots. We stayed on the west side of the creek and explored some balds for early blooming wildflowers. We also found a sunny, warm spot on the south-facing slope for lunch. Wildflowers we found were Salt-and-Pepper Desert Parsley, Grass Widow, Gold Stars, and Pungent Desert Parsley. After lunch, we headed back to the cars and drove up to the upper part of Columbia Hills State Park to check for blooming Obscure Buttercup, a rare species. We found a lot of blooming buttercups, and more in bud. All the moisture this past winter seems to be fostering a good bloom this year.