Easton Ridge — Thursday, Jun. 6, 2024

We, a fun group of 11 Mountaineers, saw 59 species of flowers (full list below, thanks Paul!) and tremendous views along Easton Ridge. The thickest and some of the prettiest displays will be out in a week (the thick areas of silvercrown and sitka valerian, the rock and bushy penstemon, and dwarf snow primrose are just starting to bloom.

There are some beautiful flowers and displays right now: the enchanting Oregon anemones in the last 1/4 mile are peaking, from fresh to fading (the flower in photo 1 alone was worth the 2300' climb), the last of the fairyslippers in the first 1/2 mile, thick areas of groundsel (photo 3), a lovely area of larkspur and prairie stars (photo 4), the early Columbia lewisias (many more to come), large displays of alpine pennycress, incredibly thick and vibrant areas of small-flowered blue-eyed Mary often mixed with slender phlox (photo 2), pretty harsh paintbrush, thick ares of lanceleaf springbeauties, some beautiful stonecrop, and more.

The previously reported blowdowns are still there. There were a few mosquitos. Nobody saw any ticks.

WILDFLOWERS (59 species)

white (23)

western starflower (Lysimachia latifolia) — some white, others pink 

vanilla leaf (Achlys triphylla)

Pacific trillium (Trillium ovatum)

plumed / large false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

starry false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum stellatum)

raceme pussytoes (Antennaria racemosa)

large-leaf sandwort (Moehringia macrophylla)

alpine / Fendler’s pennycress (Noccaea fendleri) — large numbers

pinemat manzanita (Arctostaphylos nevadensis)

sticky currant (Ribes viscosissimum)

western serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa)

silver-leaf phacelia (Phacelia hastata) — just coming into flower

three-toothed miterwort (Ozomelis trifida)

Hooker’s fairy-bells Townsend’s Warbler

 (Prosartes hookeri)

lance-leaf spring-beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)

red-stem spring-beauty (Claytonia rubra)

Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis) — just coming into flower

chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)

praire star, bulbiferous or small-flower (Lithophragma glabrum or parviflorum)

blue-leaf strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

mountain sweet-cicely (Osmorhiza berteroi)

Gorman’s desert-parsley / biscuit-root (Lomatium gormani)

yellow (13)

heart-leaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia)

tall western groundsel (Senecio integerrimus)

tall silvercrown (Cacaliopsis / Luina nardosmia)

bracted lousewort (Pedicularis bracteosa) — just coming into flower

dull Oregon grape (Berberis / Mahonia nervosa)

nine-leaf desert-parsley (Lomatium triternatum)

Oregon sunshine / common sunflower (Eriophyllum lanatum) — just coming into flower

streamside / pioneer violet (Viola glabella)

cinquefoil, probably sticky (Drymocallis, probably glandulosa)

glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum)

yellow bells (Fritillaria pudica)

daisy / fleabane, probably cut-leaf / dwarf mountain (Erigeron, probably compositus)

alpine / Washington twin-pod (Physaria alpestris)

reddish: pink to red to red-purple (13)

rose, probably baldhip (Rosa, probably gymnocarpa)

little-leaf montia (Montia parvifolia)

harsh paintbrush (Castilleja hispida)

oval-leaf blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium)

tall / black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum)

rock / cliff penstemon (Penstemon rupicola) — just coming into flower

snow dwarf-primrose / douglasia (Douglasia nivalis)

scalloped / Olympic onion (Allium crenulatum)

fairy slipper (Calypso bulbosa)

kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Columbia lewisia (Lewisia coumbiana)

slender / midget phlox (Microsteris gracilis)

red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)

bluish: blue to violet to blue-purple (7)

shrubby penstemon (Penstemon fruticosus)

lupine, maybe broadleaf (Lupinus, maybe latifolius)

rockcress, probably slender (Boechera, probably sparsiflora)

rockslide larkspur (Delphinium glareosum)

ball-head waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum)

small-flowered blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora) — vast numbers, spectacular

Oregon / western anemone (Anemone oregana)

green (1)

Thompson’s paintbrush (Castilleja thompsonii)

brown (2)

Oregon boxwood (Paxistima myrsinites)

chocolate lily (Fritillaria affinis)

BIRDS

Turkey Vulture

Swainson’s Thrush

Hermit Thrush

Western Tanager

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Chipping Sparrow

Warbling Vireo

Townsend’s Warbler

Nashville Warbler

McGillivray’s Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Brown Creeper

Bewick’s Wren

Pine Siskin

BUTTERFLIES

Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon)

Pale Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon)

greater fritillary, species uncertain (Speyeria sp.)

Julia’s / Pacific Orange-tip (Anthocharis julia)

Lorquin’s Admiral (Limenitis lorquini)