Tag: wildflowers

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The Ochoco and Wildflowers

The forested edge of Big Summit Prairie

The Ochoco National Forest runs from the Crooked River Grasslands and west of  Prineville to the John Day Fossil Beds, bisected by Highway 26.

In the middle of this beautiful forest is Big Summit Prairie with it’s abundance of wildflower species.

Rocky Mountain Iris

Heavy winter snows and a wetter than normal spring have provided an especially lush understory.

The added moisture likely enhanced this year’s crop of wildflowers scattered throughout numerous open meadows .

A pleasant drive through pine woods

We drove a loop; out of Prineville on 26 to USFS 42 and then up into the Ochoco National Forest.

The headwaters of the Crooked River’s North Fork are in these hills.

We don’t get quite that far south, instead we turned east at Walton Lake, around  Lookout Mountain and along one side of Big Summit Prairie.

A meadow of yarrow
Parry’s Arnica
Lupine

We stopped to picnic at the edge of the prairie and shot more flower pictures.

The forest on this side of 26 (south)  is a mix of meadows and second growth pines.

Later in the summer the understory will dry out and the grasses will  brown, but today it’s all a lush green.

The Ochoco north of 26 is rock hounding country, still pine trees, but more juniper and the understory is lava outcrops,  and cinder cones. That trip involves a very different type of hunt, maybe next week.

Sitka Valerian

We meet back up with 26 near Ochoco Pass and head back down into Prineville. This network of forest roads will require more exploring, but for today we’ve enjoyed the drive and gotten lots of good images.

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Wildflowers

Iris, Western Blue Flag

High Desert summers get hot, dry and eventually smokey. We try to take advantage of the days before the sun has beaten the green down to just the river’s edge. This year that seems to be extending into June.

Skullcap

This week’s excursion was full of blossoms and bird song as we were back on the Crooked River. Water levels are down to summer flows, fishing is getting better and the riparian was full of wild flowers and wild life.

Setting the trap

There are always field guides for Bird, Wildflower and High Desert Plant identification in the car. We’ve found it’s better to have a printed copy than rely on an internet connection when you’re trying to figure out what that brownish bird is.

JQ discovered an excellent  resource when you’re trying to find where the flowers might be blooming. NorthWest Wildflowers (duh!) . . . no, it’s actually a web site that has color coded dots on a map showing when and where flowers are in bloom. From this ‘bloom map’ you’ll see points in Washington, Oregon, Southern BC and Northern California where wildflowers are.

 

Click on a location and you’ll be presented with a set of directions, an Oregon hikers guide, and a link for plant identification tools starting with the most likely flowers at that spot. All from this one web page . . . very cool.

We don’t plan to leave the field guides at home, but when you’re looking for a spot to explore this is a great site. It takes the  guess work out of planning where and when the blooms are. There are still a lot of “early bloom” locations to check out, so we’ve been updating the calendar.

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Desert color

A field of arrow-leaf balsamroot in the John Day Basin

As the winter snows recede our weekly explorations take us to more distant places. The high desert, typically painted in dusty tones, is a deep green hue. Sage and desert grasses are taking advantage of the available water with a spring growth spurt. Mixed in this lush carpet are spots of color.

Spring Basin Wilderness home to rare desert wildflowers

Desert blooms are often tiny little flowers that show themselves for a few weeks in the spring. The week’s adventures allowed for the capture of a wide variety of desert fauna.

Yellow daisies line the road as we climb the east face of the Sutton Mountains.
We found desert paintbrush while hiking the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge
Microseris
Looking at the Warner Valley below you can see the transition from lakes and wetlands, to grasslands and sage steppe. Spring is a great time to explore the greening of Oregon’s high desert.
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An ant’s eye view

At first glance the landscape reveals nothing more than a mix of tans and browns. Sand and rock litter the ground. It appears nothing is here. Jack and Tip park under a lone shade tree and I head out in search of high desert wildflowers.

I have to change my approach. Many of these blooms are close to the ground which means I need to take a low angle and get an “ant’s eye view.” I love this type of photography … that said, it does require a certain amount of … flexibility.

I’m equipped with a small tripod and an assortment of iPhone lenses (wide angle and macro being my favorite). I take a wayward tack. I’ve been lucky in the past … meandering and wandering has paid off for me. It takes a while, but then my focus shifts and it’s like another world is revealed under my feet.

 

Its been a successful shoot. I’m pretty psyched at finding a cactus.

I can’t wait to get back and share my news … plus Jack and Tip have an ice tea waiting for me. It’s been a great day!