Hiking through the Gifford Pinchot was everything and more! We started near Natural Bridges Point of Interest outside of Trout Lake and came across so many unique plants I'd never seen before. One standout was the Sugar Pine, the tallest pine tree in the world, and it has the longest pine cones of all the pines. It was amazing to see these massive trees along with lodgepole pine, hemlocks, Douglas fir, grand fir, and so many other incredible conifers. I realized I definitely need to brush up on my conifer ID!

I also came across one of my favorite manzanitas, the pine mat manzanita, which was growing on all the slopes and embankments. Scattered through the understory was the thin-leaved huckleberry, which had so much fruit we kept munching as we hiked along. Near the end of the hike, we actually came across a bear doing the same thing, which startled us a bit. We also spotted Snowbrush Ceanothus scattered along the riverbanks. I definitely noticed how fire-adapted this area was and how resilient and special our western forests are.

The next day, we hiked out to Conboy National Wildlife Refuge and encountered a completely different type of forest. Towering ponderosa pines dominated, while a sparse understory of bracken fern and wildflowers covered the forest floor. I was surprised to see a bunch of sagebrush mariposa lilies blooming here, which I had just seen for the first time a couple of weeks ago along the Columbia River. This flower is amazing! Its sepals are so long, and the color was a much lighter pink/lavender than the ones I saw before. I was hoping to see Calochortus longibarbatus, but I couldn’t find any. Hopefully, I'll be able to see it next year. I think I was a little late to the party.

Some other notable plants were the Woodland pinedrops and Scarlet gilia, which I’ve written about in previous posts, so check those out. I also saw my first Rein Orchid in Oregon, which I'd only ever seen in the San Juan Islands before—it was so beautiful. If you've read this far, thank you, and enjoy checking out some of these plants!

Trout Lake, OR - July 2024

Woodland pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea)