Go East to Go West: The Wallowas, Part 2

After our first full day in the Wallowas, we drove out to Hells Canyon, along the Oregon-Idaho border. It's billed as the deepest river gorge in North America, beating out the even the Grand Canyon. That doesn't seem quite right to me, but I'm not the one standing out there with a tape measure, so I'll let it slide.

View of Hells Canyon from the Overlook

A Columbian Ground Squirrel is at full attention to greet us

Common camas (Camassia quamash)

Big headed clover (Trifolium macrocephalum)

Mix with creeping oregon grape

From the overlook, we had gorgeous views out towards the canyon. And there were wildflowers galore! This seemed to be the peak time for all these mountain blooms. There were carpets of violet, yellow, white, red, and pink. It was the quintessential moment of spring on this mountain top.

Penstemon species

Western peony (Paeonia brownii)

Harsh Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja hispida)

Penstemon species

From the overlook we hit a dirt road warning that it wasn't recommended for passenger vehicles. I interpreted as a personal challenge, and after an interminably rough ride, we ended up at the Buck Creek NRA trailhead. This was a fun hike to the top, also revealing beautiful wildflowers along the way. There wasn't a whole lot of activity out there, but from the top of the trail, we did get exceptional looks at the Wallowas off to the west of us, and the Seven Devils to our east.

The Wallowa Mountains

Top of Buck Creek NRA Trail

Fairy Slipper (Calypso bulbosa)

Wallowa Mountains to the West

Seven Devils to the East

Upland larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum)

Western Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

As if that weren't ambitious enough for one day, we drove back to Wallowa Lake to take the aerial tram up Mt. Howard. The tram travels 3,700 ft. up and deposits you at the summit, 8,150 above sea level. Upon arriving at the top, we were greeted by loads of Clark's Nutcrackers, but not much else.

A LONG 13 minute ride up the tram 

View from the tram looking down

We found ourselves trudging through quite a lot of snow, as we hiked around for stunning views of the other mountains nearby. Some mammals that we'd seen around the campgrounds, we'd wanted better looks at. Now we were the beneficiaries of desensitized animals who have been fed and overfed by multitudes of tourists. We couldn't beat these looks at Columbian Ground Squirrel and Yellow-pine Chipmunk.

That face

And what's cuter than a Golden-mantled Squirrel nibbling at a sunflower seed? Watching all of these squirrels, chipmunks, and squawking Clark's Nutrcrackers along with the fantastic head-on views of these peaks were well worth the scary tram ride.

Such a cute belly

Back at camp for the evening, we strolled around the trails behind our campsite after our camping neighbors had found a few very large morels right at their campsite! If only we had known to look for them. We were on a mission to find some of our own, and after over an hour, we had found plenty of other cool fungi, but no morels. Just as we were about to give up and walk back, Maureen finally found one tiny, almost shriveled one. We did end up cooking it and savored every tiny bite.

Hammond's Flycatcher back at the camp

Coral Fungus

Violet crown-cup or Violet star cup (Sarcosphaera sp) Fungus (about 5 in at widest point)

Morel

Early the next morning we braved the near-freezing temperatures to get back to McCully Creek. This time we took another trail up and soon found ourselves face-to-face with a Spruce Grouse. It was out in the open, 150 ft ahead. We stayed as still and quiet as two people can who are vibrating with excitement. We didn't want to spook it, but this bold bird wasn't going to be spooked anyway. Soon after we spotted it, it spotted us, too, and instead of flying off, it made a beeline right for us.

Echo Azure

Male Spruce Grouse

I've seen enough videos of grouse hopped up on hormones to consider that we might want to take a defensive stance. Closer and closer it came, mostly walking, sometimes running short distances. Most of the photos I digiscoped are blurry because it just kept coming at us. It got within 20 feet and then casually hopped off to the side, and disappeared into the undergrowth. We also stalked a Ruffed Grouse for some time, which we never saw, but we could feel the drumming in our chests.

Caught that moment of his bright red eyecomb glowing in the tiny spot of sunlight

The Spruce Grouse was just the cherry on top of this absolutely amazing trip. The views were awe-inspiring, the flowers were gorgeous, the animals were very friendly, and the birds were awesome. 

Wallowas in evening light

Common Alpine

View from "Little Alps"

The Cute, the Grand, and the Beggy: Crater Lake, Part 2

Crater Lake is among the most scenic spots in Oregon, the views from every square inch of it were spectacular. Besides the waterfall where we found numerous butterfly puddle parties, we made an effort to see the Phantom Ship, and then hiked a trail along the Pinnacles - volcanic vents where the release of hot gases hardened the igneous rock, after which the surrounding softer minerals eroded much more quickly, leaving only the vents.

"The Phantom Ship"

"The Pinnacles"

Also at the Pinnacles Overlook, Maureen and I both thought we glimpsed a Pine Grosbeak, but it was gone in a flash, and we were both left wondering, "wait, was that…?" But when we eventually list Pine Grosbeak, we want to make damn sure, and this certainly wasn't the sighting for that.

The next day, July 4, we decided the hike the Watchman Trail, a 0.8 mile trail to an old fire lookout. We expected birds, but instead got great looks at some much desired mammals. On the drive to the trail, Maureen spied a Yellow-bellied Marmot quite far off, sunning on a boulder. Neat, but hopefully we could do better. The hillside along the trail was strewn with rocks of all sizes, piled up in places, and creating perfect marmot habitat. We'd barely left the parking lot when we noticed the huge ground squirrel directly below us, only 20 feet down. From the looks of it, he was sharpening his teeth by scraping them against the rocks.

Yellow-bellied Marmot

Sharpening those chompers

Of course, this wasn't only perfect habitat for marmots. The top of our mammal wishlist up to that point had been the diminutive and adorable Pika. We were so determined to see one that we had a field trip booked for the following week just to get us out to a prime spot in the Columbia River gorge. You can imagine our delight, then, when we were able to find our lifer Pika all on our own, collecting wildflowers for turning into hay for the winter.

Pika with its bouquet of wildflowers

At the top of the hill, at the lookout, we had a Rock Wren pose against the deep blue of the lake. On the hike back down the Clark's Nutcrackers started getting boisterous. Our campsite brochure specifically warned against feeding Nutcrackers, so I had high hopes that they'd gang up on us at some point (thus living up to their "camp robber" reputation), and give us good looks. Unfortunately, they were better heard than seen at camp. But we did manage to see one up close at a random parking lot around the lake that morning. Yes, the Nutcracker in the photo is eating people food, and no, it didn't come from us.

Rock Wren

Clark's Nutcracker

After noon, we stopped at the Castle Crest Wildflower Garden, hoping to see huge numbers of butterflies, like we had a day earlier. Even though gardens here had an entire half-mile loop bordered on either side with wildflowers, it wasn't nearly as active as the falls had been. Even so, we got our lifer Clodius Parnassian right off the bat. A beautiful black and white moth called a Sierra Pericopid also made a new Lep for the trip.

Clodius Parnassian

Western White

Fritillary sp.

Sierra Pericopid

A couple of Gray Jays who must be used to getting fed stopped just above the trail, expectantly, and I'm afraid we rather disappointed them. With so many thousands of flowers in bloom, the Rufous Hummingbirds needed no handouts, and paid no attention to us as they lapped up nectar beside the trail.

Gray Jay

Rufous Hummingbird

Black Petaltail

For all the time we spend outdoors, we've never seen a bear in the wild. Every campsite had it's own bear locker, and signs stressed that there ARE bears in the campground. Well, it seems we missed out on a prime opportunity, but a curious Black-tailed Deer did pass through our site while we ate lunch that afternoon. Crater Lake: come for the birds, stay for the mammals.

Black-tailed Deer

Golden-mantled Squirrel