Alpine Flowers of Mount Hood

Hello, Everyone! Mister Chickadee Gardens here. Been awhile. I think since last winter when I reported here on my adventure to Everest Base Camp. Remember? You can revisit that post here. Many pictures of mountains and me trying to breathe? This time I am once again on a mountain, but it's local talent, i.e., Mount Hood. Yes, I am back in my boots and taking more pictures. This time, instead of mountains, I focused on flowers. Alpine flowers, I should say. Sweet, low-growing alpine flowers. 

Just below is an Indian paintbrush. I think. I am no expert. But this is what we called them as kids, and so be it here. Please feel free to share the real name. As to Latin names, indian paint-a-brushas? Haha, never mind. At any rate, I loved this little jewel. Hope you do as well.

Yep, that's me with a multitude of bear grasses behind me. They are very busy on the ridge above Zigzag River canyon. To take this hike, drive to Timberline Lodge, walk up behind the lodge to the Pacific Crest Trail and head west/north. It follows along the mountain and is not so tough. These bear grasses are just so snowy and creamy. Oddly, while there were plenty of bees on other flowers, nary a nodual of bear grassery featured a bee, bumble or otherwise. Hmmmm.

I want ice cream now, for some reason. 

This is looking due east up Zigzag River canyon. The 6.5-mile (out-and-back) hike is an annual tradition for myself and a good friend. This is by far the earliest we've gone on any year in about 30 years of going. No snow to block the trail. This looks like late August on the mountain. Yipes!

Okay, this is where the fun starts. I do not know the name of many of these flowers. I just like them. So tiny and sturdy. You have to be, I guess, to live up there at 7,000 feet. Again, if you know the name, feel free.

(Tamara the blogger here in parentheses. I shall fill in botanic names if you care to know; ignore these notes if you'd rather play along with Mr. Chickadee which is probably a lot more fun. This is Lupinus latifolius, broadleaf lupine).

More purple goodness. 

(Mimulus guttatus, monkeyflower)

That's the plant above this delicate little blossom. Sweet, soft yellow. 

And some wild life, too. Not a cougar. Not a bear. Nor a raccoon or eagle. Just a gentle, half-dollar-size butterfly (or moth).  

I am of a mind, thanks to Mrs Chickadee, that this is a sedum plant of some sort. (Close, Mr. Chickadee - a penstemon...looks like Penstemon rupicola)

These blooms were smaller than a malted milk ball (of course he compares them to chocolate). I like the color and their energy. These grow in direct sunshine. Not much water. (These oddballs are Cistanthe umbellata or Mt. Hood pussypaws. We like these.)

Fuzzy! Pink!

This is why we go, get out of the city, see some green and a mountain in the distance. Sigh. We love Oregon and good ol' Mount Hood.

Lots of this stuff about. Not sure of the name, but it seems very happy. The funny thing is that since we tend not to get on this trail until mid- to late-summer, we don't often seen all of these flowers. So this was a treat. 

Looking due south to Mount Jefferson, the Sisters and possibly Mount Bachelor.  (More lupine.)

Here is a scrubby little conifer. Dozens of these about. Reminds me of bonzai. (This seems to be a rather stunted mountain hemlock.)

This time the flower (above) and then the plant. It was growing in the deep shade on the long, switch-backed trail from the ridge to the river below. In this picture, the flash went off so the green really pops. (This is a sweet false Soloman's seal or Maianthemum racemosum.)

Flowers can be green, too, I suppose. Kind of like this one. (Aruncus dioicus, goadtsbeard, another fabulous native woodland plant.)

Here is my happy flower. About the size of a silver dollar. Reminds me of tiny seashells (oh goodness, this could be anything...!). 

 I was a day or two late for the trillium bloom. Not many, and those I saw were in deep shade around some water seeps. Very small, too, unlike the trilliums, say, in Forest Park in Portland.

(Not sure about the plant I.D. on this one, either.)

Yellow flowers really stand out on the gray and brown landscape along the trail. (Arnica latifolia, mountain arnica.)

So does hot pink! (Not sure what this was!)

These are just the teeny, tiniest flowers. Good thing I have a macro lens on the old Canon. These grow along the trail in the sun. Don't step on them. (Eriogonum umbellatum, sulfur flowered buckwheat.)

These clumps of cheer just pepper the hillside near Timberline Lodge. Looks like someone spilled the button jar. The jar of purple buttons, that is! (Phlox diffusa or spreading phlox.)

This was the most unusual flower. Up, down, around. Still, they are like the rest of my alpine flower friends. Struggling to survive in a harsh environment and blossoming in the sun. They can handle cold, snowy winters and dry, baking summers, but they carry on. They might be small and they might not make much of a statement, with the exception of the bear grass, but they are certainly favorites (This is a lovely wildflower called Dodecatheon hendersonii or shooting star...lovely, isn't it?)

So there you go: a tour of alpine flowers and whatnot from Mount Hood. Thanks for reading it. Hope you enjoyed it. Cheers.

(Thank you, dear husband of mine, Mr. Chickadee. I enjoyed the tour myself. To all of you readers out there, thank you for humoring us both and until next time, happy gardening!)