Hood River: Maupin, White River Falls, Rowena Crest

Way back in COVID times when we were still living in McMinnville, Ann and I planned a couple-day getaway to Hood River in the heart of the Columbia Gorge. COVID put the kibosh on that trip and what with the turmoil of COVID, moving to Bend, and the death of two parents, we never got the trip rescheduled, until now.

When we moved across the country to Oregon from Virginia, we were intrigued when we drove through, taking the highly scenic US 30 from The Dalles into Hood River before taking Hood River Highway inland to head for our new home in the Willamette Valley. Sadly, the day we passed through Hood River, it was rainy and ugly and there were no views of Mt. Hood. We hoped to rectify this on our trip this week to Hood River.

Naturally, after a couple of weeks of beautiful weather, when we set out for Hood River the sky was gray and overcast, with rain almost a certainty according to the forecasters. Also quite naturally, as we drove through light and intermittent showers up Highway 97, there were zero views of any mountains, let alone Mt. Hood. It would rain lightly from 1:00pm on and during the night in Hood River, it would be heavy at times.

Our drives north have never taken us on US 197, the cut-off that runs from US 97 just below Shaniko to I-84 in The Dalles. We've been up 97 to Yakima and east to Umatilla and Walla Walla, but never had we been through the stretch of highway that runs along the ridgeline above the Deschutes River.

As we headed further north, we started seeing more and more wildflowers in bloom. Although we live a couple hours south of here, we also live at a considerably higher altitude, so that our wildflowers are at least a couple of weeks behind the northern part of Oregon as it approaches the Columbia River. To admire these flowers, we stopped on the hillside as we were descending into the Deschutes River canyon just above the town of Maupin, base camp for rafting the lower Deschutes.

Deschutes River Bridge in Maupin
Hillsides Tinged Purple from Cheatgrass Seeds

Above the Deschutes River in Maupin, Oregon
Lupine, Lupinus sp., and Rock Wild Buckwheat, Eriogonum sphaerocephalum

One of my goals in heading this direction this time of year was to see White River Falls with a lot of water in it. The White River originates from snowmelt on Mt. Hood between the Timberline and Mt. Hood Meadows ski resorts and runs almost due east into the Deschutes River. White River Falls is just a mere three river miles above the confluence of the White and Deschutes.

Top of White River Falls Canyon

White River Falls is the site of an abandoned power plant, called the Tygh Valley Powerplant or the White River Powerplant. Built around 1901, it was put out of business by the large hydroelectric dams on the Columbia.

Looking Downriver, Tygh Valley Powerhouse Lower Right

Abandoned Tygh Valley Powerhouse, ca. 1901

Despite the light drizzle, the canyon through which the river flows turned out to be a good place to photograph wildflowers, many of which are the first of their kind that I have seen in bloom this year. Near us in Bend, it is still really too early for a lot of flowers.

First Yellow Salsify of 2024, Tragopogon dubius

False Sunflower, Helianthella uniflora

Silverleaf Phacelia, Phacelia hastata

Oregon Sunshine, Eriophyllum lanatum

First Yarrow of 2024, Achillea millefolium

Common Fiddleneck, Amsinckia menziesii

Arrowleaf Wild Buckwheat, Eriogonum compositum This One is Yellow; I Saw More White Ones Than Yellow

American Vetch, Vicia americana

Carey's Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza careyana

Carey's Balsamroot Bloom

Rock Wild Buckwheat, Eriogonum sphaerocephalum Like Most Buckwheat, Starts Budding Red

Then Loses the Red as it Matures

Fully Open Rock Wild Buckwheat

Red Osier Dogwood Stand by River, Cornus sericea

From the top of the canyon to the bottom is a short walk on a somewhat steep trail but, despite the dire warnings on the state parks site, it is not all that difficult to navigate. As I was climbing back up and out of the canyon, I heard a bird with a musical song, calling over and over. And as I got closer to the top, I could make out a tiny little finch-like bird atop a steel pipe. Only when I got close enough to photograph it and then view the expanded image on my camera did I see that it was a Lazuli Bunting. While I am very familiar with its eastern cousin, the Indigo Bunting, I am not really versed in the songs of the western buntings.

Male Lazuli Bunting in Full Serenade

From White River Falls, it was a quick downhill drive into The Dalles where we picked up the old scenic US 30 that rises above the more modern Interstate 84. The drive from The Dalles to Mosier, the next town downstream on the Columbia, is winding, scenic, covered at this time of year in wildflowers, and has some pretty hairy and scary turns that make it seem you are driving straight off a cliff.

In short order, we climbed to the top of Rowena Crest and stopped at the viewpoint offering panoramic views of the Columbia River Gorge as well as countless wildflowers and several hiking trails. It is also the home of the Tom McCall Nature Preserve. We missed the peak wildflowers at the preserve by a week or so, but still there were lots to see, waving bravely in the terribly gusty winds that left my lips windburned.

Annie Pointing out Flowers in Front of a Sea of Non-Native Bachelor's Button, Centaurea cyanus

Hairy Vetch, Vicia villosa, and Coastal Manroot, Marah oregana

Looking Towards Idaho

Arrowleaf Wild Buckwheat I-84 and the Columbia River Below

Hairy Vetch and Bachelor's Button, Neither Natives

Columbia Desert Parsley, Lomatium columbianum

Silverleaf Phacelia, Phacelia hastata

Oregon Sunshine, Eriophyllum lanatum

Carey's Balsamroot Bloom

Horseshoe Bend at Rowena Crest

All along the roadside climbing up to Rowena Crest and back down, we saw a couple of shrubs blooming white, one clearly Red Elderberry but the other one unknown to me. Driving along the road, I kept telling Ann that it looked like a Ceanothus, similar in some ways to our own Snowbrush, Ceanothus velutinus. And so it turned out to be a cousin that does not live in our part of Oregon at all, C. integerrimus, commonly called in Deerbrush. We saw it blooming in all shades from white to baby blue, the color of Vinca minor.

Deerbrush, Ceanothus integerrimus

On the drive down from Rowena Crest in the little hamlet of Mosier, we saw some Black-tail Deer and any number of small ground- and tree-squirrels. Where the remnant of old US 30 terminates in Mosier, we were obligated to take I-84 west for a couple of minutes until we exited into Hood River. It being about 2:00 in the afternoon, we headed down to the waterfront in search of a beer and some lunch.

This story continues in the next two posts.