Happy Valley Wildflowers

With temperatures predicted to hit an unseasonable number in the low 90s, yesterday was a day to either hit the lakes, the river, or the hills. It proved to be a good time to head back up the North Fork Trail at Tumalo Falls to check on the wildflower bloom at Happy Valley. Last year, this same timing proved to be quite good in terms of bloom. This year, I feel we are 3-4 days behind where we were on the same date last year, but I was not disappointed in the least.

I look forward to this hike each year especially for the concentrated electric mauve bloom of the Jeffrey's Shooting Star, an uncommon member of the lily family that is especially prevalent in this location. Knowing in my heart that it was too early, I tried to get up the trail three weeks ago, but the snow was so high that I abandoned only halfway up the 4-mile climb.

In Happy Valley, Jeffrey's Shooting Star, Primula jeffreyi

Fast forward three weeks and the snow has all but melted and the sawyers have been out clearing deadfall. I crossed about 8 large patches of snow above starting just below the junction of North Fork and Swampy Lakes, most of which were less than 10 yards across. I post-holed twice in the snow softened by the June heat. The big annoyance on this trip was not the snow or the muddy spots, but the mosquitos which have just hatched and are ferocious.

I was wearing long sleeves, long pants, and plenty of bug spray and still I ended up feeling like a pincushion. Wearing long clothing on a warm day in the humid creek corridor is not ideal, but it is part and parcel of making this trek each year. If you are going to see the beautiful flowers, you are obliged to do your part to support the local mosquito population.

The good news is that the snowmelt water is icy and when you need to cool off, you just stand by one of the abundant waterfalls and let the cold air coming off the water waft over you. But you cannot stand for long. Within moments, you will be in a swarm of mosquitos.

My girl Annie would have detested this hike for it had three of her bugaboos: heat, humidity, and bugs. Sorry babe. The flowers were amazing as always. The photos below are in the order I shot them as I walked from my truck parked alongside Tumalo Creek up the North Fork Trail to the intersection of the Metolius-Windigo Trail with Forest Service Roads 370 and 4601. Let's call it a 10-mile round trip.

Happy Valley is an alpine meadow at about 6200 feet of elevation. It appears to be about five open meadow acres bordered on east by the North Fork of Tumalo Creek, on the west by an unnamed small creek, to the south by the junction of the Swampy Lakes Trail, and to the north by the junction of the Met-Win Trail.

The floor of the damp woods as you ascend the trail alongside Tumalo Creek is covered in acres of a member of the lily family. Bright green lily-like leaves are all over, but except for a small patch down at the tiny Tumalo Falls parking lot, none of these plants are displaying their stunning six-petaled white blooms. I call them Clintonia after their Latin name; others call them Queen's Cup or Bead Lilly among other common names. They will be a sight to behold once they get to blooming in earnest.

Queen's Cup or Bead Lily, Clintonia uniflora

I am always happy to run across one of my favorite shrubs, the Twinberry Honeysuckle. It seems to me that it is quite prevalent along the Oregon Coast, but elsewhere in Oregon, it seems limited to damp areas in coniferous forests along the Cascades. In McMinnville, ours grew exuberantly and was the source of much contention in our yard. The Anna's Hummingbirds fought massive battles over feeding rights on our honeysuckle. While I like it in bloom, later in the season, I think the twin glossy black seeds surrounded by bright red bracts are particularly appealing.

Twinberry Honeysuckle, Lonicera involucrata

The sides of the trail in many places are covered in Jacob's Ladder, though it has been very difficult for me to find it in bloom. My trips up this trail have been limited to early spring (the end of June); I'm sure if I went back later in the year that many more plants would be open.

California Jacob's Ladder, Polemonium californicum

Arnicas are beautiful and showy sunflowers, but not terribly common in this area, seeming to prefer higher elevations. I did see a lot of small plants in some of the wetter areas, but this was the only one that I found in bloom.

Heartleaf Arnica, Arnica cordifolia

Double Falls, Full of Water

Sitka Valerian, Valeriana sitchensis

Larkspurs are beautiful plants that need some sun. Each time I go by a certain open area, I know to get off the trail to go see the local ones in bloom. There are so many species of larkspur out west that closely resemble each other that I have no idea which is which.

Larkspurs, Delphinium sp.

Two thirds of the way up the field as you cross the hillside between the middle and north forks of the creek, there's a whole area of large trees, mainly Douglas Fir, that have been blown down. In this relatively sunny location, I found it somehow fitting to find a baby fir growing in a crevice in one of the large blown down firs.

Doug Fir Seedling Growing on Doug Fir Windfall

I Like Where the Creek Cascades Over Many Rock Shelves

Blooming White Marsh Marigolds are clear signs that a) the snow has just melted b) you're in a boggy area, and c) you've arrived in Happy Valley. Marsh Marigolds along with shooting stars and buttercups are the signature wildflowers of this vernally wet alpine meadow that we call Happy Valley.

White Marsh Marigold, Caltha leptosepala

Alpine False Dandelion, Nothocalais alpestris
Common in the Drier Sections of Happy Valley

Rampant Mountain Buttercups, Ranunculus populago

Scores of White Marsh Marigolds

Jeffrey's Shooting Stars, Creekside

Happy Valley: Imagine a Couple Acres of These Shooting Stars

Mountain Buttercups, Ranunculus populago

Beautiful but Highly Poisonous Emergent Foliage of
White False Hellebore, Veratrum californicum

Cascade Desert Parsley, Lomatium martindalei
While Most Species are Tall, This Alpine Species is Necessarily Low

Tall Meadow-Growing Forget-Me-Nots,
Myosotis scorpioides, Though Common is Not Native to the US

Tiny Western White Anemone, Anemonastrum deltoideum

North Fork at Upper End of Happy Valley

Beautiful Happy Valley, a Roughly 5-Acre Alpine Meadow
Bounded by Two Creeks and Alpine Conifers

An early spring trip as soon as the snow has melted to Happy Valley, despite the ferocious mosquitos, is an especially rewarding trip to see the grass carpeted in blooms of mauve, yellow, and white. I may get up there again later this year or I may not. But assuming that we are in town at the end of June next year, I look forward to seeing it all over again. The sight does not get tiring.