Hamilton Mountain

Today's post is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend and fellow nature-lover, Lois Campbell. She recently passed away at the age of 106.

View of Hamilton Mountain from the trail.

Even though it's a tough hike, Hamilton Mountain is one of the most popular destinations in the Columbia Gorge. It is located in Washington, within the 5,000 acre Beacon Rock State Park. The Beacon Rock basalt monolith is also a favorite short hike. The 3.2 mile hike up to the Hamilton Mountain summit is steep, going from near sea level Douglas Fir forest up to a rocky, exposed summit at 2,400 feet. This affords a nice variety of plants and wildflowers as well as a pleasant, although strenuous hike. The trail has nice views of the river, a dam, and gorge as well as two waterfalls and old-growth trees. The 5 mile return loop winds through more fir and alder forest, along Hardy Creek. See links below for more photos and information.

The wildflowers we encountered on this day (5/30/2014) progressed from shade loving forest standards, to open meadow sun worshiping ones, and finally to rocky cliff dwellers. It was a good mix of new and old blooms for me. We saw only about a dozen other humans and several canines on the trail, so it was a good day for photo ops.

For the first two miles, as we made our way up through the old Douglas Fir forest, we spotted Thimbleberry, Pacific Starflower, Columbia Windflower, Inside Out Flower, Fringecup, and others. I won't include those in this post as they are well noted in prior posts.

It was a perfect day for this hike, with lots of sun, no wind, and temps in the mid 70's. We spent about six hours on the trail which includes lunch, photos, and resting.

These photos are arranged in the order that we saw them, following the trail elevation for the most part.

Orange Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa). This native, perennial
vine was growing in the power line clearing.

Broadleaf Stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium). There are four
types of stonecrop in the Gorge. Native.

Broadleaf Penstemon (Penstemon ovatus). One of the dozen
Penstemon types in the Gorge. Native.

Bronze Bells (Stenanthium occidentale). These are listed as
"uncommon" in the books. I had not seen these 1/2 inch
 flowers before. Native.

Rosy Plectritis (Plectritis congesta). Also called "Sea Blush."
Grows all over western OR and WA. Native.

Bare-Stemmed Desert Parsley (Lomatium nudicaule). The Gorge
supports over a dozen "desert parsley" plants. Native.

Yellow Western Groundsel (Senecio integerrimus). Stems are
about two feet high. Weedy looking. Native.

Meadow Death Camas (Zigadenus venenosus). Native member of Lily
family as is Common Camas. Members of Lewis and Clark corps fell
ill after eating these. 

Field Chickweed (Cerastium arvense). This common native grows
in shady spots as well as rocky exposed outcrops.

Nine-leaf Desert Parsley (Lomtium triturnatum). Native.

Cliff Larkspur (Delphinium menziesii). Common native larkspur
can be found throughout western OR and WA.

Thread-leaf Phacelia (Phacelia linearis). Saw only one clump
of these natives near cliff.

Fine-tooth Penstemon (Penstemon subserratus). Common native in
a relatively narrow slice of the OR and WA Gorge.

Spreading Phlox (Phlox diffusa). We saw quite a bit of this up
on the ridge. Native.

Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa). Saw just a few of these
along the open trail areas. Native.

Harsh Paintbrush (Castilleja hispida). This native appears
throughout OR and WA at all elevations.

Western Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia). This deciduous
shrub grows throughout the Northwest. Native.

Rough Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum). Another common
native that resembles the weedy wild radish.

Columbia Lewisia (Lewisia columbiana). Small, rock growing
native named after Meriwether Lewis.

Links:

Hike Photos on Facebook

Beacon Rock State Park - Official Site

Beacon Rock State Park - Wiki

Hamilton Mountain Hike