Last of the alpine flowers.. Eden Park/Cairn Basin Loop 7/24

[pdxgene]

I was actually going to just skip this hike this season knowing that the full blooming meadows I saw in late August last year were probably already fried(almost but not quite). But it dawned on me that this might be a one time chance to hit Paradise park, Jefferson Park, Canyon Creek Meadows and Vista Ridge all in the same season before the end of July (without cramming them into one week), see no snow and get maybe 1 or 2 mosquito bites total. So I took off about 630 this morning for the just over 2 hour drive to the trailhead. Even though using I-84 is 20-30 miles longer I still think it's easier for sure and quite possibly faster too. You can't go 70mph+ for 40-50 of the miles using 26 and Lolo Pass Rd... Well it wouldn't be very smart at least...
Starting the photo show in the rather intense fireweed sections of the Dollar Lake fire about 9a..


It lines the trail for quite a ways..




A hidden in the shadows gentian mini-meadow just before Eden Park..


Entering Eden Park about 10a..


Where the flowers are just done and gone..


Mt Adams and Mt Rainier off in the distance as the trail climbs behind Eden Park towards Cairn Basin..


A flowering lupine tenaciously hanging on.. ( I wasn't sure if that'd be the only one i'd see)..


A big patch of false hellebore at the back of the meadow at Cairn Basin..


Cairn Basin at about 10:30.. The light tends to be better here for am shots of Mt Hood..


And what I would imagine would be my last alpine wildflower series of the year..


You have to go offtrail up the meadow to even see these..


The good thing about doing this hike multiple times is I know where to look..


So it was a nice surprise to see some but geez, September usually has more... sigh...




And I had to try pretty hard to even get these...


The shelter at Cairn Basin..


Ladd Creek crossing if you dare.. And no those logs aren't wider than they look... And the small one moves..


Mt Hood heading to Wy'East Basin..


Where normally entire hillsides would be covered with these.. This was the best and about only patch I could find all day..


Tortured trees..


Yikes! Fall reds starting already in July...Isn't it supposed to get cold or something first..


Signs and junctions.. it was just a couple minutes before this point that I saw my first person of the day..


That was about 3 hours after I started. There'd be a spread out but steady stream of them coming up as I started down just after that..


Mt Hood from the Vista Ridge junction..


Heading back down, Mt Adams thru the fireweed..


And closer behind me a look back at Mt Hood..


Huckleberries line long sections of the trail.. Yummmm...


Today's token wildlife shot.. (I actually saw two deer at the wilderness boundary early but they bounded away before I could even think about getting a picture taken)..


Slideshow and album here http://picasaweb.google.com/pdxgene/VistaRidge21
Normally I'd have gone on to Elk Cove too, especially as it wasn't even noon yet, but the thought of having to get back across town at rush hour on Friday afternoon killed that idea. I knew the flowers there would be past prime too. So I just skipped that and a lunch stop and bailed and made it back to the car around 1230ish for a more reasonable drive home.. There were only two cars there when I arrived, I never saw the people from them. Probably 15 when I left. I opened up a prime parking spot for whoever was next..

[markesc]

Thanks for posting!

[Double Tree]

Thanks for posting. Was there water supply in the local small creeks, not including Ladd Creek? Looking to verify a water supply near Dollar Lake. I'll be camping there early August. Can't assume Dollar Lake will be anything more than mud.
Kelly

[retired jerry]

closest water to Dollar Lake is WyEast Basin on Timberline Trail 1/2 mile away, or you can go uphill from Dollar Lake about 1/4 mile and then West to a tributary of the WyEast Basin. Nice place to camp there.

[BigBear]

nice to see the gentian. How long did it take you to get all of those blue Christmas lights in position for the photo? They were so bright, I thought they had to be electronically enhanced.

[pdxgene]

nice to see the gentian. How long did it take you to get all of those blue Christmas lights in position for the photo? They were so bright, I thought they had to be electronically enhanced.

There is literally hundreds and hundreds of them around Monon Lake. More than I've ever seen.

[justpeachy]

Sheesh, alpine wildflowers done for the year and it's not even August yet. What a crazy summer.

[pdxgene]

Sheesh, alpine wildflowers done for the year and it's not even August yet. What a crazy summer.

Flowers -- done. Waterfalls -- mostly a trickle (with exceptions of course). Lakes -- drying (see Pamelia, Indian Heaven reports + reservoir lakes).
That's gonna leave some holes to fill in the hiking calendar in the next 6-8 weeks..

[Paul2]

I was up in the area July 11th, and was disappointed to find most of the flowers gone. Hippies on a stick were still going in Elk Cove, and there were a bunch of flowers up the Barrett Spur trail.