Cascade Head 6-30-08

[Stevefromdodge]

We just returned from a week at the coast and I was able to sneak in at least a little hiking each day.

The first day I went back to one of my favorite places, Cascade Head. Last summer I had clear skies and gorgeous views. Today stayed gray, but the flowers were great including the endangered Hairy Checkermallow and Cascade Head Catchfly.

Foxglove





Lupine



Hairy Checkermallow







Cascade Head Catchfly (I think)



Chickweed





Irises



This buck and I became good friends over an hour or so.










Some of the other animals were even less frightened.


The views were clear from the lower viewpoint, but clouds danced in and out from the upper area

[zombie]

Wow! Amazing pictures of both flora AND fauna! Last time I was out there was at the end of a summer...who knew what I was missing out on! Thanks for the picture report

-aaron

[adamschneider]

Hard to believe that checkermallow is endangered, given how much of it is up there!

I visited Cascade Head for the first time on 6/22 and saw most of the same stuff you did... but honestly I was a bit underwhelmed, wildflower-wise. It seemed like it was mostly just tall grasses. Would it have been better to go up in May? Or is this the best of it?

[Stevefromdodge]

The tall grasses are actually a big part of the problem. Most of them aren't native and they're choking out some of the rarer native stuff.

I actually haven't been to Cascade Head in any month other than July, so I'm not sure when the flowers are the best. (I have family members with a time share in Depoe Bay, so we spend a week there every July.) The quantity of flowers isn't the highest, but I always see different things there. The Checkermallows are very photogenic and even though they're plentiful to the point of being ho hum, I've never seen one anywhere else. I did spot a very small catchfly on Cape Foulweather this trip (assuming this little beast is the rare catchfly). The lupine that grows here is a bit different, but I haven't researched whether it's a different species. The deer, elk and butterflies are all plentiful.

Then again, maybe I just have a soft spot for Cascade Head, because I always visit during the only low-stress time of my year!

[cfm]

Amazing deer shots, Steve! Love that second one.

I guess this habituation is what happens when they dont allow dogs or hunting on the preserve. But it makes you wonder if the deer's lack of fear of humans may be thier downfall if they move to another area.

[Jane]

Beautiful Steve! And those deer photos are priceless and precious, how far way in actual would you say he let you be from him? How were the winds on top? We were about blown over a couple years ago ; ), but here's two shots from then,

Jane

[Stevefromdodge]

The first shot was taken at the far west end of the trail, looking north on to the super steep dropoff into the ocean. At this point he was about 100 feet from me. He started slowly grazing his way up the cliff and I hotfooted it up the trail, hoping to catch him when he topped the cliff.

When he crested the hill, I was already above him on the trail. I grabbed a good 100 pictures of him, some better, some worse. After about a half hour, he actually bedded down with me in obvious view. At this point he was maybe 200 feet from me. I could just see the tips of his horns over the grass.

I sat down in the grass and after a bit, he got up. He slowly ambled up the hill to within about 50 feet before he heard my camera clicking away. Even then, he just slowly grazed his way away from me.