The Desert Northwest
Botanical Expedition to Southern Washington
October 2011

Page 2 - The East Slopes

Deciding to leave the Packwood area for this trip - hopefully to return someday in better weather - I crossed over White Pass. My first stop on the way down the east side was at the Clear Creek Falls overlook.

Here Arctostaphylos nevadensis grows as high as 4,200' on the east slope of the Cascades – as that's only 300 feet below the summit of White Pass, it would hardly be surprising that this species could cross into western Washington here. It may even grow above pass level in this area, since it occurs to at least 5,000' in the Wenatchee Mountains and in Chelan County. This is a more typical, unambiguous example of this species. (Interestingly, the leaves sure look a lot like the plant on my very first stop, and like some on the rock outcrop on Laurel Hill.)

I seemed to be in Penstemon country now, although one has to admit that they often don't look like much out of bloom.

Larix occidentalis, one of two deciduous conifers native to the Northwest, was also common here.

Some nice looking Penstemons appeared farther down US 12.

At 2,900' I encountered my first Purshia tridentata, a sign (along with Pinus ponderosa and Balsamorhiza saggitata) that one is getting into the drier country on the east side of the Cascades. You can believe I was glad to be out of the west side murk and put on a dry pair of socks!

Descending to about 2,200' one finds another outlying population of Quercus garryana. These trees are beautiful and healthy despite what must be a rather harsh climate. Other than books erroneously saying it's not hardy, there is no reason this tree shouldn't catch on in gardens east of the Cascades. Thousands of these trees extend for eight or ten miles to the meeting with Highway 410.

At the eastern end of the oaks one finds the unusual association of Quercus garryana with one of our native cacti, a diminutive form of Opuntia columbiana.

One sees Ericameria nauseosa (rabbit-brush) pretty commonly in this area.

A few isolated specimens of Ribes cereum, with its super waxy new growth, grew here as well.

I also found this non-flowering individual of Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush) here, which was rather interesting since this plant almost looks better without the flowers, I sometimes think.

With no particular reason to stop in the Yakima area this time (although I did see an entire yard full of Yuccas, which I should have stopped to photograph), I headed south towards Satus Pass. But before doing so, I felt that I should stop off in Zillah to photograph this gigantic Cupressus arizonica which Sunset thinks isn't hardy in their zones 1 – 4 (this is in Sunset zone 2).

Although a number of interesting plants are known from the Satus Pass area, access proved to be a problem, since the north side lies within the Yakama Indian Reservation, and on the south side many roads are either closed or private with big signs warning you to keep out. (I guess they really know how to make you feel welcome in Klickitat County.) I especially wanted to take a road that goes uphill from Satus Pass to see how high up Quercus garryana occurs. It is remarkable enough that they grow all the way to the top of the pass, and yet they seem to go higher still, as high as one can see. Apparently I neglected to take any photos here, perhaps because I kept hoping to find a better place to botanize if I kept looking around, but I never did. Finally I found something interesting within sight of a public road, this Juniperus occidentalis.

After driving around a bit more to see what I could see, I headed towards Goldendale; then I went north from there to see how high up into the hills I could get (answer: not very, before hitting locked gates and more “keep out” signs). It was easy to spot this Ceanothus prostratus though. This excellent form with tiny grey leaves I did not see again. Although it's hard to be certain, this must be about the eastern extent of it in this area, as it does not seem to be visible along US 97.

In the same area one finds Arctostaphylos again. Most references state that a distinguishing character of A. nevadensis from A. uva-ursi is that the former is usually less completely prostrate, often hovering slightly above ground level. Although these plants are exceptionally flat, growing no taller than 1 1/2” with tiny leaves, they can only be A. nevadensis based on leaf shape and ecology - it's probably too hot and dry here for A. uva-ursi.
After this stop it was getting late, and cold, and I wanted to camp before dark since I was very tired. After stopping at Dairy Queen in Goldendale for a milkshake (nothing like a milkshake to warm you up? Well it seemed sunny enough when I first pulled in...) I decided to head for Maryhill State Park on the Columbia River to camp, since I figured it would be warmer at a lower altitude. What I didn't plan on was the wind, a regular occurrence in the Columbia Gorge, which was blowing very hard when I arrived. I set up the tent and put my cooler inside on the windward side to keep it from blowing away, since the stakes were pretty much useless against such strong winds. On the plus side, the campground had hot showers, another reason for my choosing it. And by the time I finally got all settled in, the wind had died down enough for me to sleep comfortably, especially since I was so tired.

Page 3 - Glenwood >>