Journalist By Nature: 'Twas A Dainty Hike

Columbia River from Cape Horn

Don't rush to premature conclusions. No, we didn't tiptoe through any tulips nor did we faint upon seeing a fierce woodland animal. We congregated in our customary fashion at the Cape Horn trailhead, expecting to hike an old familiar trail that zigs and zags across the face of the Washington bluff to the Nancy Russell Memorial Overlook. Only the upper half of the trail is open in the spring as local Peregrine falcons are nesting on the rocky slopes below Highway 14 just east of milepost 26. You can take the lower portion of the hike after July 1. The dainty part? It was the prodigious display of delicate and often tiny but colorful wildflowers of the spring season.

False Solomon's seal

Under slightly cloudy skies we crossed Salmon Falls Road, keeping a watchful eye open for heavily loaded log trucks descending that hill, and entered the cool, shady world of the forest. Sweet-smelling dampness, that special fresh scent that comes after a rain, rose to meet our nostrils. Closely edging the well-trodden trail was a panoply of greenery in shades of spring emergence, each layer competing to reach above the others for what scant sunlight made it to the ground. The fluffy white spray of False Solomon's Seal, or Solomon's Plume (Maianthemum racemosum) was the first flowering plant to catch my eye. True Solomon's Seal has dangling white blooms all along its stem. This one had a display only at its tip.

Larkspur

Not far ahead was a dazzling display of deep blue larkspur, that annual cousin of the stately but finicky perennial Delphinium whose wands of pinks and blues give punctuation to an English garden. The larkspur are a little more casual, spacing their petals loosely along their shorter stems which are surrounded by deeply cut leaves. As annuals they scatter their seed and create great fields of color as was the case here. Intermingling with the larkspur were the darling dangling pink hearts of Dicentra formosa or bleeding heart. Their airy foliage contrasted with the large, palmate leaves of cow parsley just about ready to burst into lacy white bloom. Tiny dots of yellow buttercups drew attention to the forest floor by virtue of their bright color. Cheery little faces!

Soft, fuzzy leaves of the thimbleberry reached to our chins as the white five-petaled flowers made themselves available to passing insects for pollination. Soft, red berry clusters will be a treat later in the summer here. White fuzzy false bugbane looking like shooting stars with their spikey stamens gave a soft touch to the scene. The fringed white bells of bishop's cap mingled with the larkspur, suggesting a lovely blue and white bouquet scheme. Wild ginger, just now sending up tiny stems of white dots, played the carpet role on the very lowest forest level. Fragrant fringecup with its light green leaves sends up stalks of belled flowers in the marshy areas.

Yellow violets

Yellow violets, always a dainty touch, sneaked in wherever they could to cover a blank spot. Tiny purple and white monkshood was an occasional sighting. Surprisingly the common dandelion with its screaming yellow composite head was rarely seen. Odd since they pop up everywhere in my yard! At the top of the bluff in an open field lupine was beginning to unfurl its showy deep blue stalks. In distinct contrast the bright yellow mustard was finding its place in the grassy plain. Coastal cucumber, or Oregon manroot, with its twining tendrils was not yet blooming but was spending all its energy stretching as far as it could before it set fruit, or vegetable as it were. The large tuber of this plant can be processed for a soap-like substance.

Sword ferns unfurling

Candyflower, a white six-petaled bloom with purple veining, was almost microscopic in size. Other dots of color in pinks and whites appeared close to the ground like spatters from a large canvas, too numerous to count. Alongside these dainty, exquisite flora the sword and leather ferns were beginning to unroll their fronds, looking much like green cobras swaying above their baskets. Toadflax, another white flower, but with a seed-like center made its lovely contribution.

As background to this fine scene the chirps and trills of red wing blackbirds and happy finches, thrushes, towhees and jays made joyful music while we traipsed through their homeland. Arriving at the overlook, we partook of lunch, laughter and the latest lowdown on hikers' traveling adventures. The view of the Columbia River and its Oregon boundary was spectacular as always. Whether it's grand views or dainty flora that you seek, this is a hike that never disappoints.