I recently returned from a spring break trip to the Winthrop and Mazama area, here in Washington state. I planned this trip a long time ago, hoping to time it with wildflowers blooming in the meadows. Well, this spring has been unusually cold in Washington, so the flowers were not as far along as I had hoped, and there was a bit of snow still on the ground. But even though I had to adapt my plans a bit, I had fun searching for early-season bloomers, and watching the spring progress during the five days I was there (due to rapidly warming weather).
Lewis Butte
I'll start with the last hike of the trip, up Lewis Butte close to Winthrop. Some forest rangers we met in Mazama gave us the helpful tip that, due to the area's open south-facing exposure, the wildflowers on lower Lewis Butte tend to open relatively early. Indeed, we found lots of balsamroot blooming at the lowest elevations, as well as desert parsley, lupine, and waterleaf. The first image shows one of those flower-clad hillsides. One upshot of the cold spring was that there was still plenty of snow on the mountains and higher hilltops, as shown below. I think it added to the visual experience. F/16.
Next, a selective-focus version of the hillside view, with lupine in the foreground. F/5.
Below, a view down to Rizeor Lake. (On some maps, it's spelled Riser Lake, but apparently that comes from a historic misspelling, and some are advocating for a name update.) F/16.
In the foreground of the next one is what I think is some sort of desert parsley (genus Lomatium) in the foreground, probably fern-leaved desert parsley (Lomatium dissectum) due to the color. I like the sense of open space that this one has. F/18.
Lastly from Lewis Butte, a vertical shot. I don't think it quite has the "wow factor" that the horizontal views do, but it's good to have something in a vertical orientation. F/16.
Sun Mountain
We also hiked Sun Mountain. It's home to an eponymous resort, but there are plenty of trails that feel sufficiently natural and scenic. Moreover, due to the time of year and the fact that we were hiking on a weekday, we didn't see any other people, making for a very peaceful day. The wildflowers were in a pretty early stage here - indeed, there were still a few snowy patches that we had to cross - so I didn't find any breathtaking carpets of balsamroot and lupine to gawk at. I did, however, find some other early bloomers that I might not have noticed otherwise.
First, yellow bells (Fritillaria pudica). F/5.
Next, a variety of springbeauty (genus Claytonia). If I had to guess, I'd say it's lanceleaf springbeauty (Claytonia lanceolata). F/5.
There were a lot of bluebells in bloom (genus Mertensia); here is a slope carpeted by those flowers. I lost a bit of image quality with the wide depth of field, but I like the composition enough that I'd still be able to use or print this in certain contexts. F/18.
Next, an early-spring scene with a balsamroot plant just beginning to bloom and snowy hillsides in the background. I tried this with a wide depth of field, so both flowers and hills would be in focus, but because the lens was zoomed in a bit, I couldn't get it to work. The selective-focus approach that I took instead brings more attention to the balsamroot flowers, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. F/5.6.
Finally from Sun Mountain, a ponderosa pine framing a view out to a distant peak. I tried this composition first in a horizontal orientation, but I ended up preferring the vertical version with more emphasis on the tree, and a more dramatic gradient in the sky color. F/14.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Winthrop trip, which will consist of some images from riverside trails!
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