5/5. No clouds. Warm, some breeze. 31°C. Hike with Friends of the Gorge in national forest. Had to cross fences a few times. Amazing flower carpets of yellow or purple. 
First stop Memaloose Outlook by Mosier - The Dalles Hwy, overlooking the Columbia River. From here on, it's mostly exposed. Balsomroot is in full blast on the slope to Marsh Hill, and to Chatfield Hill. Chatfield is higher (almost 1000'), more Indian paintbrush. Nice lunch spot with a view of Columbia River. Both with view of Adams or Hood. Southeast of Marsh Hill is a flat grassland, now pinkish purple with endless vetch, plus patches of lupine or balsomroot. Warm temperature in the past week has brought intense color.Other flowers are: ~10 chocolate lily, wild cucumber, twin colored cluster lily, fiddleneck, larkspur, false dandelion, camas, buttercup, big-head clover, desert parsley, yarrow, fairy star, miner's lettuce.
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Direction: I-84 east to the Memaloose Rest Stop, just after Exit 69 for Mosier.Debbie Asakawa is an excellent organizer, but not knowledgeable enough about either the flowers or the local history. She gave me a lecture of not keeping up with the group, because I was taking photos (once) or consulting Ralph on flowers (once), and told me to look up the flowers in my book after hike! Most of the time, plenty of old folks were behind me, and I had to wait. I guess being feeble is acceptable. But, this is advertised as a flower hike! I'm also disappointed that among the other 26 people, less than a handful know more about flowers than I do. Debbie is on the board, a very responsible leader. She scouted the route a week before the hike, and sent out detailed instruction before hand and photos afterwards. She also brought a brush to clean our boots so to minimize transplanting unwanted seeds. She drives a big suburban, comfortable for 6 or even 8. With 5 passengers, $60 gas contribution seems a bit excessive.
