3/26, Sunday, a bit better weather than Saturday. I picked up Mary, my go-to botanist, at 8am, and we headed to a flower hunt. In the Hiking eNews from Friends of The Gorge on Thursday, it said "Columbia desert parsley (pictured) is in peak bloom right now along the Weldon Wagon trail". This is the impetus of today's outing. 
The TH is off east of the Husum (4 miles north of White Salmon). ~1 mile of good condition gravel road. There's a clearing on the left for parking, and a gate to the right. The only indication that this may be the entrance is the boot-brush. Mary climbed over the gate, and I went over the ditch on the side of the gate. There, is the short 4x4 road to the real TH, to your right, up the hill into the woods. It looks quite nice. Very gentle grade, slowly going up. Once emerged from the woods, it's a long open slope, with nice views to the town of Husum and beyond. 
We found hound's tongue, oak's toothwort, quite some buttercup, grass widow, a low lying lomatium with no smell, a couple of violet. Balsomroot started blooming under last year's dead leaves. Only one small section has the purple Lomatium Columbianum. They are small and not yet full bloom. Nice large oak grove here.
The trail continues up into woods again, and skirting by some private residences. The last piece is a tree farm, the only one doesn't have a no-trespassing sign. Right after this is the eastern TH by a large gravel road. Some abandoned farm equipment.One odd thing of this trail today is that the first 1/3 is much warmer (maybe because it's lower, but not by much). I could feel the sudden temperature change.
We encountered less than 10 people and a few dogs. We were the first car there. Total about 5 miles, 1300'.
I insisted not to have lunch yet, but wait till Catherine Creek. Drove pass the town of White Salmon, it looks quite nice. We had lunch on a bench with this view to the right. After lunch, we hiked up north over some boot path and bike trails. Better Columbia Parsley here, as well as the pungent parsley.
Saw some grass widow, upland larkspur, lots of saxifrage, blue-eyed mary, miniature phlox, miniature monkey flower, broomrape, popcorn, spearleaf agoseris, shooting start, lots of yellow bell, golden star, and filaree, a little bit fairy star and small common camas. 
View of the Columbia River from here is always lovely. Weather improved. About 2 miles here. Back in town around 5pm.
