Crawford Oaks Trail, May 1, 2025
May Day this year turned out to be a sunny, warm, slightly windy day. The hike starts in a parking area, then winds up an old access road, along which were many heartleaf buckwheat, both yellow and white.
Heartleaf buckwheat has two forms, yes, a yellow and a white.
The trail winds up into the rolling hills, going out to overlooks of the Columbia River. I followed the Vista Loop trail on up and around till it finally met the Military Road Trail. The hills were alive with the sound of music, specifically the songs of the meadowlarks that nest in the grasses of the hills. There were many of wildflowers blooming, including both barestem and nineleaf desert parsleys in bloom.
The barestem is on the left and the nineleaf is on the right; notice that the barestem has larger leaves and the nineleaf has thin tall leaves. Also, the barestem spreads out it’s umbels while ninelear keeps those together. As the trail wanders through the hills, there were large groups of arrowleaf balsamroot, and velvet lupine. Among the other wildflowers growing are some of the less showy ones: bi-color lupine, prairie stars, silverleaf phacelia, puccoon, popcorn flowers, and fiddlenecks.
The fiddleneck does just what it’s name says it should do.
On the trail heading down and back to the access road, there were many showy phloxes growing. They pop out because the are white in the field of green grasses.
I only found fleabane and slender clarkia along the access road.
The hike was about four and a half miles on the route I took, from Vista Loop to Military Road. It’s a relatively easy hike, with only 800 feet of elevation gain over that distance. I felt lucky to be there when there was little wind, as I have been there when I could barely stay upright.
