RHH's photos with the keyword: columbia river gorge

This is a spring wildflower, Brodiaea coronaria, the Harvest Brodiaea, photographed in the Columbia River gorge at Catherine Creek.

Taken in the Columbia River gorge near the bridge for Interstate 97, this river of flowers caught our eye and we stopped for pictures before heading on out of the gorge toward Yakima. I was unable to find out what kind of flowers they were since there was a fence between us and them, but it is obvious that they liked a slightly damper area where a little water had come down from the hills.

Along Old Highway 30 west of Portland in the Columbia River gorge are a series of beautiful waterfalls. Multnomah Falls are the highest, best known and most popular or them all, but the other falls are equally beautiful in their own way. These falls are our favorite after Multnomah and are certainly well named. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/08/columbia-river-gorge.html

This is an older picture taken from Vista House near the top of the Columbia River gorge looking west as the sun went down. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2011/07/hiking-in-columbia-gorge.html

The Phantom Orchid is certainly the most unusual of our native orchids. It is the only North American species from the genus Cephalanthera, but even among the other species of that genus it is unique. It is saprophytic, living off decaying material in the soil, and completely without chlorophyll. Stem, leaves and flowers are bone white, with only a spot of yellow on the lips of the flowers. The leaves are very small and the plant is mostly stem and flowers, growing as tall as 60 cm with flowers that are quite large, about 3 cm. All this adds us to quite show when the plants are in flower. Phantom Orchids grow on the forest floor, often in very open, but heavily shaded and dark areas, and the white plants make a dramatic show that cannot be missed, and that has earned this species its common name. For more pictures and information on this unusual plant see: nativeorchidsofthepacificnorthwest.blogspot.com/2010/07/p...

Last week we had to travel to Portland, Oregon, and spent some time in the Columbia River Gorge, both on the Washington and Oregon sides of the river. This picture was taken early in the morning, May 17th, on the Oregon side of the gorge, from a viewpoint named Angel's Rest, east of the town of Troutdale. This view looks east up the gorge at daybreak. Another viewpoint known as Vista House can just be seen on the right on the top of the cliffs. The area is known for its many waterfalls, most of which can be visited by following old Highway 30 along the Oregon side of the gorge and pictures of which I'll be posting at a later date. We did some sightseeing by car and followed Highway 30 several times through this part of the gorge. We also did some hiking in the area and saw some of the falls that are not accessible from the car. I consider this to be one of the most scenic areas in the Pacific Northwest and a "must visit" for anyone in the area. I am only sorry that it took us so long to get down there. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2011/06/columbia-ri...