Kona Snorkeling, Fish Watching and Other Adventures: Delightful Spring Butterflies on Mount Hood

On the bank above Dougan Creek, these Lorquin's Admirals herald the beginning of spring.

The weatherman has been struggling to put together a warm spring in the Pacific Northwest. It was warm for a couple days a week ago and Sandra and I made it to Dougan Falls where we saw a profusion of Snowberry Checkerspots and small Lorquin's Admirals. On the last day of this run we actually flirted with triple digits. But then a cold spell descended upon us. Looking for butterflies in temperatures lower than 60 degrees is a quixotic mission, so we took a few days off, watching the weather for the right day to make a journey to Mount Hood.

Timberline Coffee 2025

We decided that yesterday, the 17th of June, would be the best day this week. And so, 8:30 in the morning found us on the third floor of Timberline Lodge enjoying a cup of delicious coffee and a postcard vista of the mountain. By 9:00 AM we had finished our java. Out on the terrace, looking up at Mt. Hood, we noted that that the profusion of wildflowers that we anticipate for later in the summer was still in the offing. And so we returned to the car and descended 500 vertical feet to Alpine Campground.

The first thing we noticed was that the campground itself was closed. This wasn't a significant problem; we parked outside the gate and had the area all to ourselves. In a month we expect to see a meadow of asters, but we were too early for that lovely purple carpet. Lucky for us and our lepidopterous buddies, there was a sprinkling of different wildflowers.

Polemium pulcheria aka Jacob's Ladder, Alpine Campground

Initially I didn't see any butterflies and so I amused myself by taking pictures for the wildflowers. Of course, being a very poor excuse for a botanist, I shared a few of these pictures (in my post trip missive) with our guru, the redoubtable Caitlin LaBar. She replied, "I don't know what those purple flowers are, but the pink ones are a type of Phlox and the yellow is Birdsfoot Trefoil." It's hard for me to imagine that Cait doesn't know what the purple ones are...she knows everything!

Of course, there is someone who truly seems to know everything and his name is Mr. Google. After a quick tutorial, I was able to use Google photos on my phone to put a name on the purple flowers: Polemonium pulcheria, sometimes known as Jacob's Ladder. Heaven only knows why (get it?) It's found in the mountains from the Yukon to Arizona. And if you rub the leaves it emits the odor of a skunk. So if you want to be popular with the ladies, don't rub the leaves.

California Tortoiseshell warming in the morning sun.

Anyway, as I was strolling along, I saw a couple medium sized orange butterflies. One flew in front of me and landed at a convenient height in a conifer. Low and behold it was a California Tortoiseshell. This guy was extremely cooperative, basking in the morning sun, affording me the opportunity to capture this luscious photo.

I had heard that California Tortoiseshell was common around Timberline Lodge. In as much as it migrates from the south, I had assumed it would arrive later. Obviously, this was wrong.

We explored the meadows around Alpine Campground. On the opposite side of the road, where there is a very pleasant meadow, I ran into some purple lupine, the aforementioned Phlox and the curiously named Pussypaws. These, of course, are plants, not the dismembered limbs of felines. I saw a few tortoiseshells in the woodsy margin surrounding the meadow, but no other butterflies.

Deciding that we had done all the damage we could at Alpine, we headed down to lower elevation about 10 AM. First stop was our favorite snow park, Snow Bunny, where children go sliding in the winter and we look for butterflies in the summer. Immediately on disembarking, I caught an unusual moth among the weeds.

Sandra's Silvery Blue perches on her hand.

At about the same time we started seeing California Tortoiseshells. Not just a few...they were everywhere. Pyle and LaBar make a big deal of the population fluctuations for this species. They note that these tortoiseshells build up their numbers for years until they become the most common butterflies in the mountains, defoliating large areas of deerbrush and ceanothus. As with other such species, the following season their numbers crash. In 2026 it might look like Donald Trump has put a tariff on tortoiseshells!

It's a shady quarter mile walk through the woods, up a service road, to the steep slopes the sliders use in the winter. This road serves as a route for a seep throughout the summer. On this day the wet ground was littered with tortoiseshells. As we emerged from the trees, I took a failed swipe at a medium sized white butterfly and in short order Sandra caught a Silvery Blue. We were hoping for Sara's Orangetip, which is supposed to appear along with the Silvery Blue, later in the season, at higher altitudes. The status of the Orangetip, on our lifelist. remains unchanged.

Birdsfoot Trefoil at Snow Bunny.

It was in this meadow that we found the aforementioned Birdsfoot Trefoil. I wouldn't have known a Trefoil from a tin foil, but this unusual wildflower caught my attention. Note how it produces small budding seed pods at the ends of the petals. Supposedly the seeds reminded someone of a bird's foot.

Earlier in the day, as we drove up past Government Camp, which is a small commercial area at 4000 feet, near which the steep road to Timberline begins, I noticed that there was a ski area creating a meadow. "Why not try that spot for butterflies?" I thought. And so, after we left Snow Bunny we added another stop to our route.

Greenish Blue Butterfly, Government Camp, June 2025

Before going on, I have to tell you that we have stopped in this area many times. A large parking lot, that undoubtedly is used by skiers in the winter, is anchored by a chalet that houses the only designated rest area (i.e., clean toilets) on Mt. Hood. U.S. 26 is the chief route between Bend and Portland., so this is a well-used rest area. Suffice it to say, on those many instances when we have stopped, we have parked near the facilities.

Much to my chagrin, when we parked near the buildings that service the ski area, we found that the parking area is bounded by a substantial drainage from the mountain. There are willows, tall grasses and a ditch with slowly moving water. This, of course, is a lepidopterist's wet dream.

Hoffmann's Checkerspot, Government Camp 2025

On disembarking, we were immediately treated to a variety of butterflies. There was a small rufous butterfly on the grassy fringe of the car park which I successfully netted. Sandra got that little guy in a bag and I headed up the margin of grass fronting the seep.

There were a couple small black butterflies. Caitlin has taught us that these small black butterflies are invariably duskywings. If you look very closely, they are not solid black, but at even a short distance they appear black as a banshee. In this case, they were either pascuvius or dreamy duskywings ( a genus of skipper). I was unable to get one in the net, although I got a quick, excellent look at one of these small insects sunning himself in the short grass. Unfortunately, lacking an excellent picture, our mentor is unwilling to guess which of the two it might have been.

We could see the snowball like blossoms of bear grass growing in the meadow/ski slope a hundred yards uphill. (this is a ski slope after all), and so I decided to take a walk that far up the hill. As I rounded the doublewide associated with this small ski operation I looked down at a small blossom growing in the grass and, to my surprise, I saw a Snowberry Checkerspot butterfly. This is a very distinctive insect, and I have lots of experience with it. In fact, I saw a dozen a week ago. While I was deciding whether to net it or try for a picture it flew away.

Hoffmann's Checkerspot, ventral June 2025

Well, I catalogued that one in my ancient squash and proceeded around the building. There, on another small blossom, was a blue butterfly. He or she was having lunch and paid me little heed while I took a picture. I figured that this must be a silvery, based entirely on location, and headed up towards the Bear Grass.

I made it up and took a couple pictures. (If you look carefully, you can see Mt. Hood peeking over the top of the hill.) The way back down was uneventful. Sandra let me waste another five minutes by the parking lot, but there were no more surprises.

Back home, we took pictures of our victims and sent Caitlin some of the photos and the salient field notes. For the most part we were able to make our own identifications. As noted here, that small reddish butterfly was a Hoffmann's Checkerspot. Last year, when we saw it at Alpine Campground, this was a really big deal. This year, a month earlier and 2,000 feet lower, it wasn't quite so exciting, but still, this is a rare insect with a range restricted to the crest of the Cascades in the western states.

Bear Grass, Ski Lift and Mt. Hood, Gov't Camp 2025

We got Sandra's silvery right, but Cait took issue with the butterfly I photographed in the Government Camp ski meadow. She calls it a greenish blue, highlighting that little mark on the dorsal forewing. That's why she's the expert and we have one more for the list.

It took but a moment's reflection for me to pose the question, "Can you see Hoffmann's and Snowberry Checkerspot in the exact same location on the same day in June?" I sent this question in an email to Cait.

Now...my older son has over the last few months become enamored of AI...artificial intelligence. He started out by using AI for his computerized art. Now he doesn't go to the washroom without asking AI if his tissue is correct for the circumstances. And he's got me doing it, albeit to a lesser extent.

In any event, I asked this question of Google Gemini and, to abbreviate the answer, Gemini said yes. It noted that the two are both found in moist forests, and they fly at the same time of year. While the habitat for Hoffmann's is quite restricted, Snowberry Checkerspot is found over a fairly wide range, including mountain environments. A few hours later Caitlin said the same thing, using, I assume the intelligence that was gifted her by our maker, the God of Abraham.