A summer Sojourn on Mount Hood

    This week Sandra and I went butterfly hunting on Mount Hood. 

    The first day started at the Government Camp rest area.  Earlier in the year, we discovered that this rest area was a great place for spring butterflies.  It sits on a man-made shelf at the foot of a ski slope, receiving drainage from Mount Hood, which peers down at you from over a ridge a mile or so uphill.  This seeping water supports a variety of plants, which in turn attract our friends, the butterflies.  I took a hike up the slope of the Summit ski area, enjoying the wildflowers, which near the end of July included some asters and a generous sprinkling of yarrow, but were carpeted mostly with goldenrod.    In fact, I took a picture of that appropriately named wildflower (along with the yarrow) and let Google Lens add them to my botanical armamentarium.  With the right technology, you too can be a botanist!

Goldenrod, Government Camp, July 2025

     At 9:45 it was apparently too early for butterflies at Government Camp, so Sandra and I headed up to Alpine Campground. just below Timberline Lodge at 5,500 feet.  As we got there, we encountered the fuzz.  In this case the Clackamas County Sheriffs, who were manning a traffic stop to provide access for construction vehicles.  Unimpeded we slipped into our roadside stop at the campground.  

    As we walked across the highway we could hear some banging up slope.  Soon we were on the gated dirt road leading to my private alpine meadow.  We were greeted there by a field of asters, yarrow and goldenroad surrounded by a spruce forest.  We walked across this little piece of paradise and were greeted by a killer view of the mountain. And our first butterfly! 

    I netted this pilgrim with ease.  No surprises, he was a California Tortoiseshell.  Two years ago this species was a much sought after addition to our list.  This year the Cali Torts are super common.  Not only that, but we have an excellent picture taken in the campground across the highway from a couple months ago.  And so, as we walked back down the road, having encountered nothing else except a song sparrow,  we opened the vegetable bag and released him.  Noblesse oblige in the extreme.

   

    As we neared the highway we did a double take.  Ten feet from our car was a large truck.  It was pulling one long trailer supporting a junior sized cherry picker.  And following that, a really long trailer with the remails of a corrugated steel building was resting somewhat precariously on the long bed.  If things got loose, our poor car wouldn't have a chance! 

Yarrow Government Camp July 2025

   We then repaired into the campground where we found a shady spot for an early lunch.  While we sat in air-conditioned comfort, a pair of brown creepers flew into an adjacent spruce.  Brown creepers are small, striped gray and brown.  Were it not for them being extremely busy, probing the bark with their strong curved bills, these little birds would be difficult to see.  Sandra wanted to take a picture, but how do you capture busy-ness in a still photo?

  After lunch, we moved the car to a sunnier spot.  There I saw a butterfly fluttering in some low bushes, recognized it as a Lorquin's Admiral, and netted him.  Although this is a good year for the admiral at Dougan Falls, it was a surprise to find one at this altitude; it was the first time we had seen one on Mount Hood.  When we put the list together for our exhibit, "The Butterflies of Mount Hood" this guy was left off the list.  Caitlin had vetted that list, but when we presented her with the picture you see here, she apparently changed her mind.

   Around noon we moved our car to a shady spot near the entrance, from which we looked across the small meadow one sees from the highway.  Under a bright blue sky there were purple asters and golden goldenrod.  Husky Heaven.  And there were a few butterflies working the wildflowers.  

Lorquin's Admiral, Alpine Campground, July 2025

   I grabbed my net and went for one near the car.  I got a good look, it looked like a hydaspe,   As I failed with my net, I felt my larynx start to tighten.   I coughed a little as I went back to the car.   From that vantage I could see some action on the far side of the meadow, so I said to Sandra, who was enjoying air-conditioned comfort while watching my antics, "I'll just walk across the meadow and then we'll go."

    By the time I'd walked ten yards through the flowers, I was coughing.  A couple more steps and I was struggling to get a breath through my tightening larynx.  "Is this where it ends?"  I thought, "in a purple and gold meadow in the middle of nowhere, light years away from any medical care?"

    Well, I took my time, captured a few slow breaths, and made it back to the car.  And when I got there, the frit was once again nearby, and this time I got him!  In the bag, in the Kimmy bag along with the admiral.  Serves him right. 

   For those of you who are wondering, goldenrod is not a remarkable allergen (according to google).  It is related to ragweed, but does not throw its pollen into the air.  So, I do not know who the pollen spewing culprit might have been.

Hydaspe Frit, Sandra's hand, Alpine July 2025

     In ten minutes we were back to the Government camp rest area.  I had high hopes, but all we got were more California Tortoiseshells.  Too many tortoiseshells to count.  Right by the parking area and nothing but tortoiseshells in the meadow. 

    The tourists were amusing though.  There was one granny who could not stop exclaiming about the beauty of the tortoiseshells.  And an older guy, seeing my net explained that he was heading for a lake where he was going to catch dragonflies.  I've never known a dragonfly enthusiast, but apparently, they are out there.

    This mini-vacation involved a couple nights at a resort at the foot of the mountain in Welches.  After our nap, we attempted to take pictures of our prizes.  Earlier in the morning we had collected some wood for props and we placed a piece on a bed by one of the fluffy pillows.  First up was the Lorquin's Admiral.  He wasn't quite still, but in the process of perusing his stick he mamaged to pose for the picture you see here. He then took wing and flew under the bed.  

    The hydaspe was next up.  He was even more awake.  We got a shot on Sandra's hand, but no way was he going to pose on the stick.   So he went back in the fridge where he could contemplate his sins and, perhaps, wonder why he ever thought spending the summer at Timberline was such a good idea. 

Let me outta here!

    One of the sage tidbits of advice in The Butterfly's Guide to the Galaxy is that a butterfly in a room will always fly into a window and sure enough.  After ten minutes, we were able to return to the bedroom where my versatile sweetie nabbed the admiral, took him outside and off he went,  

   Now we had pictures, It was at this juncture that Caitlin LaBar looked at our Lorquin's Admiral and said that she wasn't surprised he was at Alpine Campground.  "They are well known at mid-montane elevations." she said.  "Mid-montane!" I fumed, "They don't call it Alpine for nothing!"  She went on to note that this was a darker morph, one she has seen only a couple of times.  So that was something.  Look carefully and note the dark chocolate band .  It really is different, although this does not make it a different species. 

    And the Hydaspe was expected.  Ho hum.  Would our second day on the mountain yield something we could impress her with?