14. Lupine at Elk Meadows, and a bit of Knitting, 7/22/2017

Elk Meadows, Mt. Hood 7/22/17 (#38)

This hike includes a lovely walk through the woods,

Lupine near the trailhead, with the tip of Mt. Hood in the trees.

Trailhead

a slightly harrowing crossing of Newton Creek,

Mt. Hood and Newton Creek

seven switchbacks up to the ridge top through woods and a hanging garden,

Lupine and Lewis monkey flower

Mt. Hood Lily

beardstongue

Bracted lousewort

Wintergreen

Paintbrush and bluebells

Yarrow

St. John’s wort

Columbine, bluebells, pearly everlasting and thimbleberry

and a gentle descent to blooming Elk Meadows with views to the east side of Mt. Hood.

So many flowers in the meadows!

Bog orchid

White rhododendron

Cinquefoil

Paintbrush and aster

Licorice root

Elephant head

arnica and lupine

willow herb and aster

aster

We circumnavigated the perimeter of the meadow through lupine carpeted forest.

Lupine in the woods

Mt. Hood

A million asters!

More lupine and asters

Bugbane and lupine

Another mountain view

We returned back down down the hanging meadow switchbacks, back over the rushing Newton Creek on tippy logs, and a quiet amble back to the trailhead.

Lewis monkeyflower

Stonecrop

goldenrod

Mt. Hood from Newton Creek

Yellow and pink monkey flowers

It is about 5 miles to the meadow and back, and another 2 miles around the perimeter and exploring the meadow area, for a total of 7 miles/1200 feet.

GPS track

Flower list

Lookback: We have hiked Elk Meadows before, with different views each time. I found photos from August 2013, where yellow flowers were prominent in the meadows, and once again, the top of the mountain was capped with clouds. We hiked with microspikes to the meadow in March of 2015, an especially low snow year, and had a crystal clear view of the mountain across pristine white meadows.