| Date: September 13, 2002 | | Location Cascade Head Hike | | Where: Cascade Head Preserve Trail | Wanting to get in a hike, and also wanting to escape the 90-degree temperatures of the Willamette Valley, I talked Cascade Rambling staff member John Stolting into a day of hiking on Cascade Head. I was very pleased to find that The Nature Conservancy, in cooperation I'm sure, with the Siuslaw National Forest, Lincoln County, and private landowners, has constructed a new trailhead at Knight Park with a new trail section complete with several elevated boardwalks.
|  | | John admiring an ancient Sitka Spruce tree I always marvel at the giant old growth spruce and hemlock trees that shadow over the first part of the trail. And then I'm also always stunned at the fantastic view as the trail takes you out on the open headland. Goldenrod was the most prolific flower of the day, but we also managed to see some Foxgloves. You have to look closer though if you want to see the area's most famous resident, the Oregon silverspot butterfly.
|  | | John watching the fog bank up against the Penacle And here, I must tell you about a very valuable lesson I learned----always stop and read the signs along the way. It wasn't until John and I were returning that we stopped to read about the silverspot butterfly. Only then did we discover that the famous butterfly can only be seen in its adult stage in August and September, and only then did we realize that the little butterflies we saw but didn't pay must attention to were probably the famous silverspots. How was I to know that they are not silver butterflies with spots, but orange butterflies with silver sports? Statistics for the day: 5 miles, time 4 hours, cumulative climb 1690 feet.
|  | | OK, so I'm tired! |
|
|
