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| Click to enlarge photos. |
Bird Creek Meadows on Mt. Adams is not a one-trick
pony. Stunning wildflowers are the
main attraction. At times, they
are so gorgeous that it’s easy to forget the other magnificent attractions: creeks everywhere, waterfalls and
hundred-mile vistas to Mt. Hood and beyond. Today, what I noticed were the
sounds.
When the sound of one creek faded, the sound of a waterfall
kicked in. When the sound of the
waterfall grew faint, the next gurgling caught my ear. In those few places in between water
sounds, wind rustled the trees or jays squawked and junco trilled. Duh! Maybe that’s why they called it Bird * Creek * Meadows.
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| Hell Roaring Overlook |
“They” is an interesting question. The Feds allowed the tribes to keep this area under the 1855
treaty as part of the reservation.
In 1908, Teddy Roosevelt mistakenly included it into the Mt. Rainer
Forest Reserve. Later, it became
part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. In 1972, President Nixon corrected Roosevelt’s mistake and ceded
control back to the Yakama Nation.
I’m guessing that the US Forest service named it Bird Creek
Meadows.
Today, we took the trail up and up one mile to the Hell
Roaring overlook, then down to the meadows area where flowers are often
crazy. Peak bloom was about two
weeks ago, but flowers still delighted in parts.
Trail 9 took us to the big waterfall (not to be confused to numerous smaller waterfalls). Down to Bird Lake, and over to Bluff Lake, were we found some huckleberries to snack on.
I posted more photos here.
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| Bluff Lake |
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| Huckleberries ! |
