24
Wednesday, July 1, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Wildflowers abound in Cone Peak Meadows
By Craig f. eisenbeis
Correspondent
This is a great time of the
year for wildflower view-
ing. However, due to the
poor snow year, blooms are
occurring earlier than ever;
so, there is no time to waste
if wildflowers are an inter-
est of yours. Few places have
more to offer in the wild-
flower arena than Cone Peak
Meadows.
Among wildflower enthu-
siasts, Cone Peak is well
known; but, for the casual
wildflower observer, it may
be off the radar. The trail is
35 miles west of Sisters on
Highway 20 and is easily
accessed on paved roads. At
less than 5 miles round trip
and an elevation gain of 1,000
feet, this trail is an excellent
family outing. In fact, sev-
eral family groups were on
the trail when I was there last
week.
This hike takes off from
the parking lot at the summit
of Tombstone Pass and drops
down onto Tombstone Prairie
before heading up the south
side of Cone Peak. The trail
crosses Highway 20 at mile-
post 64, but don’t attempt a
shorter hike by parking there,
because there are numerous
“no parking” signs on the
highway.
Use care in crossing the
highway. Although narrow
and winding, this is the lon-
gest U.S. Highway in the
country, stretching from
Newport, Oregon, to Boston
Massachusetts; and many cars
travel through here at speeds
well in excess of 55 mph.
After crossing the road, the
trail heads east for a little over
half a mile before switchback-
ing up Cone Peak. Yes, there
are switchbacks; but none of
this trail is as steep as the one
up Black Butte, nor is there as
much elevation to be climbed.
Most of this trail is in a
beautiful shaded forest that
is worthy of admiration, even
without the goal of wildflow-
ers. Ferns and dense forest
plants abound. Twice, little
voles scurried across the path
in front of me. You don’t
have to wait for the meadows
to start seeing wildflowers.
There are many flowers on
the forest floor. Among the
more prominent forest flow-
ers last week were the red col-
umbine, wild rose, and tiger
lily; although the trillium
blossoms were already spent.
The most obvious forest
flowers right now are on the
acres of thimbleberry bushes,
which are in full bloom. The
prolific white thimbleberry
blooms promise a bumper
crop of thimbleberries this
year; but then it takes a lot
of thimbleberries to amount
photo by craiG F. eiSenbeiS
Iron mountain is seen here from Cone Peak meadows, one of the Northwest’s richest wildflower areas.
to much. They are certainly
edible but are neither very
juicy nor especially tasty,
They look kind of like a flat,
dry raspberry.
Towering firs dominate the
forest on Cone Peak’s slopes.
Both Douglas fir and mul-
tiple true firs are found here,
along with hemlock. Midway
through the switchbacks,
however, there are groves
of an unusual tree, which –
while native to Oregon – is
not very common. This is the
Alaska yellow cedar.
Most yellow cedars here
BIKES, BEER,
FOOD CARTS, FUN!
CYCLING
Sales & Rentals • Repair • Maps
Parts & Accessories • Clothing
CRAFT BEER
ON TAP!
BARBER SHOP
Veteran’s Discounts
& Hot Shaves!
Walk-Ins
No appt.
needed
the forest, it emerges into a
vast openness of meadows,
with expansive views in all
directions.
The trail wanders upward
through the meadows and
eventually crests at a natu-
ral stopping point, where it
dips down again and heads
toward the saddle that joins
Cone Peak to Iron Mountain.
This area is a great place
See hIKe on page 32
Gordon’s Last Touch
Cleaning Specialists For…
541-549-3008
Carpets • Upholstery
Windows
Accepting VISA
& MasterCard!
Snow Removal!
Member of the vetter
vusiness vureau
Serving Central Oregon Since 1980
vonded & Insured
Saturday
10 a.m. Road
Bike Rides
541-549-2471
www.eurosports.us
Open 7 days a week
Corner of Hood & Fir in Sisters
Old-School-Style
are not very large. Larger,
old-growth specimens, how-
ever, can be found at nearby
Echo Mountain. The shaggy
bark and flattened needle
clusters make this an easy tree
to spot.
As the trail nears the
meadows, there are some
mini-meadows in the for-
est that have formed around
some rock outcroppings near
the top of the switchbacks.
When the trail finally leaves
YOUTH
BASKETBALL CAMP
Mon.GFri., July 43 – 47
Grades 4G4 | 9:30 a.m. to Noon
Grades 5G8 | 4 to 5 p.m. | Cost: $50
THINGS THAT FLY
Mon.GWed., July 43G45
Grades: 2G6 | 40 a.m. to Noon
Cost: $40
OUTLAWS
FOOTBALL CAMP
Tues.GFri., July 24G24
Grades: 4G8 | 9 a.m. to Noon
Cost: $75
1750 W. Mckinney Butte Rd. | 541-549-2091
170 W. Cascade Ave., Ste. 5
(Behind BJ’s Ice Cream)
541-549-9000
Tues-Fri 8 AM-5 PM
Sat 7 AM-3 PM
Sun-Mon Closed
COMPLIMENTARY
BEER ON TAP!
View activities & classes and register online!
www.SistersRecreation.com
SNO CAP
MINI STORAGE
Sisters Industrial Park
157 Sisters Park Dr. • 541-549-3575
www.SistersStorage.com
• State-of-the-art
Security Technology
• Sizes from 5x5 to 12x40
• Individual Gate Codes
• Long-term Discounts
• On-site Manager