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Badger Creek Wilderness
At the Fifteenmile Forest Camp on the northern edge of the 44-square mile Badger Creek Wilderness, I was greeted with sunshine and warm temperatures.
The Trail steeply followed Fret Creek into an upper basin, reaching Oval Lake in two miles. This is a very pretty, small lake sitting underneath the cliffs forming the headwall between the Fifteenmile Creek Basin to the north and the Badger Creek Basin to the south.
Soon I met the Divide Trail and began heading west. At 6,000 feet I was clearly in an alpine environment with meadows, wildflowers and short alpine trees (mainly hemlock, but also whitebark pine, alpine fir and a few alpine spruce.)
Another pleasant mile and I was on top of 6,525-foot Lookout Mountain, the highest peak remaining of the old Cascade mountains, all much older than Mt. Hood.
Breaking out a snack, I was soon joined by a large number of beautiful butterflies. A short way into my hike back to the trailhead, I photographed a white butterfly. Thanks to Caitlin’s ID, the butterfly was a checkered white, the first recorded one in Hood River County.
A very nice day indeed.
Fellow hikers on Lookout Mountain with Mt. Hood in the background (they came up the short way from High Prairie)
Hydaspe Fritillary
Oval Lake
Mt. Hood in the early morning light
First recorded Checkered White to be seen in Hood River County (very rare to see them this far north)
Golden-mantled looking for a snack
Final assent to summit
Into the Wilderness
Classic sub-alpine old-growth forest – – – a wildfire waiting to happen
Love the way the peak of Mt. Hood is obscured by the clouds. Do they do anything to prevent the wildfires from occurring?
Clouds covering the peaks of high mountains are fairly common, especially later in the day. From a photographer’s standpoint I like it. It provides a little more drama for the shot.