Lyle Cherry Orchard hike

My sister joined Greg and me for a hike up the Lyle Cherry Orchard on Saturday. It was a REALLY gorgeous day out there. Sunny blue skies and so warm! A perfect day to be out there. The very bright mid-day sun did not make for the best photos, but here’s what I got. (See the entire set here.)

Walking through the camas

The Meadow Death Camas are blooming in quite a few places.

Slope of flowers

The hillsides have a nice covering of flowers, mostly Desert Parsley but it looked like there was some Balsamroot up there too. This was a TOUGH climb! I’m out of shape from the long winter and it was hard going up this hill.

A fine view

Looking west down the Columbia River.

Lunch with a view

Looking east towards The Dalles from what I assume is the end point of the trail (a big open meadow-like area with east-facing views). We ate lunch here and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. It is SO nice to be warm when hiking, instead of bundled up, cold, and soaking wet.

If you own hiking poles, bring them on this hike. It is tough going up, and you’ll really want them on the way down for your knees. My knees don’t normally bother me on downhills, but even with my poles they were hurting bad by the time we got back to the car.

We saw LOTS of lupine leaves, especially in the forested area at the very beginning of the hike. They will be busting out in bloom soon. More wildflower shows on this hike soon!