Tamanawas Falls

Tamanawas Falls in Mt. Hood National Forest is a great place for a hike.  It's a relatively short hike at about 3.6 miles total, with minimal elevation gain.  And the falls are really beautiful.  You can even walk behind them if you're willing to climb over some boulders to get there!  On a hot day we found a lovely coolness in the air as we approached the falls, and a refreshing mist surrounds it.  A Northwest Forest Pass is required at the trailhead.

Penstemon.

Bunchberry with ant. Photo by Jasper.

Wild rose. Photo by Jasper.

Tamanawas Falls.  Photo by Jasper.

Stonecrop. Photo by Jasper.

Columbia windflower.

Queen cup with bee visitor.

Penstemon.

No idea what turned the ends of these leaves a hot pink color!

Queen cup.

Washington lily.  I thought there was a dead leaf stuck to it...

...but it was actually a dead butterfly, captured by a spider.

Paintbrush.

Pinesap. It does not have chlorophyll, and gets its energy from fungi that
in turn feed on the roots of trees.

Pinesap.  Like Indian pipes, they have no chlorophyll and feed on fungi.

Red columbine.

Monkeyflower with wasp visitor.

Penstemon.

Twinflower.  

Banana slug.

Sulphur flower.

Racemose pussytoes.

Spotted coralroot orchid.

Pinesap.

Washington lily.

Rare and mysterious gnome plants.

Spotted coralroot orchid.

Back at our car, Jasper found this gorgeous spider on a headlight.  Photo by Jasper.