NPSO 2022 Annual Meeting

May 20 - 22     Spirit Mountain Lodge, Grand Ronde, Oregon

Field Trips

Saturday May 21, 2022    9 a.m. - 4 p.m.                    Field Trip # 29

Difficulty:     Moderate  (0.5 mile) - Steep trail to meadow. Optional beach hike, easy, about 0.5 mile.

Elevation:     360 feet elevation gain

Group Size Limit:     12, maximum of 3 vehicles

Trip Description:     One of two field trips to this extraordinary site, this hike involves a short, but steep, hike through lush coastal rainforest with an understory of Pacific rhododendron to Lost Lake and High Meadow. The meadow is a beautiful coastal prairie with spectacular views of the ocean and Cascade Head to the north. This hike is followed by a visit to the beach, dunes, and dune forest.

Nestled between two basalt headlands (Cascade Head to the north and High Meadow to the south), Camp Westwind sits in a beautiful bay beside the Salmon River Estuary. This 529-acre camp was founded in 1936 and is now owned by the Westwind Stewardship Group whose mission is to permanently protect the site as an educational retreat and camp.

The upland site harbors a wide diversity of habitats and flora: a forest of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum); and a prairie overlooking the ocean, with Oregon iris (Iris tenax) and hairy-stemmed checkermallow (Sidalcea hirtipes).

The beach hike includes an extensive beach with both yellow and pink sandverbena (Abronia latifolia and A. umbellata var. breviflora, which is state listed as endangered and federally listed as a species of concern); dunes with American dunegrass (Leymus mollis) and European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria); a forest on older, now stabilized, dunes with shore pine (Pinus contorta var. contorta) and an understory of rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia) and false lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum dilatatum); dramatic cliffsides with Bolander's packera (Packera bolanderi var. bolanderi), Tracy's mistmaiden (Romanzoffia tracyi), and Oregon stonecrop (Sedum oreganum).

Camp Westwind's Land Acknowledgment: "We are gathered on Tillamook and Siletz land, represented today by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians. With gratitude, we pay our respects to the land, and the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded it for generations and continue to hold a sacred relationship to this day. With honor, we recognize the opportunity for the collective of Camp Westwind to learn, study, and hold community on this land. We respectfully acknowledge the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Tillamook and Siletz people, and honor all past, present, and future Indigenous Westwind community members."

Appropriate Clothing and Footwear:     Suitable for hiking on a steep trail: hiking poles recommended.

Special Considerations:     Gated entrance, accessible to public only with prior arrangements. The coast can be cold and windy even in summer.

Meeting Place and Time:     Trip # 29 leaves at 9 a.m. from Spirit Mountain Lodge entrance. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before departure time to meet your group and arrange carpools.

Alternate Meeting:     Participants may also meet the trip at 9:20 a.m at gated entrance to the Camp, 7500 N Fraser Road, Otis, Oregon. If you choose this option, be sure to notify your trip leader in advance.

Driving Miles and Time from Spirit Mountain Lodge:     22 miles, 20 minutes, last 2.5 miles on narrow but good gravel road.

Driving Directions:     Trip leader will provide detailed driving instructions.

Leader:       Bruce Waugh

Bruce Waugh, Corvallis Chapter

Plant Lists and Other Information:     Clink on the links below for more information about this trip.

Photo: Kareen Sturgeon
Cascade Head as seen from High Meadow at Camp Westwind

Photo: courtesy of Oregon Flora Project
Hairy-stemmed checkermallow (Sidalcea hirtipes) grows on High Meadow

See lower left for detail about High Meadow Trail.

Photo: Kareen Sturgeon
High Meadow as seen from the Camp Westwind beach, with largehead sedge (Carex macrocephala)

Another view of High Meadow, from Sitka Center for Art & Ecology