2020 NPSO Annual Meeting Cancelled Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the best interests for the health and safety of our members, the Cheahmill Chapter has decided to cancel the Annual Meeting this year. While the number of new cases should decline over the next several weeks and months, subsequent waves of COVID-19 are likely to recur once social distancing is relaxed. We are exploring hosting the meeting next year (2021) at Spirit Mountain Lodge and offering much the same program. If you have already sent in your registration form and payment, your checks will be shredded. Those whose checks were already deposited will receive a refund. We look forward to seeing all of you in 2021, hopefully at Spirit Mountain. Please stay safe and healthy through this difficult time.

NPSO 2020 Annual Meeting

May 29 - 31     Spirit Mountain Lodge, Grand Ronde, Oregon

Field Trips

Saturday May 18, 2024    9 a.m. - 4 p.m.                    Field Trip # 27

Difficulty:     Easy  (1 mile round trip) - Sites accessed from vehicles, mostly on flat surfaces, but rocky, wet, uneven terrain.

Elevation:     Negligible.

Group Size Limit:     12

Trip Description:     This is one of two field trips to this spectacular site in the Oregon Coast Range. The trip description and floristic highlights apply to both trips. The trips differ in difficulty and hiking distance.

Millions of years ago, during the Miocene epoch, flood basalts originating 200 miles to the east made their way to the Oregon coast and were uplifted to form prominent peaks in the Coast Range, such as Saddle Mountain and Mt. Hebo. The latter is a 2.5-mile-long ridge, more than 3,100 feet in elevation, consisting of marine sedimentary rocks capped by hard volcanic rocks, and offering panoramic views of the ocean and eight Cascade peaks. Soils at the top are shallow, covered with mosses, a wide diversity of plants, and boggy areas with Sphagnum. On the basalt plateaus, expect to see dwarf small camas (Camassia quamash), littleleaf miner's lettuce (Montia parvifolia), Cardwell's penstemon (Penstemon cardwellii), and rusty saxifrage (Saxifraga ferruginea). In the forests, find the rare Coast Range fawnlily (Erythronium elegans), Columbia lily (Lilium columbianum), and heart-leaved twayblade (Neottia cordata). The uncommon harsh Indian paintbrush (Castilleja hispida), Oregon iris (Iris tenax), and hookspur violet (Viola adunca ssp. adunca), host plant of the Oregon Silverspot butterfly, are abundant in the meadows. Two species of blueberry, oval-leaved blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium) and red huckleberry (V. parvifolium), are culturally significant food resources and are managed by Forest Service employees and tribal members.

A recreation pass is required at Hebo Lake day use if you go there.

Appropriate Clothing and Footwear:     Warm clothing and boots/shoes that can get wet; hiking poles advisable. Cold, windy, wet and rainy conditions possible.

Meeting Place and Time:     Trip # 27 leaves at 9 a.m. from parking lot west of Hotel. Plan to arrive 30 minutes before departure time to meet your group and arrange carpools.

Alternate Meeting:     Participants may also meet the trip at 9:30 a.m at Hebo Ranger Station, 31525 Hwy 22, Hebo, Oregon 97122. If you choose this option, be sure to notify your trip leader in advance.

Driving Miles and Time from Spirit Mountain Hotel:     25 miles, 35 minutes to the Hebo Ranger Station. From Ranger Station to peak round trip is about five miles on gravel.

Driving Directions:     Trip leaders will provide detailed driving instructions.

Leaders:       Hope Stanton and Bruce Waugh

Hope grew up in Maryland, where she was a member of the Maryland Native Plant Society. She has a degree in botany and natural history. She moved to Nehalem, Oregon, in 2000 and has been a member of NPSO since early 2000. She does stewardship with the Lower Nehalem Community Trust and the North Coast Land Conservancy, and has done extensive restoration on her property on the North Fork of the Nehalem River. She’s been active with the North Oregon Restoration Partnership program collecting seeds and cuttings and working in the nursery. Since 2021, she has had a native plant nursery that sells plants along the Oregon Coast (Aldervale Native Plants).

Bruce, an Emerald Chapter member, has lived on the Oregon Coast for 35 years. He has given presentations on native plant gardening to various community organizations and taught gardening with native plants for the Lincoln County Master Gardeners Association. He worked as a native plant gardener at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. He is an Oregon Master Naturalist and serves as a volunteer naturalist at Cascade Head. He has volunteered at the Gerdemann botanical preserve, where he tended a garden with 200 varieties of native plants. In addition, he has been a linchpin for the Lincoln County Mycological Society.

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

Photo: Kareen Sturgeon
Cardwell's penstemon (Penstemon cardwellii) on Mt. Hebo

Photo: Marna Porath
A view from the cliffs of Mt. Hebo

Photo: Marna Porath
This trail leads to the meadows on Mt. Hebo.