Northwest of the town of Oakridge is one of the most accessible and beautiful wildflower meadow complexes in the Willamette National Forest: Tire Mountain. At the relatively low elevation of 3,500 feet, wildflowers put on a good show from mid June to mid July.

The 14 of us who set out on a sunny Monday morning for an Oregon Wild Summer Hike lucked out by having a good variety of spring woodland wildflowers in the forested parts of the trail, and summer flowers near their peak in the meadows. Rosy plectritis, yellow monkey flower, orange honeysuckle, white iris, and purple larkspur, were just some of the colors of the rainbow we experienced.

Farewell-to-spring		Oregon sunshine with mating butterflies

Balsamroot and rocky meadow	Cat's ear

While some of the group took their time exploring the large meadow filled with flowers and looking up their names, the rest of us trekked an additional mile and a half to the top of Tire Mountain, where, unfortunately, no views await the weary climber. Still, we did get views of Diamond Peak and the Three Sisters as we descended back to the cars. 

Upon our return we found that the Forest Service and local mountain bike club (GOATS) volunteers had been busy all day rebuilding the bottom portion of the trail, making the drainage better and the trail bed more solid. Thanks to them for their work so that all users have a great trail experience!