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July 20, 2007 : Steens Mountain
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Keywords: Steens Mountain, Oregon
The flora of Steens Mountain and the surrounding areas (Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Diamond Craters and the Alvord Desert) contains somewhere around a thousand different taxa of plants (a book about the flora covers 871 species; the list from the Washington Native Plant Society contains 1053 species). Considering the ecological diversity, the high number of taxa is not surprising.
The first photograph is taken from the summit, looking southeastward onto the Alvord Desert (from the same spot as yesterday's Cirsium peckii photo). The summit stands over 1700m (5500 feet - or more than a mile) higher than the floor of the Alvord Desert which it dizzyingly overlooks. The western slope, however, is a gentle incline, taking about 25km (16mi) to ascend from the marshy Malheur area to the summit. As you ascend from the west, you pass through a number of vegetation zones: the marsh, sagebrush-grassland, juniper-pine forest, a second zone of sagebrush with poplar groves in moister areas, subalpine meadows and rocky alpine. The second photograph shows an area of transition between the sagebrush-grassland and the juniper-pine forest.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at July 20, 2007 6:46 AM
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Posted by: Bruce Dancik at July 20, 2007 8:34 AM
Is that the Lahontan cutthroat trout? If you're interested in fish, there's also the endemic Borax Lake chub – Borax Lake occurs at the south end of the Alvord.
And Bruce, you absolutely must visit there.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at July 20, 2007 8:55 AM
Beautiful . . . thank you for the meadow. Makes my day here in the city more relaxed just by looking at it.
Posted by: Amber Forest at July 20, 2007 9:19 AM
Agreed! The bottom photo brings back memories of the high puna in Peru, except with scattered trees.
Posted by: Eric in SF at July 20, 2007 9:57 AM
Hey Daniel,
Greetings from Vermont! (home of the Green Mountain Maidenhair Fern). I've enjoyed the recent posts as well. How bewitchingly strange and yet the same to an Eastern naturalist. Any good, accessible, (not $53 a download!), materials on emdemism in the Intermountain region, or perhaps North America in general?
Posted by: George L. at July 20, 2007 11:23 AM
Phew - not off-hand. Here's a North American Centres of Plant Diversity and Endemism
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at July 20, 2007 10:42 PM
The photo of Steen's mountain took my breath away. Wonderful work, Daniel!
Posted by: bobbie at July 21, 2007 8:37 AM
wow nice shots - did you drive your suv up there?
Posted by: dan at August 7, 2007 6:05 PM
Well, yes, we did rent an SUV for the trip, but one could just as easily get to the top of the mountain using a passenger car. One can't (reasonably) complete the Steens Mtn Road loop in a passenger car, though - the south part of the loop requires a high clearance vehicle.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at August 8, 2007 1:37 AM
If you want to know more about this great place read: "Child of Steens Mountain" by Eileen O'Keefe McVicker with Barbara J Scot. A wonderful book about the life and times Of Eileen. You will laugh, cry and sit on the edge of your chair. Oregon State University Press. Hot off the press!
Posted by: RMJ at September 11, 2008 11:04 AM
Thanks, RMJ — added to my holiday wish list!
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at September 11, 2008 1:45 PM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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I've really enjoyed the several photos from Steens Mountain over the past few days, Daniel. I have always wanted to go there, and these have reinforced my determination to follow through on that wish. I also understand there is a rare subspecies of cutthroat trout in some stream(s) on Steens Mt., and I'd like to see it.