Natural History Wanderings

Washington Trails Association has a number of new hike reports that mention wildflower bloom. Some of wildflower descriptions are pretty sketchy but they might give a rough idea of what is happening on the trails. Here are excerpts:

Keystone Ridge — May 11, 2013 — Central Cascades — Entiat Mountains
Bitterroot on this ridge was so thick it should be called a cluster flock. Wow. Balsamroot, lupine, an interesting clover I’d not seen before (springbank clover) and a white larkspur (D.xantholeucum), death camas, penstemon, mariposa lilies, scarlet gilia, tritella, and oh…the rattlesnakes.

Three Corner Rock — May 11, 2013 — South Cascades — Columbia Gorge
It’s a beautiful little hike with lots of wildflowers blooming and views of Mt. Adams

Icicle Ridge, Icicle Gorge — May 11, 2013 — Central Cascades — Leavenworth Area
Success! Finally our hiking destination coincided with blooming balsamroot — the best specimens were at the viewpoint overlooking Leavenworth on the Icicle Ridge Trail.
The trail met and surpassed all our criteria for the perfect hike: views, flowers, and wildlife.
Though the flowers were not profuse on the climb, there were enough to make the journey colorful. As for wildlife, we watched a rubber boa slither across the trail (glad we didn’t see any rattlers), lizards scurry into the rock, squirrels and chipmunks chatter from logs, and heard from other hikers that a momma & cub black bear were hanging out at the creek (unfortunately, we didn’t see them). And birds: lots of bluebirds, some swallows, warblers, towhees, and a friendly nuthatch.
After climbing up and down to Icicle Ridge, We were surprised to find numerous trillium and calypso orchids along this trail. We also spotted various colors of paintbrush from yellow to dark orange. Saw no birds or wildlife on this trail nor expansive views but the winding trail through beautiful trees with bridges over rushing creeks made for a very pleasant afternoon.

Cowiche Canyon — May 11, 2013 — Eastern Washington — Yakima
wildflowers in bloom and all kinds of birds overhead.

Lost Lake — May 11, 2013 — Puget Sound and Islands — North Sound
Wildflowers, in particular bleeding heart, were in bloom.

Green Lake — May 11, 2013 — Mt. Rainier — NW – Carbon River / Mowich
Trail is in great shape all the way up to Ranger Falls. Many vibrant trillium flowers

Gibbs Lake — May 11, 2013 — Olympics — East
The highlight of the trail today were all of the emerging and blooming native flowers and plants: large clumps of trillium (largest I have ever seen), false lily of the valley, twin leaved spring beauty, woodland pinedrops, ferns and bleeding heart.

Kloshe Nanitch — May 11, 2013 — Olympics — North
Wild flowers starting to show

Lower Big Quilcene River — May 11, 2013 — Olympics — East
Didn’t see any blooming rhododendrons, but did see some other flowers.

Old Sauk River Trail — May 10, 2013 — North Cascades — Mountain Loop Highway
It is lush as ever. The forest floor is thickly carpeted with mosses, vanilla leaf, young bright green ferns, bleeding heart, violets, and tasty miner’s lettuce.

Tiger Mountain Trail: South, South Tiger Traverse — May 10, 2013 — Issaquah Alps — Tiger Mountain
many wildflowers are blooming. On the way to Hobart Gap I note the first vanilla leaf and Hooker fairybells I’ve seen flowering this year. The trilliums and coltsfoot mostly are past their prime here, although the yellow violets, Solomon’s seal, and a few others are holding their own.

Deception Pass Headlands – Rosario Head – Lighthouse Point, Sharpe Park – Montgomery-Duban Headlands — May 10, 2013 Puget Sound and Islands — North Sound
Some of the many flowers blooming are Common Camas, Paintbrush, Yellow Stonecrop, Fairy Slippers, and Daisies. Pea Vine, Yarrow, Cow’s Parsnip, and Wild Strawberries are also in bloom.

Lake Serene – Bridal Veil Falls — May 10, 2013 — Central Cascades — Stevens Pass – West

Though I got a bit of a late start, the trail was in perfect condition – if anything a little dusty and a little buggy. The trail is a remarkable in study in contrasts. The first 1.5 miles is through the lake bed sediments of Ice-Age Lake Skykomish. Here the salmonberry is thick and in bloom (see photo), with a few devils club and skunk cabbage in the particularly wet spots. There are numerous streams which either start on the Bridal Creek alluvial fan or as seeps on the broad slope above. The trail in this portion is moderately steep, but smooth and relatively rock-free. Though it was a road only a few years ago, the vast salmonberry seed stock has made the trail closed in to a couple armlengths for most of its length now.

Near the halfway point you reach the paleoshore of Lake Skykomish. This is where the cabin site and the trail split is. The Bridal Falls trail (to the right) gains elevation quickly and leaves the lake bed sediments behind. The trail has been blasted into the Index batholith (granite, or granodiorite to be precise). The falls was roaring and the outermost part of the loop was in the spray of the falls. Given the vegetation present there, it would seem that the spray reaches that point only occasionally. It was also nice to see that the loggers decided to pass on the hearty cedar old-growth that clings to the rocks near the falls.

Heading back down to the trail split and on flat land, the trail to Lake Serene (or taking a left at the trail split) follows the paleo shoreline to cross Bridal Veil Creek over a large timber bridge. The trial continues to follow the paleobeach until it gradually heads up onto the Index batholith. The creek seems to have been a barrier to earlier loggers as the east side of the creek is old growth. The understory changes dramatically though once you are are on the bedrock. The salmonberry is gone, replaced with salal and huckleberry. What salmonberry remains is diminutive, clinging to small patches of fine between the more massive pieces of bedrock.

Boulder River — May 09, 2013 — North Cascades — West Slope
Waterfalls were beautiful, and the river was roaring through the narrow gaps. Some wildflowers blooming.

Umtanum Creek Canyon — May 08, 2013 — Eastern Washington — Yakima
Balsalmroot and lupine was spectacular although it is already past its peak, so hurry if you still want to hike around here! The bitterroot is still blooming nicely

To see full reports for the above hikes and more trip reports go to: Trip Reports — Washington Trails Association.