Natural History Wanderings

Washington Trails Association has a number of new hike reports that mention wildflower bloom. Here are some brief wildflower excerpts that might give a rough idea of what is happening on the trails.

Grand Ridge Park — Jun 03, 2013 — Issaquah Alps
This is a very pleasant woodland trail, with wildflowers starting to bloom.

Perry Creek — Jun 03, 2013 — North Cascades — Mountain Loop Highway
When you reach the middle section of the old trail on the way to the falls, look to your left and be amazed by dozens of waterfalls on the opposite cliffs. Also look down along the trail for blooming flowers: Glacier Lilies, Trillium, Yellow Violets, Bleeding Hearts.

Iron Bear – Teanaway Ridge — Jun 02, 2013 — Snoqualmie Pass — Salmon La Sac/Teanaway
The wildflowers started even before the official trailhead sign – I spotted a couple of small stands of orange paintbrush the moment we stepped over the downed log. As we continued further, we spotted many others all along the way – lupine, balsamroot, arnica, purple trillium and others I don’t know 🙂 Don’t expect carpets of flowers a la Dog Mountain, but it was quite pretty.
It wasn’t clear enough to see Rainier when we got to the summit, but there were still nice views of some snow-capped peaks in the distance. The summit area is full of delicate little yellow glacier lilies, which are so pretty.
On our way back to the car, we noticed that a couple of bitterroots by the side of the trail that had been closed when we started the hike had fully opened by the time we got back to them. That was pretty cool.

Easton Ridge — Jun 02, 2013 — Snoqualmie Pass — Snoqualmie Pass
There are views all along the way and the wild flowers are starting to bloom. There were calypso orchids ( I saw my first one last year) and chocolate lilies (The first I have seen) as well as Indian Paintbrush, Lupine and trillium. As well, there are various ground cover, and rock flowers growing along the trail as well.

Robinson Canyon – Ainsley Canyon — Jun 02, 2013 — Eastern Washington — Yakima
The wildflowers were very nice, especially the lupine, paintbrush, & blue flax, but the balsamroot was a little past.

Davis Peak — Jun 02, 2013 — Snoqualmie Pass — Snoqualmie Pass
The lower part of the trail is quite lovely this time of year, lots of greenery, lots of flowers. We saw Calypso orchids, and large patches of Tall Silvercrown (Cacaliopsis nardosmia. There was also paintbrush and the occasional penstemon (not sure of variety)

Tronsen Ridge — Jun 02, 2013 — Central Cascades — Blewett Pass
the Tweedy’s Lewisia is still going strong and had been joined by Bitterroot (Lewisia Rediviva) and many others for a still wonderful wildflower show.

To see more detailed reports for the above, links to photos  and more hike reports go to: Trip Reports — Washington Trails Association.