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.

Hamilton Mountain — Jun 23, 2013 — South Cascades — Columbia Gorge
This was a great hike! Beautiful wildflowers; yellow, purple, orange, and white. We stopped at the Pool of Winds on the way up. Totally worth it! Such an awesome waterfall!!

West Tiger 3 — Jun 23, 2013 — Issaquah Alps — Tiger Mountain
The bleeding hearts are blooming, and the summer birds are singing in the tree

Nooksack River to Excelsior Pass — Jun 23, 2013 — North Cascades — Mount Baker Highway
There were trilliums in full bloom and some funky, bright yellow fungus in places

Robinson Canyon – Ainsley Canyon — Jun 23, 2013 — Eastern Washington — Yakima
The canyons and meadows were nice & green and there were quite a few wildflowers still in bloom

Lion Rock 6360′ — Jun 23, 2013 — Central Cascades — Blewett Pass
Easy jaunt to beautiful wildflower meadows

Lost Lake — Jun 22, 2013 — Puget Sound and Islands — North Sound
We saw one banana slug and many black slugs, as well as an army of caterpillars that kept crawling onto us. Bleeding heart, candy flower, and buttercup are in bloom.

Icicle Gorge — Jun 22, 2013 — Central Cascades — Leavenworth Area
Wildflowers are in their glory, so now is the time to make this stroll. I would imagine the bloom is short-lived, given the locale. Read about the trail in the hiking guide (we began the loop at Chatter Creek guard station). Here is a list of the plants currently in bloom: dwarf dogwood, orange honeysuckle, queen’s cup, lupine, paintbrush, fine-toothed penstemon, tiger lily, foamflower, yarrow, wood rose, stonecrop, and I’m sure I forgot to name a few. Take a camera with a macro lens and a tripod and you’ll spend the entire day along this splendid trail.

Lake Serene – Bridal Veil Falls — Jun 22, 2013 — Central Cascades — Stevens Pass – West
Wildflowers, berries, hike in great condition, no snow on trail.

Kelly Butte — Jun 22, 2013 — South Cascades — Chinook Pass – Enumclaw or Hwy 410 area
There are tons of flowers

Rock Mountain via Rock Lake — Jun 22, 2013 — Central Cascades — Stevens Pass – East
Lots of wildflowers at the moment, trail slightly overgrown in spots.

Heather Park — Jun 22, 2013 — Olympics — North
There were some early high meadow flowers out.. paintbrush, phlox, marsh marigolds, etc. The songs of hermit thrush were dazzling the entire last half mile!

Lost Lake — Jun 22, 2013 — Puget Sound and Islands — North Sound
We saw one banana slug and many black slugs, as well as an army of caterpillars that kept crawling onto us. Bleeding heart, candy flower, and buttercup are in bloom

McClellan Butte — Jun 22, 2013 — Snoqualmie Pass — Snoqualmie Pass
Beautiful hike, lots of woodland wildflowers, but the last few miles of the trail is hairy!

Ladder Creek Falls — Jun 22, 2013 — North Cascades — West Slope
The trail was in great condition, and quite beautiful. Lots of different plants, including some Rhododendron that were still blooming.

Mount Defiance, Ira Spring Trail – Mason Lake — Jun 22, 2013 — Snoqualmie Pass — Snoqualmie Pass
I stopped just short of the top … and I had just come across a great spot with Glacier Lilly’s blooming all over the place and a great view of the Alpine Lakes region all the way to Mt Rainier

Driveway Butte — Jun 22, 2013 — North Cascades — North Cascades Highway
Amazing wildflowers from start to finish. Arrowleaf balsomroot, Arnica, Indian paintbrush, and more.

Perry Creek, Stillaguamish Peak — Jun 22, 2013 — North Cascades — Mountain Loop Highway
Wildflowers are blooming but the Glacier lilies that bloom just after the snow is gone,

Observation Peak — Jun 22, 2013 — Sunrise CreekSouth Cascades — Indian Heaven / Trapper Creek
Avalanche lilies were blooming along the trail, along with a number of other species of wildflowers and indications of more blooms to come. As we climbed higher up the ridge, we saw evidence that the snow had only recently melted.
On our return hike, we took the side trail to Sister Rocks, another former fire lookout site. Davidson’s penstemom and rock penstemon were among the flowers blooming on the rocks.

Louis Lake — Jun 22, 2013 — North Cascades — East Slope
We really enjoyed this hike! Wildflowers are in bloom.

 

 

 

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