We hiked trails in the arid scablands of Central Washington in spring. For two weeks, we hiked a different trail each day and camped in several Washington State Parks. There were a variety of habitats varying from grasslands to desert-like terrain, open steppes, wetlands, and open forests. We saw many wildflowers along the way and a few are … Continue reading →
I backpacked Grand Canyon, hiking from the South Rim (8000 ft elevation) down trails to the river and then traversing the benchlands, doing a loop route over 4 days. Afterward I also did some day hikes down and back up. It was April and there was a bit of snow up on the South Rim, but 5000 feet below, … Continue reading →
The last post of nature hikes from this year is a collection of outings in the latter half of October, including flora from the Lac le Jeune area, the Adams River area, and the Lac du Bois area. Hiking will continue throughout late fall and through the winter, but will more focused on keeping up the pace to stay … Continue reading →
On a mid-October day I drove up the Lac du Bois Road to the upper grasslands and did a nature hike in the Lac du Bois Conservation Area. I started at the south end of the old Stony Lake Track, a double track first used by homesteaders for ranching, starting in 1890. It has been leased for grazing ever … Continue reading →
At the end of the first week of October I returned to hike to a spot I had found in the spring, a damp meadow in the Lac du Bois sagebrush grasslands, just outside the park. I had found a number of wild asparagus plants, and with this in mind, I hiked the route again. I found three … Continue reading →
On a morning in the first week of October I did three loops at Stake Lake. I kayaked around the lake twice to start with, then I secured the boat and hiked a loop route on the Stake Lake trails. The hike on the forested trails was quiet and peaceful with no one else on the trails I … Continue reading →
At the end of September on a gray day, I drove up Rose Hill Road to Scott Road. I hiked Scott Road out and back, through the soon-to-be Juniper Hills Grasslands Park. After a hot and dry summer, the grasslands slopes were in fall colors and there were few wildflowers along the way, except for a few weedy … Continue reading →
At the end of summer I hiked a loop route across the grasslands benchlands off Rose Hill. The silt-sand-clay ridges and gullies were once under a glacial lake and were scoured by meltwaters as the ice and snow melted. Much of the area is covered by grass and sagebrush, but the upper north-facing gullies have some trees and … Continue reading →
Ghost Flower (Monotropa uniflora) is a fleshy saprophytic perennial in the heath family. Other common names include Indian-pipe, corpse plant and ice plant. It has no green leaves, does not produce chlorophyl, and can’t photosynthesize. It takes its food from decaying material on the forest floor. Fleshy white stems may be whitish-pinkish at first but turn white, then black. … Continue reading →
At the end of summer I rode the Sun Peaks chairlift to mid-station to hike the trails on Tod Mountain. All of the south-facing alpine meadows, bowls, and ridges were dry and the vegetation was mostly brown after a hot and dry summer. I hiked up through Crystal Bowl to Top of the Mountain, then wound on a … Continue reading →
