Chiwaukum Creek

On our way to eastern Washington we hiked (dwadled is more accurate) along part of the Chiwaukum Creek trail, which if followed far enough takes one into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.  We did not go nearly that far, but far enough to see the damage caused by the 2014 wildfires.  The Chiwaukum Complex fire burned nearly 14,000 acres in the area between mid-July and the end of August.  The area we hiked was already recovering and the wildflowers were in abundance.  We not only found the Western Fairy Slippers we were looking for but also found the first Lewisias of the season.  Know as Mountain Roses, Lewisia tweedyi grows only in the Wenatchee area of the Central Cascades.  There had been rain the night before so everything was bejeweled with water drops and we took a lot of pictures of those as well as of the wildflowers.

the trail and the creek

burned trees from the 2014 fires

raindrops

Spring Orange Peel Fungus

fungus on wild roses

Sword Fern

Arrowleaf Balsamroot

Upland Larkspur

Cliff Painbrush

Ballhead Waterleaf

Stony-ground Lupine

Mountain Rose (Lewisia tweedyi)

Naked Broomrape

Slender Woodland Star

 Large False Solomon's Seal

 Martindale's Desert Parsley

 Hooker's Fairy Bells

conifer

Martin Creek

(along the Old Cascade Highway)

 the Enchantments

Reecer Creek Canyon

On our way home from Spokane April 3rd we made a brief excursion up Reecer Creek Canyon west of Ellensburg, Washington.  We had a bad experience the last time we were up there.  Our parking brake jammed and we were unable to drive the car and had to get a tow truck to take us back to Ellensburg at considerable expense.  This time we had no problem with the vehicle.

The area we were in suffered from severe wildfires last summer and the evidences of the fires were still to be seen, but we were surprised how new, lush and green growth was already covering the burned off areas.  Indeed, it appeared that fires have resulted in a bumper crop of wildflowers this year.  For lack of time we did not drive all the way to Lion Rock, but did get plenty of pictures.

First some of the scenery, and as usual many of the pictures are my wife's.  There was still a considerable amount of snow further up the canyon and that and the colors of the moss and algae made for some spectacular views.  I concentrated on the flowers, though she also took pictures of them, some with the scenery as a backdrop, while she did the landscapes.

Then the wildflowers.  We were surprised again at how early things were.  We had not expected to find a lot of wildflowers but many of the spring flowers were already in bloom with some of them finished in the lower areas.  The stars were the Sagebrush Violets which were blooming by the thousands (see above) and the Yellow Bells which were still blooming further up the canyon.

Sagebrush Violets
Viola trinervata

Yellow Bells
Fritillaria pudica

Fern-leaf Lomatium

Lomatium dissectum

Gold Star

Crocidium multicaule

Ballhead Waterleaf
Hydrophyllum capitatu

 

Arrowleaf Balsamroot

Balsamorhiza sagittata

Western Spring Beauty
Claytonia lanceolata

Dagger Pod

Phoenicaulis cheiranthoides