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

Lake Serene

Our July excursion with the Washington Native Orchid Society was to Lake Serene where we looked for a rare native orchid.  Lake Serene is a popular hike near Stevens Pass, the pass which Highway 2 follows through the Central Cascades.  The lake lies at the foot of Mount Index.

We did not find the orchid we were looking for but the hike was worthwhile and the lake as beautiful as we remembered from a previous hike.  The trail takes one on a round trip of about seven and half miles with an elevation gain of 2002 feet, not overly strenuous, but a good hike.

There were not many wildflowers blooming along the trail, but we did get pictures of Goatsbeard, nearly finished blooming, of Copperbush, a shrub related to Rhododendron and Azalea, and of Tolmie's Saxifrage.  The Saxifrage was photographed near the rock face pictured above.

The weather was cloudy and threatened rain when we started, but that changed.  The first part of the hike was in heavy forest, but eventually the view opened up and it was obvious, then, that we were above the heavier weather that we had experienced at the trailhead.

On the way up we had some views of Bridal Veil Falls.  There is a side trail up to the falls but we did not have time for it on this hike. I've included an older picture of the falls which really should not be missed on this hike, and we later regretted not taking the time to see it.

At the lake there are wonderful views of Mount Index and of the lake itself.  There were a lot of people at the lake, especially on a huge rock that extends into the lake.  Many were swimming and diving from the rock, but the water was incredibly cold and we stayed dry.

Past the rock we scrambled over the boulder filed at the foot of Mount Index and past the melting snow to the far end of the lake.  There were a lot of wildflowers blooming in and around the boulder field and at the edge of the lake, several that I had not seen before.

The wildflowers I photographed were Western Trillium, Tall Mountain Shooting Star, Stika Mistmaiden, Subalpine Lupine, Merten's Saxifrage and Bird's-beak Lousewort, pictured in that order below. 

Finished with our scramble, and with the sun now behind the mountain, we headed back and found that the valley was now free of clouds and the whole area below was visible, the valley, Ragged Ridge across the valley and the mountains of the Wild Sky Wilderness, a part of the Central Cascades.