Washington Native
Plant Society
Study Weekend, 2020
Descriptions of Field Trips and Workshops Beginning with Saturday, June 6th
Choosing from the weekend’s events:
This year we have an exciting new opportunity: In addition to field trips, we are offering three half-day workshops designed to help our members advocate for native plants - one on Saturday and two on Sunday. They are in the list below and you can sign up for them just like you would sign up for field trips. So, if you sign up for a half day trip that is specifically marked, and you are returning to the Lazy F, you should be back in time for an afternoon’s advocacy workshop. Please note the start times for these workshops and keep in mind that they are typically two hour events. The botanical drawing workshop however is three to five hours depending on how long individual participants wish to stay.
When deciding on a Sunday activity, keep in mind that many drivers may elect to go directly home without returning to the Lazy F. So, if you plan to ride with someone else to Study Weekend, be sure to speak with your driver about planning your trip home, and how it may affect the choice of the Sunday activity.
Photo by Ben Legler
Name of Workshop: 101: Advocacy; How to be WDNR LIDAR Aerial View of the Mounds an Advocate for Native Plants Leaders: Becky Chaney, WNPS Conservation Trip Title: 102: Mima Mounds, Umptanum Road Chair and Josh Morris, Seattle Audubon Trip Leader: Ed Lisowski Duration: 2 hours Duration: Half day, Saturday Beginning: 2:00 pm (Saturday) 3 miles Number of Participants: 60 Distance: Elevation gain: 300 feet Difficulty: easy Have you ever wondered what you can do Driving Time: 30 minutes personally to help protect Washington’s native Number of Participants: 12 plants? Where do you start? This workshop is for you! Becky and Josh provide an interactive, Note: This trip can be combined with the start-to-finish how-to for the WNPS native plant advocacy workshop 101. advocate, covering steps necessary to advocate individually and on behalf of WNPS. This The Manastash Mima mounds were workshop explores how to keep abreast of documented by CWU Geography professor threats to native plants and the opportunities to Martin Kaatz in 1959. LIDAR (light detection and protect them, complete and submit a WNPS ranging) is a remote sensing technology that Information Sheet, take action, and follow-up can be used to create topographic resolution on outcomes. We’ll also discuss the new WNPS especially useful for remote sensing of Mima policy on ‘direct action advocacy.’ This mounds. The WDNR LIDAR portal creates bare workshop is relevant for all WNPS members, earth and vegetation canopy views. regardless of your advocacy experience or specific advocacy interests. Roald Fryxell has noted distinctive plant
communities in such areas: Artemisia tridentata /Agropyron spicatum association of Daubenmire is restricted to the more mesic mounds and the Artemisia rigida/Poa secunda association occurs on intermound areas with shallow soil and prolonged periods of drying.
Expect to see shrub-steppe vegetation associated with the Mima mound field.
Photo by Jane Ely Photo by Keyna Bugner Name of Workshop: 104: Botanical Drawing Trip Title: 103: Osborn Point Meadows Leader: Crystal Shin Trip Leader: Keyna Bugner Duration: 3 to 5 hours 9:00 am (Saturday) Duration: Half day, Saturday Beginning: Number of Participants: 11 Distance: about 2 miles Elevation gain: less than 200 feet Learn and practice the basics of botanical drawing. Difficulty: easy Botanical drawing requires careful observation, Driving Distance or Time: 1 hr., 10 min. measurement, attention to details, and Number of Participants: 12 understanding in some basic plant morphology. We Note: No restrooms, NW Forest Pass required. will learn and practice the unique requirements of botanical drawing and also learn about pencil drawing techniques. Botanical drawing can help you Note: This trip can be combined with the understand plants and develop eyes to see details. advocacy workshop 101. You can choose to draw a single leaf, a leaflet, a single flower head or a whole plant, depending on We will explore the meadows at Osborn Point which your drawing experiences and interests. All levels are is located on South Cle Elum Ridge in Kittitas County. welcome. Attendees may opt out at 2:00 PM or The plant list includes 163 species found along FS earlier in order to attend the advocacy workshop. road 3350 past Osborn Point to its junction with FS road 3352 near Taneum Point. Crystal Shin, A Botanical Artist and Natural Science Illustrator – Crystal studied botanical illustration at This area is the only known location of Lomatium Gage Academy of Art and the Center for Urban knokei. It is a narrowly endemic species of apparent Horticulture, and earned Scientific Illustration critical conservation concern on seasonally wet soils. Certificate from University of Washington. She We will also find species of Eriogonum, Penstemon as well as Sidalcea oregana var. oregana. worked as a primary illustrator on the second edition of “Flora of the Pacific Northwest” at the University Participants on this trip may be back in time for all or of Washington Herbarium from 2015 to 2018, part of the afternoon’s advocacy workshop. generating 882 new illustrations. She works in graphite, pen and ink, color pencils, and watercolor.
Photo by Richard Droker Photo by Ben Legler
Trip Title: 105: Camas Meadows Natural Area Trip Title: 106: Cowiche Canyon Lichen Walk SOLD OUT Trip Leader: Katherine Glew, Richard Droker Leader: David Wilderman, Joan Ponzetti Duration: Full Day, Saturday Duration: Full day, Saturday Length: 5-6 miles Distance: 3 miles Elevation gain: Minimal Elevation gain: 300 feet Difficulty: Easy Difficulty: Easy Number of Participants: 12 Note: Discover Pass needed Driving Distance or Time: 1 hour, 20 min. Number of Participants: 12 Cowiche Canyon Trail is a 5-6 mile out and back walk Driving Distance or Time: 1 ½ hours located near Tieton, Washington. The trail follows the Cowiche Creek with spectacular views of basalt The nearly 2000-acre Camas Meadows Natural Area cliffs. This area is a fabulous example of shrub- Preserve is located off of Hwy 97 between Blewett steppe landscape, made up of grasslands, sagebrush, Pass and Cashmere, Washington. The site is situated and oak woodlands in a geologically unique basin within the Wenatchee Our objective will be to admire and identify some of Mts. -- a floristically diverse part of the east the many species of lichens, foliose (leafy, including Cascades supporting a number of endemic plants. umbilicate) and crustose (crusty, almost 2- The flat floor of the basin has extensive areas of dimensional) forms, particularly those growing on seasonally wet meadows and aspen groves with basalt (mafic volcanic rock). In addition we will camas (Camassia quamash ssp. breviflora), Mule’s- discuss the ecological importance of lichens in ears (Wyethia amplexicaulis), bistort (Bistorta eastern Washington and their role in air quality. bistortoides), elk thistle (Cirsium scariosum), and many others. Surrounding slopes support mixed Crustose genera that we will be viewing conifer forest, riparian habitats, and rocky openings include Asplicillia, Caloplaca, and Lecanora. Foliose hosting a variety of interesting plants, such as genera will include: Cladonia, Leptogium, and mountain lady slipper (Cypripedium montanum) and Umbilicaria. See plant list at: Oregon anemone (Anemone oregana). Occurring https://www.wnps.org/plant- here are large populations of two locally-endemic lists/list?Cowiche_Canyon&County=Yakima&ListID=6 plant taxa - the Wenatchee Mts. checkermallow 59 (Sidalcea oregana var. calva) and Wenatchee larkspur (Delphinium viridescens).
Photo by Ben Legler
107: Cowiche Canyon and Snow Trip Title: Mountain. Photo by Richard Droker Trip Leader: Terri Knoke Duration: Full day, Saturday Trip Title: 108: Giant Ripples on the Columbia Distance: 3.5 miles Trip Leader Clay Antieau, three Assistants Full day, Saturday Elevation gain: 100-200 feet Duration: Distance: Up to 3 miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevation gain: Minimal Number of Participants: 12 Difficulty: Easy to moderate Driving Distance or Time: 1 hour. Number of Participants: 12
1 hr., 15 min. We will drive from Lazy F Ranch, via I-84 and SR-12 Driving Distance or Time: West, to the upper Cowiche Canyon Trailhead on Note: EXTRA COST: $20/person at the ferry. Scenic Drive, in Yakima. Once there, we will meet Cy Philbrick, Education and Community Outreach West Bar is a gravel point bar on the Columbia River person for Cowiche Canyon Conservancy. He’ll give along Lake Wanapum near Trinidad. Unusual, huge us a brief overview of the 35 year history of how the current ripples were created by the last of the conservancy was formed, what they’ve achieved catastrophic Bretz floods from Glacial Lake Missoula. from grassroots advocacy and what new projects lay This landform is considered the largest and best ahead. I will talk about the importance of example of giant current ripples on Earth and has conductivity for migration and how CCC lands are not been fully explored botanically. This trip will only part of the work in this area and that a recent record the flora of dunal, wetland, scabland, and DNR land purchase will enhance the north/south riparian habitats found on and near West Bar. corridor that the Arid Lands Initiative identified as a critical pathway. Also, the recent land purchase by For this exploration, participants will carpool from CCC and the newly proposed wildflower trail at the the Lazy F Camp to Crescent Bar Resort in Trinidad. Canyon. We will make a short circuit around the From Crescent Bar Resort, participants will then be crest, dropping briefly into one of the populations of ferried across Lake Wanapum to West Bar by Lomatium columbianum. There I will speak about Captain Tom. West Bar is located on WDFW’s the incredible diversity of CCC lands, including 12 Colockum Wildlife Area. Participants should expect species of Lomatium and 8 species of buckwheats. to hike up to three miles and should be prepared for sun exposure and dry and warm conditions. https://www.wnps.org/plant-lists/list?Vantage (this list is the closest we could get)
Photo by Fred Stanley
Trip Title: 110: Manastash Ridge loop via Photo by Richard Droker Westberg and Boy Scout trails SOLD OUT Trip Title: 109: Iron Bear (Green Trail map Trip Leader: Laura Potash, Robert Rittenhouse “Liberty”) Duration: Full day, Saturday Trip Leader: Julia Bent and Pam Camp Distance: 4.5 miles Duration: Full day, Saturday Elevation gain: 1800 feet Length: 7 miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevation gain: 1700 ft. Number of Participants: 12 Difficulty: Moderate Driving Distance or Time: 20 min. Number of Participants: 12 Driving Distance or Time: 40 min. One of the things I love about this loop is how many Note: Forest pass not needed at this trailhead. different habitats we travel through. On the way up No restrooms. the Westberg trail we climb steadily through open country dominated by arid-land shrubs including big This field trip provides some flexibility for those sagebrush, stiff sagebrush, gray rabbitbrush, eager to hike longer and farther as well as for those serviceberry, hawthorn, and can take rest breaks who are interested in a shorter excursion. The under Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. We may see trailhead is just three miles off the Blewett Pass wildflower displays that include three species of highway (SR 97), shortly before the pass. The trail traverses through mixed conifers coming out into balsam root, silvercrown Luina, and different species the open as it meanders up 600 feet in 1.8 miles to of desert-parsley, buckwheat, Indian paintbrush, and the ridge dividing the Iron and Bear creek drainages. lupines to name a few. On the ridgetop, we get to For a shorter trip, this is a good turnaround point. witness acres of an adorable plant known as thyme- For the rest, the trail continues up another 1,100 leaf buckwheat, hunt for big-headed clover, and take feet in 1.5 miles to a summit lookout. in the breathtaking views – Umtanum ridge to the south, Mt. Stuart and the Enchantments to the After leaving the forest, the hike passes an open north, and the Cascade crest to the northwest. We area. Watch for Asteraceae, Brassicaceae descend via the Boy Scout trail, through a shady Crassulaceae, and Ranunculaceae residents. Just well-developed mixed conifer forest dominated by uphill from the first turnaround point look for tall Oregon-grape and oceanspray. The final portion bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva v. rediviva) on the rocky takes us through a pretty pastoral scene alongside slope. A late snowpack may reveal steer’s head an aqueduct and agricultural fields. (Dicentra uniflora). At the summit showy Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium elegans) grows among rocky Species list: https://www.wnps.org/plant- outcrops. lists/list?Manastash Plant list: (https://www.wnps.org/plant- lists/list?Iron_Creek_Trail).
Photo by Julie O’Donald
Photo by Richard Droker Trip Title: 111: Native Plants and Butterflies that Utilize Them Trip Title: 112: Rocky Coulee and Plant Trip Leader: David Droppers Photography at Ginko Petrified Forest State Duration: Full day, Saturday Park Distance: 2-4 miles, depending on what we find Trip Leader: Mark Turner Elevation gain: Minimal Duration: Full day, Saturday Difficulty: Easy Length: ~4 miles Number of Participants: 10 Elevation gain: 1300 ft. Driving distance or time: 40 min. Difficulty: Moderate Note: Discover pass required Ever wonder if there were more to butterflies Number of Participants: 12 than just some pretty colors? Join David and Driving Distance or Time: 50 min. get introduced to (or reacquainted with) their biology, their relationship with native and non- Meander up an old road on Ginkgo Petrified Forest native plants, and maybe even learn a little bit State Park, learning about some of the trees, shrubs, about their moth cousins. and late-season wildflowers as you hone your photography skills. We will travel to the Umtanum Creek Recreation Site (its label on Google Maps), and We’ll follow the dirt track up Rocky Coulee, following cross the suspension bridge to the mouth of the creek for about 1.6 miles before we take off cross-country up a hillside to a fine Umtanum Creek. From there, we will enter a example of lithosol habitat. All three of our common number of different habitats, all inhabited by species of sagebrush are here, along with several numerous and diverse species of butterflies – buckwheats, rabbitbrush, and smaller plants. We’ll everyone’s favorite insect! try our hand at identifying plants in seed as they go We will be utilizing a number of non-lethal, dormant for the summer. We’ll photograph catch-and-release methods to examine adult individual plants as well as pondering the broader butterflies, as well as sample plants for landscape. Use your smartphone camera or a bigger caterpillars. one with more creative choices. A tripod is encouraged for those using a mirrorless or DSLR camera.
https://www.wnps.org/plant-lists/list?Rocky_Coulee and a topo map at: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#label/wn ps+board%2Fstudy+WE+2020?projector=1
Photo by Richard Droker
Trip Title: 114: Umtanum Ridge from Yakima Canyon Photo by Denise Mahnke Trip Leader: Ray Izumi Duration: Full Day, Saturday Trip Title: 113: Table Mountain SOLD OUT Length: 1-3 miles Trip Leader: David Giblin Elevation gain: Less than 1000 ft. Duration: Full day, Saturday Difficulty: Moderate Distance: Via automobiles--possibly, a mile walk Number of Participants: 12 Elevation gain: possibly a few hundred feet. Driving Distance or Time: 40 min. Number of Participants: 12 Note: A $5 day use BLM fee per car is required. Driving Distance or Time: 45 min. Restrooms at trail head.
Table Mountain is one of the most botanically Umtanum Ridge (part of the L. T. Murray Wildlife Area) is well known for its wildlife-- Bighorn Sheep, diverse areas in the Ellensburg area that falls outside deer, coyotes, and many species of birds (as well as of the Wenatchee Mountains. A giant, mesa-like rattlesnakes!) But of equal interest is the wide slab of basalt sits atop slopes falling away to the variety of shrubs and wildflowers found in this Kittitas Valley to the south and the Swauk valley to shrub-steppe. Expect to see Green Rabbitbrush the west. A well-paved road leads from the south (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) and various side (Reecer Creek) to about 1 mile from the Table sagebrushes, which provide shady microhabitats for Mountain summit (Lion Rock). smaller species such as violets, collomias, lupines, and pussytoes, each represented by at least two Along the road are wonderful examples of lithosol, species. Many should be in full bloom. sagebrush-steppe, Ponderosa pine forest Hiking all the way to the ridge can be arduous in understory, open meadows, and something June sun (2200' vertical, 4+ miles hiking). Our trip approaching subalpine sagebrush near the summit will meander from the Yakima River upward toward (access will be based on how much snow fell in the the ridge with no set goal for distance; we will adjust winter/how early the spring melt-off occurs. to conditions and group preferences. Most of the species on the plant list can be found in the first 1-2 On this trip we will carpool from Lazy F and travel as miles of hiking. Expect to ascend the lower reaches far up Table Mountain as the snow allows. If of the trail. possible, we may walk the last mile of road to the summit. We will stop along the way to observe a Directions: Driving directions will be provided to the diversity of habitats and a rich mixture of our Umtanum Recreation area. A plant list is at: sagebrush wildflowers. The nearly 4,000 feet in (https://www.wnps.org/plant- elevation. lists/list?Lower_Umtanum)
Photo by Ron Bockelman
Photo by Ben Legler Trip Title: 116: Wild Horse Wind Farm Trip Leader: Ron Bockelman Trip Title: 115: Umtanum Ridge, West side Duration: Full day, Saturday Distance: four 1-hour walks Trip Leader: Kevin Head Elevation gain: negligible Duration: Full day, Saturday Number of Participants: 12 5 miles Distance: Driving Distance or Time: 50 min. Elevation gain: 900 feet Note: PSE Rec. Access Pass required. Number of Participants: 12 Restrooms in two areas. Driving Distance or Time: 35 min. Poles might be handy for rocky areas. Note: Discover Pass required. Puget Sound Energy’s Wild Horse Wind & Solar This hike is a half hour drive from Ellensburg on Facility is located 16 miles east of Ellensburg (30 Umptanum Road just past Ellensburg Pass between miles east of Lazy F). It offers a variety of sagebrush- Wenas and Umtanum. The hike is an old road hike steppe habitats that can be explored along the main through the upper ecosystems of Umtanum Ridge. road through the wind farm. Restrooms are available Participants will see the peak flowers of eastern near the wind farm entrance and at visitor center, Washington. The hike takes one up through north where we plan to eat lunch. side flowers and Ponderosa stands to the Umtanum Ridge. On top we will have incredible view to the This field trip consists of four approximately 1-hour Stuart Range and Mt Rainier. We will also go off trail walks. They are separated by short drives of to extensive Lupine/Phlox meadows. approximately 5 minutes. All are across relatively level terrain, but there are a few rocky areas where Some highlights will be Collomia, Bitterroot, those with poor balance might consider walking Brodaea, lupine, phlox, Paintbrush, Penstemon sticks/trekking poles. and many others. The first walk is near the entrance at an elevation of 2700 where big sage (Artemisia tridentata ssp. Participants should carpool as tridentata) is the predominant shrub. Next is an area there are only a few spots to park at 3000-ft elevation midway up the road to the along Umptanum road. visitor center. Here there are some plant communities on lithosols with stiff sage (A. rigida) predominant, while others are in deeper soils with mountain sage (A. tridentata ssp. vaseyana). The visitor center is at 3500 feet, surrounded by lithosols, and has a nice patch of snowball/hedgehog cactus Sunday Workshops and Field Trips:
Photo by Dan Paquette
Workshop Title: 201: Advocacy; Understanding Advocacy Leaders: Clay Antieau, WNPS Past President and Photo by Dan Paquette Casey Leigh, Founder of Hawaii’s Environmental Law Program Workshop Title: 202: Advocacy; Leader Duration: 3 hours, Sunday morning, 9:00 AM Discussion – Open Door Leaders: Clay Antieau, Past President, WNPS, This two-part workshop is an exciting opportunity Van Bobbit, WNPS President, Becky Chaney, for WNPS members of all backgrounds to learn more Chair, WNPS Conservation Committee, about basic regulatory tools affecting the Dan Gluesenkamp, Executive Director, conservation of native plants and animals. California Native Plant Society Overview of Administrative Law – Casey Leigh. Duration: 1.5 hours, Sunday afternoon Although the legislative branch passes the laws that 1:00 pm affect native plants, governmental agencies play a Time: critical role in their implementation. This portion of Theme: WNPS Advocacy – the future. the workshop covers the different types of decisions Participation: past presidents of WNPS, WNPS such agencies make, the ramifications of these current leaders, and members welcome. differences for us as advocates, and how to best participate in agency decision-making. In a survey last fall, WNPS directors were asked what they would like to see WNPS focus on in the next NEPA, SEPA, and Decision Makers – Clay Antieau. five years. “Advocate for the protection of native This portion of the workshop covers the essentials of plant and their habitats” was the top vote-getter. the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Washington State Environmental Policy Act WNPS has a very active Conservation Committee and (SEPA), including the origins of these statutes, their a long history of advocacy. But how do we take intent, and the administrative and public processes advocacy to the next level? And what lessons can be associated with each. We’ll discuss how learned from the California Native Plant Society and environmental activists and other concerned citizens other environmental organizations? Join us for lively, engage NEPA/SEPA in support of their specific though-provoking discussion. causes and interests. Special attention is given to the current relevance of SEPA, issues around environmental justice, approaches and methods for critical analysis and evaluation of proposed projects that will cause adverse environmental effects, and how NEPA and SEPA have been and are currently being abused.
Photo by Dan Paquette
Photo by Denise Mahnke Trip Title: 203: Agate Bed Trail SOLD OUT Trip Leader: Shelley Evans Trip Title: 204: Osborn Point Meadows Duration: Half day, Sunday SOLD OUT Distance: about 2 ¼ miles Trip Leader: Helen Lau Elevation gain: about 700 feet Duration: Half day, Sunday Difficulty: Moderate, ski poles useful in places Distance: negligible Number of Participants: 12 Difficulty: easy Driving Distance or Time: None Number of Participants: 12
Elevation gain: negligible Note: This trip can be combined with advocacy Driving Distance or Time: 1 hour, 10 min. workshop 202.
This trail begins behind the Skyline cabin at the Lazy Note: This trip can be combined with advocacy F Ranch and ascends about 340 feet. Along the way, workshop 202. you might see Ribes cereum or squaw current, Symphocarpos albus, and ocean spray (Holodiscus Explore the meadows adjacent to Peoh point. Some discolor). Near the trail head for moss lovers, there’s refer to this site as Osborn point. A variety of the bottle brush-like Polytrichum juniperinum and Lomatium’s, including Lomatium knokei reside in the shag rug-like, golden, glossy Brachythecium these meadows. Ribes lobbii, Eriogonum’s and albicans. On top of the ridge, while still in the Penstomen’s surround the upland boarder of the ponderosa forest, enjoy the vernal effect of the meadow specialist such as Pyrrocoma hirta var. Calamagrostis rubescens (pine grass). Look for bitter sonchifolia, Sidalcea oregana var. oregana. cherry (Prunus emarginata), and Ceonothus velutinus Meadows are found between FS road 3350 past (snowbrush). Further along are great views across Osborn Point to its junction with FS road 3352 near the canyon and beneath your feet lie the promising Taneum Point. leaves of Balsamorhiza sp and occasional groups of an Artemisia. The trail eventually descends back into the forest and watch for Philadelphus lewisii (mock orange) and red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea). Here is an opportunity to present an initial plant list to the Lazy F Staff.
Plant list: Download the Manastash plant list at https://www.wnps.org/plant-lists/county?Kittitas
.
Photo by Ben Legler
Trip Title: 205: Robinson Canyon SOLD OUT Trip Leader: Don Schaechtel Duration: Half day, Sunday Distance: 4 miles Elevation gain: 800 feet Difficulty: moderate Photo by Richard Droker Number of Participants: 12 Driving Distance or Time: 25 minutes Trip Number & Title: 206: Umtanum Creek Note: Discover Pass required. Falls Trip Leader: Jeff Walker
Duration: Half day, Sunday Note: This trip can be coupled with Workshop Length: 3 miles 202. Elevation gain: 700 ft. Difficulty: Moderate Robinson Canyon is west of Ellensburg, and on the Number of Participants: 12 way home for many Study Weekenders. On this trip Driving Distance or Time: 35 min. we will see riparian, forest, and shrub-steppe Note: Discover Pass required. habitats, along with meadows and basalt cliffs. This area is home to deer and elk, and also popular with Note: This trip can be coupled with Workshop birders (bring binoculars). Velvet lupine (Lupinus 202 leucophyllus) is a botanical highlight. Check out the online plant list for a preview of the diverse species Hike downhill, enjoy spring blooms and throw rocks we may find. into a punchbowl at the bottom of a 40-foot waterfall. The way is shaded by Douglas-fir and We will begin at the end of Robinson Canyon Road, ponderosa pine, with wildflowers like yellow desert- where an elk fence marks the beginning of the L. T. parsley, bluebells, wax currant, and bitterbrush. Murray Wildlife Area. Drivers will need a Discover Identify the sweet fragrance of sagebrush, while Pass. We will explore the lower end of the canyon keeping an eye out for bighorn sheep on nearby and then hike up a trail toward Ainsley Canyon, canyon walls. The trail opens up to reveal Umtanum where we will find a broad meadow, an old stone Creek Falls, a pretty little waterfall that cascades into a pool surrounded on three sides by basalt walls. For house, and views; plus plenty of native plants. We a plant list, go to: https://www.wnps.org/plant- will return to the cars by 2 pm. lists/list?Lower_Umtanum
Photo by Richard Droker
Trip Title: 208: Taneum Lake Trip Leader: Walter Fertig Duration: Half day, Sunday Photo by WSDOT/USFS Length: 4 miles Trip Title: 207: I-90 Corridor Tour Elevation gain: 120 ft. Trip Leader: Kelly Evans, Mark Norman Difficulty: Easy Duration: Half day, Sunday Number of Participants: Limited to 10 (sensitive Distance: Roughly 2 miles spread over 5 van environments) stops Driving Distance or Time: 1 hr., 40 min. Elevation gain: ~ 500 ft. Difficulty: Easy Our goal will be to explore the late spring Number of Participants: 18 wildflowers along the south side of Cle Elum Ridge along FS roads 3120 and 3100 and on the short trail Driving Distance or time: 1 hour to Taneum Lake. We will explore a variety
communities at 1-2 roadside stops enroute or The I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project is returning from the lake. credited as being the first highway expansion project in Washington State history with broad Nearly 200 vascular plant species have been support from the environmental community. documented from this area, based on data from the Field trip participants will explore the features Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria. Our goal will be to try to add some new species to that list. that make this project so special – large crossing Among the interesting species we hope to see are structures and restored habitats designed to Cascades rockcress (Arabis furcata; Columbia lewisia connect fish, wildlife, and ecological processes (Lewisia columbiana), also found in rocky crevices; across the highway. Tweedy’s reedgrass (Calamagrostis tweedyi) and Knoke’s desert-parsley (Lomatium knokei), which is We’ll speak with USFS Natural Resource endemic to wet meadows on Cle Elum Mountain. Specialist, Kelly Evans, about her team’s efforts over the past decade, collecting, growing, and Driving directions will be provided. For a plant list, planting locally-adapted, native species within go to: https://www.wnps.org/plant-lists/list?Taneum_Lake the restored habitats on the I-90 Project.
For project details please watch with Cascades Crossroads documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGFIoLkEK P4
Some areas may be muddy, others rocky. Poles may be helpful in the rocky areas.
Photo by Richard Droker
Trip Title: 209: Tronsen Ridge and its First Flowers Photo by Ben Legler Trip leader: Richard Ramsden Duration: Half day, Sunday Trip Title: 210: Umtanum Creek-Yakima River Length: 4-5 miles Trip Leader: Molly Boyter, Emily Orling Elevation gain: 400 ft. Duration: Half day, Sunday Difficulty: Easy Distance: 3 – 6 miles Number of Participants: 12 Elevation Gain: 100 feet Note: NW Forest Pass required. Difficulty: Moderate Driving Distance or Time: 62 min. Number of Participants: 12
Driving Distance or Time: 40 min. This trip will see species that are the first to flower on Tronsen Ridge such as Erythronium (Glacier lilies-- Note: BLM fee of $5 per vehicle for parking. fine displays), Draba and Douglasia (exquisite and at their peak), plus some surprises. This riparian and shrub-steppe hike will be along the lower Umtanum Creek in the Yakima River Canyon. Vehicles will meet up at the Swauk Forest Discovery Participants can expect to see both willows and birch trailhead (just south of Blewett Pass/Hwy 97) then along the creek and lomatiums, balsamroots, and drive gravel roads FS9716/9712 to the south end of sagebrush adjacent to the creek. This is also a Tronsen Ridge, elevation 5500 ft., where the hike popular birding spot. We will be following an begins. intermittent trail along the creek bed, and there may
be a creek crossing, if the group is willing. A hiker to this site so early in the season should expect to encounter some downed trees and Trip participants will carpool approximately 30 patches of snow. Prepare as usual: sturdy shoes, minutes from Thorp, WA to the Bureau of Land water & food, jackets, rain gear. See the plant list at: Management Umtanum Recreation Area. There is a https://www.wnps.org/plant- BLM fee of $5 per vehicle for parking, so carpooling lists/list?Tronson_Ridge is encouraged. Hiking distance will depend on the
pace of the group, but be prepared to spend the day
in part shade to full sun with temperatures possible
between the 60’s to the high 80’s. Also be prepared
for hazards such as poison ivy and rattlesnakes.
Photo by Joe Rocchio Photo by Dan Paquette
Trip Title: 211: Fish Lake Bog Trip Title: 212: Iron Bear Trip Leader: Joe Rocchio Trip Leader: Joan Frazee, Cindy Luksus Length: 2-3 miles Duration: Full day, Sunday Elevation Gain: 100 ft. Distance: 7 miles Duration: Full Day, Sunday Elevation gain: 1900 feet Difficulty: moderate Difficulty: Difficult Number Participants: 12 Number of Participants: 12 Driving distance or time: 1 hr. 55 min. Driving Distance or Time: 40 minutes Note: NW Forest Pass required. Fish Lake Bog is a large wetland complex that formed on the west end of Fish Lake (NE of Lake This trip is on the south side of Blewett Pass and will Wenatchee). Most of the wetland is a large peatland involve an approximate 40 minute drive from Lazy F with an interesting mix of acidic to slightly alkaline Camp and Retreat Center. As you drive north on fen vegetation and offers a very diverse flora to Highway 97, turn left on Iron Creek Road (Forest explore. We will take pH and electrical conductivity Service Road 9714) and drive approximately 3 miles measures in this area and discuss difference to reach the Iron-Bear trailhead (Trail #1351). between bogs and fens. Along the western edge of the wetland are small pockets of slightly alkaline This is a fairly strenuous hike: 7 miles roundtrip with fens supported by groundwater discharge. The 1,900 feet of elevation gain. The trail ascends the wetland supports a number of USFS sensitive Iron Creek Valley 1.8 miles through open ponderosa vascular plants and bryophytes. pine, Douglas-fir, and grand fir forests to reach Teanaway Ridge and the county line ridge trail. Here Getting into the peatland may require walking we will turn right and follow the ridge trail to a high through mucky and/or inundated areas. Rubber point at 5489 feet elevation where we will find the boots (knee-high) should suffice in keeping your feet tiny but lovely steer’s head Dicentra uniflora. If no dry and allow you to explore some of the wetter longer in bloom, we will look for the senescent areas of the peatland. If you don’t have rubber flowers. boots, please bring footwear you don’t mind getting Two Wenatchee Mountain endemics, Wenatchee submerged and/or muddy. Mountain desert-parsley (Lomatium cuspidatum) and Thompson’s cryptantha (Cryptantha thompsonii), may be seen along with other east- slope Cascade species. From the ridge there are great views of the Wenatchee Mountains
Photo by Ben Legler
Trip Title: 213: Oak Wood Lands and Riparian Areas Along Tieton River
Trip Leader: Jim Evans Photo by Richard Droker Duration: full day, Sunday Length: 3-4 miles Trip Title: 214: Thorp Mountain, Wild foods Elevation gain: minimal and Ethnobotany Difficulty: easy to moderate Trip Leader: T. Abe Lloyd Number of Participants: 12 Duration: full day, Sunday Driving Distance or Time: 1 hr., 15 min. Length: ~5 miles Note: Discover pass at Fish & Wildlife Elevation gain: 1734 ft. Difficulty: Difficult This all-day, ecosystem-oriented trip will follow parts Number of Participants: 12 of the Tieton River Nature Trail to sample some of Driving distance or Time: 1 hr., 20 min. the area’s plant and wildlife habitats.
This short, steep trail offers plenty of woodland and We’ll park at a visitor center (Fish and Wildlife). meadow wildflowers along east and south slopes From the parking area we’ll walk cross Highway 12 with grand views of the Teanaway, Stuart Range, (carefully), then cross the Tieton River on a sturdy and Rainier and Adams. The trails climbs 2.2 miles footbridge to explore a beautiful Oregon white oak/ shrub-steppe savanna beneath towering andesite with 1734 ft. of elevation gain to a fire lookout at 5854 ft. We will have lunch at the lookout and then columns. descend down the north slope on the Thorpe Creek
We’ll then return to the visitor center, and carpool a trail to Thorpe Lake to examine the wetlands around the small lake. Then we will bushwhack for ½ mile few more miles upriver to another trailhead, where back to the Knox creek trail to return to our vehicles we’ll cross the river again, this time on a suspension by 3PM. bridge, and make our way upriver through a riparian zone alive with diverse plant habitats and migratory About the leader: T. Abe Lloyd is a professor at Western Washington University and the author of birds (bring binoculars!). At day’s end, we’ll retrace Wild Berries of Washington and Oregon. He studies our steps downriver and returning to our cars. the use of native plants by Indigenous Peoples in the
Pacific Northwest for food and fiber. Rattlesnakes require a calm awareness, but not https://www.wnps.org/plant- fear. Their heart’s desire is to have nothing to do lists/list?Knox_Creek_Trail with us. Ticks are also routinely present – and more desirous of our company. Light-colored, long- sleeved shirts and pants are recommended. Plant list: https://www.wnps.org/plant- lists/list?Tieton_River_Nature_Trail
Photo by Ron Bockelman
Trip Title: 215: Whiskey Dick Trip Leader: Joe Arnett Duration: Full day, Sunday Distance: 3 miles Elevation gain: less than 500 feet Difficulty: easy to moderate Number of Participants: 12 Driving Distance or Time: 50 min. Note: Discover Pass required.
Whiskey Dick Mountain has extensive shrub steppe vegetation, in some places in excellent condition, though in others locally impacted by the Wildhorse wind farm. The area includes both shallow, rocky, lithosols as well as areas of deeper soil. Numerous species of Eriogonum (desert buckwheat), Lomatium (desert parsley), diverse members of the Asteraceae (Sunflower Family), and many other sagebrush steppe species are prominent. Pediocactus (hedgehog cactus) is also abundant in places.
This site is especially beautiful for the expansive views of the Kittitas Valley (south), the Columbia Plateau (south and east), the Coluckum Wildlife Area (north), and the North Cascades (west) that it offers on a clear day.
If the road to the Wildhorse wind farm is open, we should be able to approach from the Old Vantage Highway and drive to the top of the mountain. The walking should be along open ridge tops.