Neat Neat Neat

The dry side always calls me, particularly so in its very early and brief Spring.  The dry arid countryside holds little interest for many who fly through on the freeway.  For me it is a world of wonder.  It think what draws me is that it is so different from my home.  A few short hours and I am in a different country.

The area west of Vantage, just up from the Columbia River feels ancient and timeless.  It is hard country with bare rock and swift winds.  The wind turbines are taking advantage of these winds, generating power.

From a handy parking area on the highway you can strike out over the land or along many dirt roads.  It is a popular hunting area in the Winter, but during the other seasons bird watchers and flower seekers ramble the land.  There are many fair roads and motorcycles and bikes are a handy way to get out into the open range. Most cars are not useful here in the rutted broken roads

Flowers draw me.  I come here to see the Hedgehog Cactus in bloom.  I am also on the lookout for Bitterroot.  All over the dry slopes Meadowlark sing their wonderful gurgling song.  Such shy birds, getting a picture is next to impossible.   I am sure those birds who live in town are better models for the camera. 

I did not have any particular place in mind so I struck out on one of the roads.  the slopes were covered in Lupine , Balsamroot and Desert Parsleys.

I figured I needed to go someplace I had not been before so I decided to go over and see those basalt cliffs.  I simply walked straight for them, cross country.

Not content to take the easy way up I climbed up the narrow route to the left.  I was hoping to meet something interesting in the rocks.  Nothing was about.

I found this nifty water catcher.  Just two corrugated metal panels and a fiberglass basin.  I have never seen anything like it.

I found an old water trough half filled with water and growing some kind of green duckweed.  On a stick just breaking the surface, a small butterfly was very polite and allowed me to get a few pictures.  There are many small blue butterflies; collectively called "Blues".  My tentative id of this one is Silvery Blue .

I rambled for some time keeping my eyes out for cactus.  They are predictable in their preference for rocky broken rocky areas.  Being small and close to the ground when they are young and not in bloom it is easy to mistake them for a rock.  I hate stepping on the little ones.  The bigger ones are simple to spot.

Cannot miss these.

Bitterroot seemed to be missing this day.  Perhaps I was simply in the wrong spot.  I made my way back towards the parking area into an area I knew fairly well.  It was not long before I spotted some choice blooms. 

Lewisia rediviva ; restored to life.  This, I feel, is our most beautiful native flower.  Its small buds push up through the hard soil, often from under rocks.  Easy to step on those fragile buds. 

I walked along the road with my eyes down.  Not content with just one random blossom.

Then I saw something move in front of me.  I wasn't going to make a hunt but I could not leave it be.  I quickly got my camera at the ready and got on my hands and knees  (in the wilderness no one can hear you say "oof")

I see you

A Pygmy short-horned lizard (Phrynosoma douglassii) aka horned toad.  It could not have been more than 3 inches long including tail.  Probably young, they top out at 5 inches

This is the good stuff.

Neat neat neat

Kittitas County Ramble

Using Professor Mass' blog and YouTube pod cast I knew the only open weather for Saturday was going to be Kittitas. How lucky I am that the center of our state is one of my favorite places to explore.

I decided to go where I would. I knew that I was not going to be able to get back for some time and I knew I have missed some of the best of the far dry side. I got up super early to get on the road.

My first stop is one of my favorite places, Elk Heights. This spot along the freeway is where the pine forests and hills give way to the basalt flows and grasslands of the dry side. As always the wind was ripping here and its temperature reminded me that they are still skiing some places in the mountains. Brrr. But who can resist Balsamroot and lupins in the fields.

I took the surface road along the Thorp Prairie and got a close up look at some of the farms and houses that have clearly been here over 100 years. Behind this barn complex the land gives way to a deep cut in the basalt. This Hwy 10 road used to be the main east west highway through the state. The Thorp area and the land to the east through Ellensberg supports some of the best hay agriculture in the country. The hay here is rich and plentiful. It is also huge business. Much of the product gets placed directly into shipping containers and winds up in the best barns in the far Pacific Rim. The hay for the Sydney Olympics came from this valley.

By the time I got to Ellensberg I could see the wind turbines and noted that they were barely turning. I know they can choose to run them or not, but could I be in luck and have a calm day? If so I knew there is not time like now to get up to the Colockum Management Area along Hwy 10 and sleuth out some of the fun plants of the dry side.

There were several trucks and trailers with off-road vehicles. Over the way a lone woman appeared to be weeding or picking something. As I walked near I saw the cross I had noted before. She was cleaning bits from around it. Hand made, sprayed in Camo with name and date of one far too young. The woman could be his mother. I was reminded that this Memorial Day means there are outings missing some of the loved ones. I have to imagine this young man once roamed these hills on his motorcycle. She did not look up and I did not disturb her in her loving task.

The area was nicely quiet and with no wind I felt that my foot falls were making far too much sound. My binocular straps are on swivel clips that squeak and chirp. Sometimes they make me stop and wonder who is behind me.

But I could hear music. My Pavarotti! A Sage Thrasher sang his run-on song; on and on like an aria. Lovely warbling all over the scale, it always sounds ever so slightly rusty, as if he needs a drink.

I also heard a Western Meadowlark. The lone bird up on the slope acted like all Meadowlark when I am on foot. Flighty mistrusting and never willing to hold still. I don't know how I got so lucky to capture this one photo. I really had my lens zoomed up.

Birds never seem to be in the right position relative to sun light sky or background. That is what I thought would happen with this Loggerhead Shrike photo, but I am pleased to present him to you. This bird is also known as the " butcher bird". They capture bugs and impale them upon thorns and barbed wire spikes for safekeeping. His song is small , private chortles and chips.

Clearly all these birds have hopes for a happy nesting season.

I enjoyed being in a gully and looking up slope to see lovely big sky like this.

I hiked further north than usual and turned back to enjoy the ridge and how it changes as you go up slope and gain the top. This soil, in places is bare basalt rock and here I find Hedgehog Cactus.

Most of them are past bloom, others barely started ( like the above) , but I got lucky with this one. Bonus bugs too!

Dominating the ground here are the woolly-pod vetches / locoweeds (Astragalus) and Buckwheats (Eriogonum). These are an annoying array of plants that take tons of study to get to know. I am usually content to recognize them for what clan they belong to. The Buckwheats are favorite flowers of many of our butterflies. While the wind was not blowing I was not seeing much in the way of butterflies. I know they like to fly at certain times of day. Around here seeking out wet areas and mud pans is a great way to capture pictures. I kept hoping the clouds would break and warm the area enough, perhaps drawing the bugs out of hiding. Nothing ever happened.

I was content to wander up over the ridge looking for the prize I knew should be here. I was not disappointed. The Bitterroot are just coming into bloom and I found many. This will likely be my only chance for the year and once again, I know my love of this flower is justified.

Rediviva, reborn

The roots spring back to life when soaked in Spring rains and the succulent stems support the tough buds as they break out of the dry , crusty lithosoils.

I walked further east than usual and enjoyed the down slope of the ridge. Where the slop develops a pitch the soil gains moisture and the grasses start again. Here, looking east I can just make out the other side of the Columbia River and where the agriculture area starts again. To the South I can hear occasional sounds of artillery on the Yakima Firing Range. It echos and bounces over these hills.

Rock outcrops break the south slope of this ridge and I looked for Horned Toads and other surprises but found none. Just more flowers,

Brodiaea , Tritelia

Rock Penstemon

Phacelia

and the every challenging daisy clan. I believe these are Townsendia

I headed back along Hwy 10 to Ellensberg and noted not very far from the ridge the pavement was soaking wet. It had poured rain not a mile from where I was. I wandered the roads back to Ellensberg stopping to admire this old barn.

Some of the fields flood up at this time of year when tiny creeks burst in the flats and the flooded fields support Wild Iris.

So it was a lovely slow type day. I needed something relaxing and not too challenging. It has been an intense, fast, busy couple of weeks. Even though it is a three day weekend, busy stuff and work calls on Sunday. Monday weather promises to be not that great but we will have to deal with that when it arrives.

Today I said good-by )( or rather "thanks" ) to a traveling companion of the last few years. I never met her, but she was always with me on Sunday morning. Liane Hansen of NPR retired after 22 years of sharing Sunday Morning with us. I knew I could count on her to tell me something new and share The Puzzle with me. Her voice carried me along over many miles.

Have a lovely "retirement" Liane, you will be missed. I hope your new road is filled with many adventures and wonderful discoveries.

To you all, I say goodbye for a few weeks. I too am off on an adventure.

Someplace like here...only different.

Cage Match : Tweedy vs Bitterroot

I have spent the last two days truly meandering around.

Saturday morning I headed over to Blewett Pass and checked out a trail that climbs the ridge up to Red Top. It was at Red Top last Summer that I encountered a puzzling plant that lead me to Flickr. From there I have ventured out into the world of blogging and am now pondering the possible purchase of a nice camera.

It is a sickness I tell you.

Blewett Pass is just waking up from the late snows. The roads are open but not real good yet. I suspect the best will be in about three weeks. I hope to get up and find the flowering plant that created these interesting seed pods ; Washington Twinpod.

I poked around the greater Leavenworth area and remembered when I was driving home via Hwy 2 that there was a glorious bloom of Tweedys Lewisia up on some rocks along the highway. I have never seen these plants close up and my friend Ron Hanko reported about them on his blog last week. When I read his blog entry I imagined him scrambling up on the rock face to capture his images. I figured why not.

I doubled back and while trying to decide where to pull off looked into the woods. From the far side of the road I could see large boulders inside the woods adorned with flowers.

I could not believe my luck. I pulled ahead to a parking lot near a picnic area and walked back. It was an easy scamper into the woods and onto the large boulder. I am pretty sure these were the flowers Ron captured as well.

Such bold flowers with subtle color.

Like blushing butter ; cream yellow a hint of rose. They have nice bold leaves too. All of this growing on a hand full of soil and mosses, loosely attached to a massive boulder.

I immediately thought about what I had often read, there are those that consider this Washingtons most beautiful wildflower. Is it? Does it really compete with another Lewisia , Bitterroot?

I decided today that I would hike up the Boy Scout Trail at Ray Westburg and come down Rays trail. I wanted to see if the Mariposa Lily's were starting to bloom. The Boy Scout Trail heads up the ridge through a deep re-entrant (canyon/ gully) which has a fair number of Ponderosa Pines inside. There were a lot of flowers blooming today, certainly more than I have ever seen here.

The Boy Scout trail joins Rays trail about 2/3 of the way up the ridge. It had obviously rained overnight and it was certainly not warm. Even though there was a lot of buckwheat blooming, I can count on one hand the butterflies I saw. Later next month you can come here and be surrounded by butterflies, particularly the Blues. I did capture this Common Ringlet.

At the top I thought I would wander out to the road. Once you reach the top the environment changes to hard lithosoil and a mix of rocky and grassy areas. On the final bit of climb I decided that it might be fun to hike west a ways and return to my car by hiking down slope cross country using stock trails made by elk deer and cattle.

I am so glad I decided this. Along the road and in most of the open areas I found patches of Bitterroot. One open rocky area pulled me in and here there were hundreds of buds and flowers. I crossed the area and headed for some trees. I picked up an old road that has been closed and started descending. The road switched back and came to an end but the hoof stock clearly show they cross regularly. These animals must go down slope for water and there are no regular streams or pools up top.

I followed a narrow track across a very steep face and up over the ridge. I knew I was two ridges over from Rays trail and I was thrilled at the solitude. There were wonderful flowers and I even had a few bird encounters. I could hear a grouse calling and every once in a while "baby bird in nest" begging sounds.

It was interesting to see that almost every large tree had a skirt of pale green Miners Lettuce around the base. This small green plant is tasty and I cannot resist nibbling some when I find it. It is sweet fresh and "green" tasting. I might be convinced there is a bit of fresh corn flavor as well.

There were several stock trail intersections and I knew the general direction to follow so I let that be my guide. I gained a new ridgeline and instantly saw that I was above the Boy Scout Trail canyon. I had a man pass me this morning heading in and he took the high trail to gain this ridge. The trail itself was still created by and for hoof stock. Everywhere plants blooming including more Tritelia than I have ever seen.

It was in concert with the Larkspur and Lupin to make sure every tone of blue was painted today.

I noticed an open rocky area and walked near. I saw Bitterroot here, an unexpected surprise. I admired the little plant and turned to proceed and stopped dead and gasped

then laughed with glee.

A large rocky area covered in Bitterroot.

Hundreds of blooms, uncountable number of buds just breaking through.

Oh they were magnificent.

And I have my answer. They are amazing and beautiful! Hugging the dirt and pushing aside rocks. Braving sun and wind to bloom in what appears to be unwelcome hard crusty soil.

I will accept the Tweedys Lewisia is a beauty of the woods, but Bitterroot...

They are so grand they have a mountain range named after them!

Ancent Lakes

Not really that old.


When I first got into birding I learned a lot about the natural history of the state by going on field trips. Eastern Washington was always a favored destination because it offered a complete change of environment , flora and fauna.


During one of these trips I met someone who was very knowledgeable about geology. He told me about the book "Fire, Floods and Faults" by Marge and Ted Mueller. This clever book is a combination of learning and field trips. The Muellers write about the Bretz Floods and describe road trips where you can see the actual effects of these floods on the landscape.



Recently I completed the book "Bretz's Flood, The Remarkable Story of a Rebel Geologist and the Worlds Greatest Flood" by John Soennichsen. The combination of both these books has allowed me to see and understand how the eastern half of our state was shaped ~12,000 years ago.



Another resource for understanding is the wonderful NOVA story about the Megaflood


www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megaflood/


Approximately 12,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age a giant ice dam located in the far northwest corner of Montana / Idaho region broke loose and allowed the backed up waters of glacial Lake Missoula to flood out. The waters flowed across Western Washington and scoured the landscape all the way south to the Willamette River valley in Western Oregon. This happened multiple times over a span of ~2000. The exact number is not known. You can see evidence of the multiple water levels and layers of scouring in some of the hills. A type of shoreline effect.


I visited Ancient Lakes in Grant County, about 10 miles north of the I-90 bridge along the east shore of the Columbia River, in Potholes Coulee. It was a magnificent warm day and the sky could not have been more blue.


I had hoped to catch some wildflowers on this hike, which was written up in my guide book. To my disappointment most of the flowers have passed for the year, but I certainly enjoyed getting out.


I arrived very early and feel like I had the place to myself. There was a horse trailer that pulled in behind me, but I never saw the horses and their riders until late in my return loop. I loved being in this ancient feeling place with no other people about.



The coulee is about 4 miles deep and ends with an amazing waterfall. At the terminus of the coulee are three lakes which have no outlets. They are remnants of the massive flood that backed water in from the Columbia to the west and waters that flooded over from the east. The combination of forces dug out deep lakes, like a high pressure hose.



Today waterfalls from the plateau above spill over the basalt rock faces and disappear into the ground. The water does not form streams as you would expect but is soaked up into the ground.







Along the way a nose of coulee floor shows multiple layers which illustrate the shoreline effect. Water once lapped against this nose creating lines of erosion. I would guess this nose is about 300 feet high. The distant wall of the coulee is quite a bit further on.






The trail was pretty level until I got into the shorelines of the lakes. They don't have gentle shoreline on their east faces. The basalt boulders were part of the hike challenge and good training right now for future hikes. Recently I heard or read something about rock climbing. As I worked my way along some of these rocks I heard the quote "Trust your foot"


It helps!


A waterfall at the east end of the largest of the trio of lakes compelled me to scramble up to see what was up there. I did find a new flower to figure out , American Brooklime.

The shores of the lakes had Thelypodium still growing well. The bees loved it and it was fun trying to capture photos.

and had some wonderful views of the landscape. This is from the top of the falls.





Walking back I passed many people hiking in for camping. I am sure this must be a remarkable camping area in good weather. There is absolutely no shelter in bad weather but it must be gloriously dark and wonderful on a clear night.





The cliffs were alive with nesting birds, Cliff and Violet-green Swallows, rare White-throated and Black Swifts and a few Rock Wrens. The wrens are so very hard to see but I did spot one singing from his rock and later, while at the top of the waterfall, saw one come down to drink. I didn't even think to try and get a picture.



I stopped by the Quilomene WR I visited last month with on the Native Plant Field trip to see the Bitterroot in bloom. It was a great pleasure to find many in blood and all over I found buds still breaking through the dry hard soil.

These are surely one of the most beautiful flowers of Spring.