Hike Notes (Hikes)
From elinpierce (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/160454797) hike in central WA
The mountain ridges are very interesting, but steep sides mean stair-climbing! the area has had several wildfires, and the lower elevations have far less diversity and more cheatgrass. But a hike in May/early June is worth it! The turn-off is here: 46.738437, -119.472841, trailhead at -119.446866,46.7921012
In alphabetical order by WTA or AllTrails hike name.
Ancient Lakes trails (many) - great diversity of meadow, rocky soil, and rock forms. Best upper (eastern) entrance is unsigned under a power line pylon at 47.143795,-119.927886, which goes through rocky areas and rock outcrops down to the main meadow area.
Annette Lake Trail (Snoqualmie) - nice virgin forest reached early on hike, just above the old railroad cut.
Baldy Mountain (Yakima River gorge) - 4-8-2023 - excellent hike (eastern lower route very steep, but can take west route) with Lomatium tuberosum. I only went about half way up, worth repeating in May/June to the top. THERE SHOULD BE LOMATIUM QUINTUPLEX IN MID TO LATE APRIL.
Bean Peak - did July 15 2022. Great hike but the top section leading up to Bean Ridge is very scrambly.
Beverly Turnpike (Wenatchees) - did July 28 2022 (up to Iron Peak junction) on extremely hot day. Great trail with lots serpentine plants. Nothing too hard.
Burroughs Mountain Loop (Rainier) - did 7-27-2022 and again 8-12-2022. Lovely trails with tons of high meadows and fairly barren alpine zones. Fairly long but nothing hard. Lower part worth doing earlier, as soon as the road opens, in early July (but there will be a lot snow higher up). Did not make it all the way up Third Burroughs because there was a fairly steep snow slope and I didn't have spikes, plant habitat looked the same.
Catherine Creek (Columbia Transect) - many lovely trails on open slopes with unusually high plant diversity, walked the paved lower part in early March 2023. Apparently the area is an unusually good place for plants of certain types because of thin soil over rock and water only in spring.
Chuckanut Ridge Trail - meh, standard lowland forest, boring trail with lots of useless small up and down.
Coyote Wall and Labyrinth Trail (Columbia Transect) - wonderful place for Columbia transect plants in early spring, especially the Labyrinth section of hike. Catherine Creek and Lyle's Orchard trails are probably also excellent and similar.
Crystal Peak (near Rainier) - very nice even trail with steady modest grade. Second growth (apparently from fire maybe 100 years ago?) mixed with some old growth that presumably escaped or survived fire. Lots of steep meadows on upper trail but not much exposed rock.
Deep Lake Trail (Columbia Dry Falls) - meh, nice enough but didn't seem special. Lots of patches of low slope talus-like rock. One report of Pellaea glabella at Burke but failed to find it despite looking pretty hard.
Dirty Harry's Balcony via Birdhouse - nice trail though not much special. Fairly easy. Worth repeating with careful search for Myriopteris, Pentagramma, Cryptogramma etc on climbing walls.
Echo Mountain (Maple Valley) - other than the Pentagramma on the bald at top nothing unusual but should return mid-spring. Good easy trail in nice forest.
Goat Peak (east of Chinook Pass) - nice trail and fun hike with lots of diversity, including rock outcrops. Did very late in season, worth doing in the spring.
Goose Rock (Deception Pass) - lovely easy hike with lots of exposed sunny rock, including high concentration of Pentagramma and other interesting plants on the lower east side.
Grand Park via Lake Eleanor (Rainier) - 8-16-2023. Lovely fairly easy hike with lots of old-growth forest leading to huge high meadows. Should hike in early July.
Granite Lakes (Middle Fork Snoqualmie) - meh, but did with deep snow at top so might try again. A lot of the trail is along some old access something and is very brushy.
Granite Mountain (Snoqualmie) - nice as always, should do as soon as snow is minimal in late June or early July.
Guye Peak scramble (west side) - too hard on my knees and balance for old me.
Horsethief Butte (Columbia Transect) - nice hike, with tons of Myriopteris. The lower trail is very easy and there are harder access trails to the center of the rock formation, which is remarkable.
Icicle Ridge via Fourth of July Creek - 8-27-2022. Long hike and elev gain, but nice trail. Lots of old forest fire remnants. Myriopteris gracillima on rock formations near start of trail, none higher. No serpentine or Aspidotis. Nothing out of the expected.
Ingalls Creek (from Rt 97) - didn't get to do much of it in 2022 but should in 2023. Lots of diversity including dry forest, fairly dense forest, open meadows, rock outcrops and talus fields. For rock ferns, the first few miles look most interesting from sat maps. Woodsia scopulina in several places very close to trail on bedrock and talus.
Iron Bear - Teanaway Ridge. [Starting from the Iron Creek trailhead, found at the end of Forest Road 9714. Trail starts in forest, then proceeds through low shrubs and open slopes. In 1.8 miles and 600 feet you reach a four-way junction at Iron Bear Pass (elevation 4500 feet). Take the right trail heading north onto Teanaway Ridge Trail 1364. Lewisia rediviva common just after junction. In about 1.5 miles and 1000 feet reach an unnamed rock-topped peak at 5489 feet.] Completed 8-31-2022. Many small sunny rock outcrops on lower half of trail generally southish facing with Myriopteris gracillima. No Myrie at rocky top, appears replaced by Polemonium. Lots of red dirt but no obvious serpentine on trail, but one clear green outcrop ends just above one lower part of the trail. Found NO serpentine indicators including Aspidotis densa.
Iron Peak (Beverly approach) - completed 7-11-2022. Excellent hike for serpentine species and alpine species. Not difficult and no scrambly parts. Would be interesting to fork NW at Eldorado pass and scamble part of Teanaway Peak since the rock is non-serpentine, though it looked as if it might get difficult before far. Would also be good to hike earlier and later, maybe mid-June (just after snow melt) and mid-August. Lower trail also gives access to extremely barren steep serpentinite scree, but this may be better accessed by scrambling from the road.
Kendall Katwalk from Snoqualmie Pass - nice hike but kind of long and nothing that special. Katwalk itself is sweet to see once.
Kerby Flat (Siskiyous) - nice fairly easy jaunt that covers steep rocky sunny to forest, all on serpentine.
Koppen Mountain (west Wenatchees) - completed July 2022, was good but kind of dull in the lower parts. Good serpentine stuff and an interesting igneous (maybe?) intrusion near the top, but a fairly long fairly dull hike to get there. Could reach the igneous intrusions from the other direction, but a fairly long slog either way (Johnson-Medra Trail).
Lake Ann via Esmeralda Basin Trail - completed 9-3-2022. Excellent and moderate hike for serpentine plants, though didn't see many Chaenactis or Oreocarya. Remarkable diversity of habitat. There is an area from 1.0 to 1.5 miles in that has moderate serpentine slopes to the right (uphill) that could be scrambled without much difficulty. High density of Poa curtifolia at the Lake Ann pass, probably mostly on the northern slope.
Lake Ingalls - completed 7-23-2022. Below Ingalls Pass there are lots of nice steep serpentine scree slopes. Over pass is much more serpentine bedrock and boulders. Both are great for plants, including all the serpentine adapted species. Hike is fairly long and elev but moderate with no scrambling.
Lake Lenore Caves - nice hike in spring, with interesting diversity of rock and rocky soil and one cluster of Pellaea glabella. Nice deeper soil meadow at trailhead.
Leavenworth Ski Hill - 4-15-2023. Nice trail graded for mountain bikes but saw very few in early morning. Probably easiest place to find L. roneorum.
Little Si - hiked many times. Nothing unusual until the top, where there are Shore Pine, some tall Manzanita, Aspidotis densa, and Myriopteris gracillima.
Longs Pass - completed 8-4-2022 and other times. Leading up to pass, lots of nice serpentine scree and talus, then serpentine bedrock at the top. There is a very long part of the pass ridge that is easy to wander around once up there. Hike is nice and moderate with no scrambling though steep in parts. Lots of Oreocarya thompsonii.
Magnet Creek Trail (near Blewett Pass) - nice hike with lots of diversity. Trail head hard to find and parking is marginal.
Mailbox Peak Trail (new) - lovely trail but you don't reach virgin forest until quite high, about 4 miles in.
Marine View Park (Des Moines) - ugh. nice trail and beach but the woods are totally smothered by English Ivy, to an extent I didn't know was possible. It is like a blanket and it is everywhere on the ground and smothering trees.
Mount Angeles (Olympics) - nice trail fairly easy. Near the NW edge of the Olympic rain shadow. Most of the rock faces at the top require fairly dangerous scrambling and I did little of it. Didn't find any Myriopteris but apparently there is some further NE on the Klahane Ridge trail.
Mount Ellinor (Olympics) - nice trail, fairly steep but well engineered and moderately easy. Large exposed bedrock areas near top plus subalpine meadows and talus. Botanical bonanza.
Mount Fremont Lookout (Rainier) - 7-22-2023. Nice hike, fairly easy. Burroughs probably has more plant diversity.
Mount Si - searched rocky areas early in season (May 20 2022) when a lot of stuff was still dormant or just leafing out. Found no Myriopteris or Aspidotis but worth searching again since I now recognize both better and it was too early. Searched again fairly thoroughly in late August 2023 after rain started, still the same.
Mount Townsend (Olympics) - very clean trail with modest grade. Nice Rhody forest on lower trail and huge variably rocky subalpine meadows at the top. Definitely should do in the early summer. Almost all the rock was hummocky and I didn't find any Myriopteris.
Naches Peak Loop (Chinook Pass) - 9-2022. Nice easy trail with lots of diversity and awesome views. Expect crowds. Did late in season, should repeat in spring (June or so?).
Noble Knob (near Rainier) - nice fairly easy trail that gets access to high meadows with little elevation gain. It is a bit odd in that there is a lot of burned forest on the way. It is almost 3 miles in to reach normal subalpine meadow, but the trail is nearly flat to there.
Peshastin Pinnacles loop - 5-13-2022, nice short hike, a bit steep in places. Might want to return to look for Lomatium roneorum now that I know what it looks like.
Pratt Balcony (Middle Fork Snoqualmie) - 2023-03-17 decent easy hike with the usual plus a nice set of rock cliffs (probably rappable), with Cryptogramma but no Myriopteris (though hard to see most of the cliff). The "CCC" trail that it branches from looks interesting - relatively flat and runs for a long distance along the south-facing slope of the Middle Fork.
Ptarmigan Ridge (Mount Baker) - fabulous, with fairly easy access to extensive subalpine slopes, including fairly dry to very wet.
Rachel Lake and Rampart Ridge (normal approach from east) - old growth forest the whole way, plus the rocky playground of Rampart Ridge. Hard rocky and steep for about 1.5 mile section below Rachel Lake, otherwise easy to moderate. AllTrails definitely under estimates distance - about 11 miles even with no wandering. I wandered a lot on the ridge and was sore and tired by the end, probably did about 13 miles total. The Rampart Ridge area is fabulous.
Rampart Lake Backdoor (approach from south) - intense scramble in parts, ugh. neat alpine once up there. could hike the eastern route to the same area, which looks more like a regular hike.
Saddle Mountain (Columbia River) - see Sentinel Mountain.
Sauer's Mountain - 5-14-2022. Nice trail for Chumstick Formation. Make sure trail is dry - the lower part has some parts that are very scary when there is gluey slippery mud (above cliffs). Probably should have L. roneorum but I didn't know the plant at the time.
Selah Cliffs (north of Yakima) - 4-14-2023. Meh. Flat trail (below cliffs) but didn't really find much unusual.
Sentinel Mountain (south of Vantage up east Columbia River ridge) - 4-8-2023. Lots of L. tuberosum on side trail, should continue further up main trail, likely to have more. Also nice sand dune area near start of trail.
Shoofly Oolite Interpretive Trail - 7-9-2023. Fabulous and unique. Should revisit in late April or May.
Silver Peak (Snoqualmie) - 7-19-2023. Lovely hike though some scrambling near the top. Surprisingly little documented on iNat.
Snow Lake - 6-21-203. Meh, seems like standard high wet Cascades plants. Trail is surprisingly rough given recent renovation, though well engineered. Busy even on weekday.
Sourdough Gap (Chinook Pass) - 8-18-2023. Nice easy trail with lots of open meadow and rock faces.
Spring Canyon (Nahahum) - 5-15-2022. great trail, great hike. tons of deer in May, plenty of diversity of the semi-dry mountain sorts. NO DOGS.
Sugarloaf Mountain (Anacortes) - 9-24-2022 nice short hike with huge rock balds on top, not too badly damaged, fairly steep in a few places. found P. triangularis but not much. The top half of hike has tons of exposed shady rock that will be licorice fern bonanza in the spring, mostly dried up now.
Taylor River Trail (next to Middle Fork Snoqualmie River) - easy trail but blah botanically, with monotonous second growth forest hiked on old logging road with all the usual stuff.
Thorp Mountain (west Wenacthees) - nice fairly easy trail with lots of variety including lots of exposed rock.
Trees of Stone Trail - (the long one, not the short nature trail) 3-20-2023 Very nice open meadows with tons of Astragalus purshii, fairly easy trail. Well worth doing again in later spring.
Wapatus Lake trail - 9-10-23. Lovely easy trail with old growth forest and many hummocky rock outcrops, mostly covered with mosses and Pinemat Manzanita. Didn't find many Myrie past the first mile or so. At approx 47.4113 -121.1010 there is a rocky ridge running NW that is a good candidate for off-trail Myrie exploration and probably accessible with minor scrambling.
Whiskey Dick - completed 5-7-2022 (and others), perfect timing (cool spring), fun hike, very dry area so do early. Lots of Pediocactus and other typical scabland plants. Milkvetches, sages, balsamroots, buckwheats, etc. Should be Lewisia rediviva in flower at the right time too (May to early June) but didn't find any. Was hiking way too fast (Mountaineers), returned multiple times spring 2023.
Yakima Rim Trail - 4-14-2023. Lovely trail with good diversity and great views. Looked hard and saw no L. tuberosum but very little appropriate scree. The Umtanum Ridge trail is the other terminus of this ridge.
Yellow Aster Butte - with WNPS and Tim McNitt on 9-7-2022. Beautiful area and as promised, an amazing diversity of ferns. Excellent trip and I learned a lot.