De Roux Trail to Gallagher Head Lake

This last Saturday I hopped out of bed early and headed over to Esmeralda basin to hike this trail once and for all.  I knew it to be good for wildflowers and had previously visited the wet bog meadow near the trailhead.  These meadows are filled with shooting stars, Elephant Head Lousewort and several of the Piperia orchid species

The drive takes about 2 1/2 hours and I always listen to NPR.  As I cross over Snoqualmie Pass I change stations to Northwest Public Radio.  This day I came in after the start of an interesting story about Pacific Lamprey.

http://www.nwpr.org/post/how-pacific-lamprey-could-help-nourish-streams

Lamprey , like salmon, are born in fresh water and go to sea.  They return to spawn and it was here that our native peoples collected them for food and ritual.  I didn't know about the Lamprey as a local freshwater creature.  This day, the story was about the abrupt and rapid decline of a species that little is known about.

I love being on the road on the weekend when I can hear the NPR stations.  I always learn something new. 

Arriving at the trailhead, there were only two other people in the lot.  Up the road, Esmeralda Basin trailheads were packed.  I was content to take this less popular trail so I could enjoy the solitude.

I was rapidly disappointed, the first bog meadow was bone dry, the soil had little of the spongy goodness the plants need.  I could see little evidence of flowers gone to seed, though I did not venture out into the meadow. 

All along the way the flowers were well past.  Pink Wintergreens was flourishing in the shady areas.  They belong to the heath family and are pretty tough plants.

I also noted that Monkshood was flourishing in some of the smaller wet meadows.  Anyplace that was near a water source had some Monkshood.  Red Paintbrush was usually mixed in.  They too are a pretty tough plant.

I pushed on, hoping that the higher elevation would yield soil that held on to snow longer.  I was encouraged to see Trillium plants still showing their leaves. 

The best thing about quiet trails early in the morning is that birds are often easy to spot.  I got lucky today.  First treat was a young Black-backed Woodpecker.  This is a fairly uncommon bird and this youngster instantly started preening when I was trying to get a shot, so I had to content myself in a photo that just shows a peek of the yellow feathers on the forehead.

This little peanut was fast but a bit more obvious.  No wren can every be near you without voicing its opinion of you.  Pacific Wren ( formerly called Winter Wren, here) will often answer my ' chuck chuck" imitation of their call.  This little one, looks a bit raggedy, perhaps it just had a bath.  It might be this years youngster.

But the best meeting of the day was this fine male Western Tanager.  He obviously had a nest near by.  He held his ground and scolded me.  Notice he is carrying food, a sure sign of a nest.  Bonus points to the Sun for being in the right place at the right time to fill him with glory.

The trail up to Gallagher Head lake is 4.5 miles and has a pretty nice gain.  Not so hard that you hate it and there is a lot of nice scenery to enjoy.  When the flowers are up, it is glorious.  I did find some Piperia orchids in several places and as I gained elevation, other flower species showed that their bloom season was not quite over.  Mostly past, but still holding on.

What I really noted is that all the huckleberry bushes were mostly devoid of berries.  What few berries were on were still somewhat red.  I don't know if pickers have been through already or if the animals and birds are feeding.  I usually associate these berries with later August or September.  I have a favorite spot on the trail to Kendall Katwalk, perhaps that needs to be on the list for the next weekend or so.

As I gained I was delighted that the butterflies were quite active.  Fritillary were most numerous.  I was quite happy to capture Mormon

and Hydaspe

Any patch of mud is sure to have any number of Blues.  Our area support many of these tiny Blue species and they are toughies to sort out for identification.

This little one was a new sighting for me.  I studied my id book but still cannot decide if it is a Dotted/Square Spotted Blue quite worn, or perhaps some other species I totally don't know.

It was pretty warm so getting to the lake was a welcome stopping spot.

 I sat on a log and enjoyed a snack.  Up here, the Spring thaw took a little longer so I did find one of my favorite flowers, Elephant Head Lousewort.  They were largely past and those remaining were not as bountiful in flower heads as you can often find, but I was happy to see them.  How can you not smile at purple elephants

The trail down always goes faster than the trail up.  The breeze had picked up and many of the butterflies were really zipping around.  Joining the fritillary were the parnassians.  I was pretty thrilled to get this shot.  The bistort was swinging in the wind, but the Clodius Parnassian was holding tight and feeding eagerly.

I always check out certain flowers for bug.  Some plants are bug magnets and the lovage did not let me down.  This is a Yellow Velvet Long-horned Beetle.  It really glistened and looks like it had a coat of shiny velvet flocking.

Once again our area is on fire.  The area of the Colockum, where I like to go for early Spring cactus and bitterroot prowling is roaring with fire.  Sadly some historic ruined buildings from the days of ranching in the late 1800 early 1900 will likely be lost.

Even in my own neighborhood, the Mt Si fire was obvious from the freeway.  This little fire was trivial compared to those burning east of the mountains.

Rain was welcome these last few days, tomorrow promises an improving weather pattern.

Old Man Winter

Lifting his gray beard
Displaying his handiwork
The Old Man departs

Ventured out for a quick walk in the woods.  The freeway signs warn chains are required to cross the mountain pass.

But here, little hints of Spring.

Fern spores

Grasses shooting up through last Falls Big Leaf Maple leaves.

Trailiing Yellow Violets, the first wildflowers of the woodlands.

Indian Plum, these shrubs set the first berries of Spring.

A pair of Piliated Woodpeckers noisily flew in and investigated their nest hole.  WOKKA WOKKA WOKKA... you cannot mistake the call. 

Pacific Wren males were busy on their territories, singing their merry run-on song.

Iron and Ice

Monday was a perfect day for a hike. The weather was crisp but all of the forecasts said no rain.

I planned to hike the John Wayne Trail which is recognized as the Iron Horse Sate Park from North Bend to the Columbia River. This trail is the recovered rail bed of the Milwaukee Road rail system and stretches all the way to the Idaho border. Making it, I suspect, the longest, skinniest state park around.

The trail head had some interesting graphics. The Milwaukee Road was electric and the trains could gather power and re-feed the circuits when going downhill. This rail run from Seattle was vital for the silk trade. Raw silk from Asia was quickly transported east. The opening of the Panama Canal and the development of nylon and other synthetics put this system to rest. The rail route here kept a team of 100+ men who made sure the line was free of snow in the season. At the top of the mountains there is a 2.3 mile long tunnel which this trail once went through. Unfortunately the deterioration of the tunnels, which were blasted through rock, has made it necessary to detour off the trail at the summit.

Also the trail head has some of the prettiest privies I have ever seen.

I found a walking stick that someone left. This is a usual thing around here. People will find an old piece of tree limb and if you are lucky it is the right shape weight and height for a walking stick. The stick I used last year I found in April and we had many a hike together. This new stick will join me on this years journeys.

The woods were strangely quiet here. I was disappointed and a bit surprised to not hear more bird chatter. The south side of the trail skirts the Ceder River Watershed and this area is strictly off limits. To the north the I-90 corridor is just over the way. This part of the trail gradually climbs at rail grade (about 2%) and cuts through the woods bringing you out at a ridge right across from Mt Si. From I-90 you can see old bridges and trestles. It was my intention to hike to the large trestle just the other side of Twin Falls.

I was not long on underway when it started to snow teensy little flakes. No more than a sprinkle it was more charming than anything else. Here and there patches of recent frozen graupel decorated the grassy edges. I could not resist this little scene of mushrooms and frosty mosses covered in pillowy frozen rain pellets, known as graupel. It would continue to flutter sprinkles of snow on and off all day.

Along the way there are handy markers from the railroad days. It is 2135 miles to Chicago.

I wish I had paid attention to the signs at the trail head telling me how far to Twin Falls. I seemed to remember from my trail guide book that the trestle should be 3 miles.

There was plenty to look at along the way. After a mile or so, evidence that this elevation is still getting plenty of winter was all around. Frozen runoff and spray coated plants and hung icicles from rock face walls. In some areas where the rail bed had blasted through rock, the drips and trickles produced some fantastic sculptures.

Like this ice bound branch of a Salal.

Or this enrobed Sword Fern.

There were a lot of nameless beds of running water, and some creeks which required bridges. This beautiful waterfall is at Boetzke Creek. I am not sure how high it is but those are some pretty large old tree trunks at the base.

I had a happy encounter with a Pacific Wren (formerly Winter Wren) It clearly did not care for my standing and trying to get blurry pictures of him. This was the best I could do. Later in a month or so, these fellows will be so busy singing that you can usually get closer for photo-ops.

Moss and lichen was everywhere. I always am in awe of moss covered Big-leaf Maples. The moss can actually act as drought protection and many of these big trees have root systems in the branches that take up water from the moss sponges.

This stack of old rail timber very likely serves as a home and nest area for all kinds of critters.

About 1 1/2 hours out I knew that my memory for the distance to the trestle was faulty. I knew it could not be too far since I could clearly hear I-90 roaring past. A woman coming from the other direction told me she had seen something special at the trestle. I asked her how far and she said about 2 1/2 miles. Wow 5 1/2 miles is certainly more than I planned for but I had some incentive now so I kicked into a bit higher gear.

I encountered a gentleman who, like me, had a lot of interesting in photographing the ice. It is nice to chat and share along the trail.

It really seemed like no time when we reached the trestle. This spot is called the Deception Crags and it is popular with rock wall climbers. It is hard to appreciate the size of this rock face but notice the Douglas Fir trees against the wall. I would say they are at least 35 - 50 feet tall.

And here was the prize that made the hike worthwhile. Thirty-five miles from downtown Seattle a Mountain Goat sits grazing on moss and lichens.

Certainly made for a great day out. My new stick, the one on the left and I are off to a good start in our partnership.