I don’t get botanical “Wow!” moments often, but last week I had one of them. On Thursday I hiked to Van Epps Pass, past the Esmeralda Peaks at the head of the North Fork of the Teanaway River. This part of the Wenatchee Mountains has many areas of serpentine-derived soils, often covered with the rusty […]
Endemic Plants: Special Ones from the Wenatchee Mountains
Thompson’s clover (Trifolium thompsonii) Endemic plants are those found only in a limited geographic area. The Wenatchee Mountains of Chelan and Kittitas Counties have the greatest concentration of endemics found in Washington as well as being one of the top areas for endemics in the US. The map below was compiled by Joe Arnett, Rare […]
Head for the hills… for the wildflowers
Eriogonum ovalifolium near Windy Pass By late June the wildflowers at the lower elevations in Central Washington are past their peak, but at higher elevations, especially above 4000′, the snow has receded enough to allow access to prime hiking, and wildflowers! The Cascades offer innumerable areas to explore. Each year I have a list of areas to get up […]