[frankm3]

This Friday afternoon found Zoe and I headed east again; our destination was the re-opening of the Oak Creek Wildlife Area, a couple miles east of Naches off Rt. 12. Alan had posted a report about this area when he visited the winter feeding station, and his report got me interested in spending some time here. Friday after arriving, we took a short hike in Bear Canyon, as with many locations in E. WA, highly featured basalt formations add prominence to the landscape. As we walked the trail, I scanned the ridge and saw an unusual tree stump with two short points; I stopped walking and took out my binoculars to look. It was a bighorn sheep! Then one by one more sheep climbed to the ridge and peered down until I had 6 sheep all curiously looking down at me. We enjoyed our mutual look-see for a few minutes, and then Zoe and I moved on and set up camp a bit down the trail. The night was punctuated by a raucous pack of coyotes whose incessant howling let me know in no uncertain terms how unhappy they were that I was in their canyon; so much so that I was awoken two or three times by their noise, which was really close to our camp at times it seemed. After a pretty poor night’s sleep, we headed over to Oak Creek early Saturday morning. Access to Oak Creek is closed in March and April to allow the elk and sheep to begin to move back up to their summer ranges without too many distractions, and the area re-opens on May 1. Having learned that elk drop their antlers every spring was a big bonus in wanting to do some exploring in the Oak Creek area. I apparently wasn’t the only one who thought this; Saturday morning there were about 25-30 carloads of enthusiastic shed antler hunters waiting for access. I followed their cloud of dust as they all raced up the mountain to whatever hunting grounds they had in mind. I turned off on a spur road to get some privacy and hiked around some old logging roads and elk/ deer trails in search of sheds, and stumbled across a photogenic ground squirrel, whose photo is attached, he let me approach to within about 4 feet, which is pretty atypical for these guys. After a day of aimless rambling/ hiking and otherwise unsuccessful antler hunting, I set up camp in Oak Creek in a grassy meadow. Fortunately I had a whole pack full of lightweight gear; the 10 foot trek from the tailgate of my truck to the tent site was greatly enhanced knowing I was traveling as efficiently as possible. I had higher hopes for Sunday morning; before heading east I had written back and forth with Dslayer (Gabe), and we both thought that this might be a fun way to meet up and enjoy some time outside hiking. I was really looking forward to spending some time learning a bit more about the area from someone who had spent a bit of time up there, and also to have someone to hike with for a change! He arrived at my partially disassembled car campsite at about 7:30, where I showed off my new 3 ounce alcohol-fueled car-camping stove, and we enjoyed a cup of coffee before heading up the mountain in his truck for some exploring. One thing that became immediately evident was the lack of snow at higher elevations; we stopped by a small lake that normally opens a month from now. We were able to drive up to 4300’, where we parked and saw a group of elk browsing on the opposite side of a creek drainage. We decided to hike down a wide, grassy/ wooded draw back towards Oak Creek. What is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of hiking around here is the ‘unstructured’ nature of the hikes: you simply pick somewhere, and go. No trails, the country is reasonably open and visual orientation is pretty easy. We spent a couple hours following various animal trails; and we were actually successful at finding two antlers! I will have to admit that we were both surprised that we actually found anything at all; I was kind of excited about the prospect of finding one, but I kept telling myself to enjoy the time outside, and anything beyond that is a gift. We found two lefts; a three point and a four point. Although many people still think of a four-pointer as somewhat ‘small’, his spread still would have been a little over 4 feet! In a supreme feat of navigational accuracy, we came out back on the road below exactly where I had camped out the night before, so we were able to enjoy the hike as a shuttle trip! By now it was already into the afternoon hours; I had a 3+ hour drive home, and we called it a day. I am sure we will do it again soon, I am truly coming to relish the time I spend every time I go.

photogenic ground squirrel

another shot of the squirrel

glacier lily on ridge

[Dslayer]

Excellent report Frank-I don't know what surprised me more-actually having the luck to find 2 sheds or the absolute lack of snow up on Horse Ridge and Bethel Ridge-there's still snow left on the upper N. facing ridges and protected spots, but I had no expectation of being able to drive up onto the upper ridges and get to Bear Lake-a small lake that WDFW plants. I had a great time w/Frank-a great guy/consumate outdoorsman and his dog is cool, too!

[salish]

Great report, Frank. It tis beautiful country, ain't it? I've never been there in the off season. I'm usually there during the winter. In fact, I hunted all over Bethel Ridge in late November. There was light snow at that time so getting in and out of the many canyons was difficult. Did you guys make it to that tank straight up the canyon from the elk feeding station? Lot's of birds in there, and I've seen mule deer there. A typical jaunt for me is to leave one car at the elk feeding station and drive the other car to a gated road, about 1/3 mile west of the intersection of Hwy 410 & Hwy 12, and park there and a walk in (permissable). In taking this route you hike up the east side of Bethel Ridge, with stunning views of the Naches R. and Hwy 410, down the extremely steep canyon below. You can hike up the backbone of Bethel Ridge and choose to hike down (or hunt, in my case) NPK, Clint, or Pinecone Canyons, towards the springs, or you can continue in a northerly direction along Bethel Ridge and then head NE for Cougar or Meloy Canyon. If you look at your contours you can see just how steep it is above the Naches. One of life's greatest joys is seeing a huge herd of elk in these canyons. Two years ago I spooked a herd (all cows) that we lost count of. We estimated there were probably 80-100 elk. It was a sight to behold. I've been all over this area every year now for the past five years or so, and I've only scratched the surface. I love this country. Cliff

[salish]

Frank, When I take the route I mentioned I usually leave camp around 9:00am and return to the feeding station in mid-afternoon. Please keep in mind chukar hunting is quite a bit different than hiking - we follow our dog's nose and where birds fly, which is usually three canyons away, in the hardest terrain. You could probably hike this route and be back long before us. Forgot to mention that there is a creek back there, between Bethel Ridge and NPK canyon, but I think it's dry most of the time. Cliff

[Dslayer]

Cliff- I know the area you're talking about-Frank and I were a good deal west of that-now I have a much better idea of exactly what you're talking about it when you talk about chukar hunting at Oak Creek-that's a lot of ground you're covering.

[salish]

[Scrooge]

A couple of pics taken Saturday that seem appropriate to this thread. The subtitle is "bushwhacking" in Eastern Washington.

Photostitch matrix of balsam root on Point 3938.