[Hiker Mama]

Last week I had the opportunity to leave the kids at Grandma’s for a few days. I had some time to take care of appointments, a bit of work, and just thinking clearly for a few moments. I also got a totally free day to explore! I encouraged a friend of mine to come along on my adventure. It took forever to get out of Seattle – so much traffic for the mid-morning. Traffic was bad over the Pass, too, with construction and an accident and rain and fog. But finally we made it out of the grey. The clouds gradually lightened as we drove farther east. Suddenly, there was sunshine and blue sky! Ellensburg was warmer but breezy, and we drove through and onto the Umptanum Road. Up we climbed into the hills, the pavement soon gave way to gravel and dirt. Bluebird houses lined the fences for the entire route, and I was ecstatic to see the first wild western bluebirds of my life. We took our time driving, stopping often to take photos and just soak in the scenery.

Windmill farm and the Stuart Range

Bluebird houses

Lichen covered rock outcroppings

Eventually we made it to the turnoff for the Black Canyon road. I tried to make it up the road a bit, but my Camry protested, so I turned around and parked in a wide spot.

THe Camry couldn't handle the rocks and ruts. It was a beautiful walk.

The view from our parking spot

We walked up the road. It was such a relief to be in short sleeves with sun glasses after all the grey and wet we’ve had this spring.

The fence

The air was dry and fragrant. There were flowers all along the sides of the road. My friend got a good introduction to hiking with me, as I stopped every few minutes to take a photo of a flower.

Dessert Parsley?

Desert violets

Brown parsley type plant

Wild dandilion

Teeny pink flowers

Shrub

Balsamroot

Ladybug on desert parsley

Phlox

INsects cause these - the larvae cause a reaction in the plan, and they live inside the gall.

Delphinum?

A type of currant?

Teensy Flower

The bird song hung like a liquid golden curtain on either side, western meadowlarks and bluebirds fluttering out ahead and behind. We met another gal along the trail, and slightly envied her for staying the night. We decided to stop and turn around at the true trailhead.

We turned around at this point.

I did want to go on farther, but we had a long drive home and my friend was ready to be done. We slowly made our way back down the road, finding a few flowers we had missed on the way up. We realized that we had actually climbed pretty far up from the car. The drive back home took less time, and too soon we were back into the rain and clouds of the west. The sunshine and birdsong faded into the distance. But we’ll be back.

Over the rolling hills

We saw this herd on the way back, and I took this photo through the window.

We saw elk, deer, several types of butterflies, bluebirds, meadowlarks, quail, hawks, buzzards, and a bunch of other birds I couldn't identify. Note to self: Get the Best Desert Hikes book, and a desert flower book.

[Mobile Lifestyle]

Thank you for the details trail report. We love Ellensburg - especially the Yakima River Canyon area. It is so beautiful there. I did see bluebirds there too and Waxwings - it was spectacular! We will be heading there again this weekend backpacking for 1 night (while our daughter is at her grandparents). We feel it is safer over on that side of the mountains in regards to weather.

[JimK]

Nice report. An excellent example of why many of us head east in the spring. Sunshine on a rainy day.