6-24-17
Kirsten
wanted to take a trip up
Reecer Creek to Lion Rock. I have done two trips up Reecer to see
springtime wildflowers. Not much hiking but a lot of photos. Steve
joined in too. On my first visit on 5-30-10
we were stopped by snow. Lots of early season wildflowers in bloom. I
came on 4-16-16
and were again stopped by snow. This year we had more snow and we lated
until late June. I had a chance to see what is higher up since the
roads were snow free. This was day one of a two day heat wave. Usually
that means stay away from the east side of the Cascade Mountains. In
this case the high was forecast to be 63 in Ellensburg but 4000' higher
up Reecer Creek near Lion Rock it was expected to be 73 degrees. Even
Seattle was forecast to be at 90 degrees. We headed east to see
wildflowers and to avoid the heat.
Since we all live in the same area it was easy to get together. We headed east at 8:15 am. After a stop at Snoqualmie Pass we headed past Cle Elum and up to another stop at Indian John Hill's rest area. We arrived at 10:10 am to find a line up of cars trying to get into the parking area. I have never seen a crowd like that at a rest area, let alone in the morning. Traffic will be challenging this summer. We had one rolling slowdown and there are only two lanes open west of Snoqualmie Pass. We exited I-90 and headed north towards Reecer Creek. Both Kirsten and Steve went to college in Ellensburg and were acquainted with the route.
One of the best parts of the route up Reecer Creek is the change in wildflowers as you ascend. The bottom is at about 2500' at the bottom and 6359' at Lion Rock, the high point of the day. In early spring the bottom is lined with irises. This day we had cows in the road but no irises. Most of our route was paved. The road is one lane with pullouts. Lots of switchbacks as it climbs out of the valley. We made several stops on the way up. At one spot we found a few bitterroot in bloom and many more very near blooming. At another spot I saw perhaps the largest field of scarlet gilia I have seen. There were some lupine and Indian paintbrush in bloom but not any large fields of them. We made another stop to check out the shooting stars. Quite a few of them in bloom. Though we saw no snow we did find a lot of damp ground. Good for the flower show. The unpaved road road sections were very dry.
Kirsten know about a campsite just off the road that provided views out to Mt. Rainier and a swath of trees. Much of the area we drove through was burned up in a recent fire. The trees where we stopped were separated from the forests and those trees survived. Most of the rest of the trees were silvered snags. Whole forests of sliver snags. It is disappointing that all those trees burned but the silver forest does look pretty good. We stepped short of Lion Rock and walked as short way uphill. There were a number of flowers along here. Among them were some glacier lilies right at their peak. Where the ground drops off steeply we went downhill to some nice views of Rainier, Mt. Adams, the Goat Rocks, and the Kittitas Valley.
Next we went up to Lion Rock. It was not quite the rock I was expecting. Just a flat spot where folks camp. A small rock has a benchmark on it. Some very nice views though. Mt. Stuart and the peaks along the Cascade Crest were in site. Most days haze comes in during the early afternoon. This day it was still crystal clear. We made more stops on the way down. We also explored several other roads. It was around 4:00 pm when we reached the bottom of the road. I-90 had some lanes closed westbound so we took old Highway 10 back to Cle Elum. The National Weather Service was very accurate. We had a high of 73 degrees up high and it was about 90 down low.
The drive home was easy even with some closed lanes. That about covers the report. I'll let the photos tell the story. It was nice to get out on a trip with Kirsten and a first trip with Steve. We hiked about one mile on the day but had a lot of good photo opportunities. Though it is not really a hike I'm sure I'll be back soon enough.
Click on thumbnails to get
larger pictures.
Trips - 2017
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Since we all live in the same area it was easy to get together. We headed east at 8:15 am. After a stop at Snoqualmie Pass we headed past Cle Elum and up to another stop at Indian John Hill's rest area. We arrived at 10:10 am to find a line up of cars trying to get into the parking area. I have never seen a crowd like that at a rest area, let alone in the morning. Traffic will be challenging this summer. We had one rolling slowdown and there are only two lanes open west of Snoqualmie Pass. We exited I-90 and headed north towards Reecer Creek. Both Kirsten and Steve went to college in Ellensburg and were acquainted with the route.
One of the best parts of the route up Reecer Creek is the change in wildflowers as you ascend. The bottom is at about 2500' at the bottom and 6359' at Lion Rock, the high point of the day. In early spring the bottom is lined with irises. This day we had cows in the road but no irises. Most of our route was paved. The road is one lane with pullouts. Lots of switchbacks as it climbs out of the valley. We made several stops on the way up. At one spot we found a few bitterroot in bloom and many more very near blooming. At another spot I saw perhaps the largest field of scarlet gilia I have seen. There were some lupine and Indian paintbrush in bloom but not any large fields of them. We made another stop to check out the shooting stars. Quite a few of them in bloom. Though we saw no snow we did find a lot of damp ground. Good for the flower show. The unpaved road road sections were very dry.
Kirsten know about a campsite just off the road that provided views out to Mt. Rainier and a swath of trees. Much of the area we drove through was burned up in a recent fire. The trees where we stopped were separated from the forests and those trees survived. Most of the rest of the trees were silvered snags. Whole forests of sliver snags. It is disappointing that all those trees burned but the silver forest does look pretty good. We stepped short of Lion Rock and walked as short way uphill. There were a number of flowers along here. Among them were some glacier lilies right at their peak. Where the ground drops off steeply we went downhill to some nice views of Rainier, Mt. Adams, the Goat Rocks, and the Kittitas Valley.
Next we went up to Lion Rock. It was not quite the rock I was expecting. Just a flat spot where folks camp. A small rock has a benchmark on it. Some very nice views though. Mt. Stuart and the peaks along the Cascade Crest were in site. Most days haze comes in during the early afternoon. This day it was still crystal clear. We made more stops on the way down. We also explored several other roads. It was around 4:00 pm when we reached the bottom of the road. I-90 had some lanes closed westbound so we took old Highway 10 back to Cle Elum. The National Weather Service was very accurate. We had a high of 73 degrees up high and it was about 90 down low.
The drive home was easy even with some closed lanes. That about covers the report. I'll let the photos tell the story. It was nice to get out on a trip with Kirsten and a first trip with Steve. We hiked about one mile on the day but had a lot of good photo opportunities. Though it is not really a hike I'm sure I'll be back soon enough.
 First Stop |
 Buckwheat Like Flower |
 Balsamroot |
 Bitterroot |
 Giant Puffball |
 Pale Unknown Flower |
 Scarlet Gilia |
 More Gilia |
 Lupine |
 Mt. Rainier |
 Woodland Star |
 First Shooting Stars |
 Small Flower |
 Shooting Star Field |
 Close Up Stars |
 Low Down View |
 Purple & Yellow |
 Perfect Shooting Stars |
 Ballhead Waterleaf |
 Lunch Spot |
 Mt. Adams |
 Mt. Stuart |
 Burned Plateau |
 Lemah Mountain |
 Old Man's Whiskers |
 Kirsten & Steve |
 Heading To Viewpoint |
 Burn To The SE |
 Sliver Forest |
 Death Camas |
 More Small Flowers |
 Indian Paintbrush |
 False Hellebore |
 Western Globeflower |
 Glacier Lily |
 Yellow Carpet |
 Light On Dark |
 Big Head Clover |
 Hooker's Balsamroot |
 Dark Red Clover |
 More Balsamroot |
 Two Asters |
 More Lupine |
 Penstemon |
Trips - 2017
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