I took a walk on the Cowiche Canyon Uplands from the Scenic Drive trailhead on this sunny, warm afternoon.  SPRING IS HERE!!  I walked to the top of Cowiche Knoll, west on one of the trails that eventually intersects with the Historic Jeep Rd, then back to my truck.  Along the way I saw lots of Canby's Desert Parsley in bloom along with a scattering of yellow bells, grass widows, a few small specimens of our rare endemic, Lomatium lithosolamans (aka Tauschia hooveri), and a couple of solitary blossoms of gold star.  While I was out I ran into a couple of friends who reported that they had also seen violets and buttercups in bloom.  We've had a fairly wet winter and with the warm weather we're having, the show should just get better.  

I took an afternoon walk in Cowiche Canyon from the east end today.  I walked a little past bridge 8 and back.  There were a few icy patches, but the trail was mostly bare & dry.  The afternoon was partly cloudy and mild for this time of year.  NOTE:  all trails on the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy properties (Cowiche Canyon Preserve & Snow Mtn Ranch) except the main canyon trail are closed for a few days due to muddy conditions.  Trail conditions will be checked daily and trails will be opened as soon as possible without risk of long-term damage.  In addition, Rocky Top, which is managed by the Single Track Alliance of Yakima, will stay closed until March 1.  To stay abreast of trail closures/openings, consult the Conservancy's web site: cowichecanyon.org.

I took an afternoon walk on the Cowiche Canyon Uplands from the Summitview trailhead on this partly cloudy, mild day.  I walked east on the Summitview South Loop and where it curved north I continued east on bike trails to an old 2-track that took me up to the old Jeep Road which I followed back to the Summitview Trail & then back down to my truck.  There were some muddy areas along the trails, but mostly the walking was easy.  There were a number of others out enjoying the afternoon and there were some nice clouds over Mt Cleman, but what really got me jazzed was seeing the first few small specimens of Canby's Desert Parsley in bloom.  I wasn't really surprised because we have had a relatively mild winter, especially the last couple of weeks, and I have seen it here in January before.  But the first wildflower of the season is always a treat!

I took my annual walk on the Cowiche Canyon Uplands to photograph the last light of 2020 on this partly sunny, cool afternoon.  There's still a little snow up here and it's pretty compact on most of the trails, but I didn't have any problem without traction devices.  There were lots of others out enjoying the afternoon. It had been sunny much of the day, but the overcast was coming in when I arrived in mid-afternoon and so I didn't expect much in terms of light, but late in the day some of the clouds picked up some color and it was better than I expected.  Here's a couple of photos.  Happy New Year!

I took an afternoon walk in Cowiche Canyon on this cloudy, snowy Christmas Day.  There was maybe 1/2 inch of snow on the trail, but it didn't pose any problem.  There were a number of other folks out enjoying the afternoon.  It was a little dark a maybe a bit drab, but still beautiful.  Merry Christmas!