I took an afternoon walk on the Cowiche Canyon Uplands today to see how the flowers were coming along.  The bloom is now in full swing.  I saw Canby's Desert Parsley, Hoover's Tauschia, Grass Widows, Yellow Bells, Sagebrush Violets, Gold Star, and Foothills Onion in bloom.  The Canby's, Grass Widows, and Yellow Bells were profuse.  It was cloudy bright and warm, but a breeze made flower photography very difficult.  There were lots of others out enjoying the Uplands this afternoon.

I took a walk in Cowiche Canyon on this cloudy, cool afternoon.  I walked from the west end down to bridge 4 and back.  The canyon is greening up, but is still a little drab.  Just before bridge 1, however, I saw Canby's Desert Parsley, Buttercups, and Yellow Bells in bloom and Fern-leaf Desert Parsley was close to bloom.  I have heard that there are also Grass Widows in bloom on the Uplands, which are now open.  Maybe spring is finally here!

I took an afternoon walk in Cowiche Canyon on this sunny, warm day.  I started at the east end and walked as far as the by-pass trail at the abutment for the old bridge 10 and back.  I didn't go farther because there was quite a bit of water running down the trail here from the ravine just east of the East Uplands Trail.  Up to here the trail was perhaps 40% snow covered.  It was a little soft and uneven, so the walking was a little more strenuous than when it was colder.  Also, NOTE, that to protect the resource, the uplands are temporarily closed due to soft snow and mud.  I would expect they would be open again in a couple of weeks.  And with all the water in the ground, when it warms up even more the wildflowers should be profuse.

We drove from Seattle and reached the east trail head at 8 am. (In the WTA description, the direction leads to the west trail head, I believe. Google Maps bring to the east end.)

We hiked about a mile and detoured south up to Uplands Trail. The snow is fresh and deep. We used microspikes and we saw others with microspikes as well. They work fine. But snowshoes are recommended.

It was very cold and windy. The wind covered the trails in fresh snow overnight. We used our judgement to determine where the trail is. On our way back, we noticed our previous tracks had been covered in snow again. When hiking here, a good sense of direction goes a long way.

At the top of the hill, we can barely see Mount Adams. The view was stunning!

But all in all, is was a gorgeous hike! Definitely different from hikes around western WA. Definitely coming back here! Maybe hiking through the canyon along the river.

Had to get out and cure some cabin fever for me and my pup. We hiked at the Summitview extension. The parking lot there is pretty rough so I was glad to be the only one there.

The snow didn't look too deep at the beginning so I decided to go without snowshoes. I quickly realized my error and headed back to the car to get my snowshoes. It seems like no one has hiked this section recently so I was breaking my own trail. The snow is still quite deep.

The are some cross-country ski tracks at the top where the Summitview trail connects with the other two. We didn't go far but it was enough to tire both of us a bit. I enjoyed the ice formations on the flora.

Specs: 1.5mi, 54min