This is a good shoulder season hike with tremendous views of the Kittitas Yalley and up to the Stuart Range. It can get horribly muddy, slippery, and slimy in wet weather, so we brought spikes. Today, there were places where it was somewhat bad but not bad enough to put the spikes on. We took the Boy Scout up and the Westberg down, which makes a fine loop. In total, we saw about 4 other hikers in the couple of hours we were hiking. The BST is a longer trail, steep in places. The Westberg is shorter and consistently steeper. Either way, you’ll get your workout. And you’ll get to see views of town, mountains, farms, and windmills, which give me hope for this earth. We took and EV to the TH. 

 As usual, I hiked up the Boy Scout Trail and down the Westberg Trail.  The Boy Scout Trail is less steep and goes through the woods and is a nice alternative. The Westberg is extremely steep in places, highly eroded, and braided with parallel tracks going all over. It is, in short, kind of a mess. Manastash Ridge trails lead to stunning views of the Kittitas Valley, including Ellensburg and, far to the northwest, the Stuart Range. If you come here to do these hikes in the winter, bring spikes. The trails get icy, muddy, and extremely dangerous. With spikes however you can walk up and down with impunity.

There is a lot of rabbitbrush blooming right now (pictures 1 and 2). There were also some asters (picture 3) and a few salsify in bloom. There were many pollinators, mostly Fritillary butterflies (picture 1), and the beautiful moth in picture 4. I took the Boy Scout up, Chest Pains down, and did a 10 mile loop on the fast, mostly soft dirt mountain bike trails on the ridge (Frisky Donkey, Chin Biter, Hippies, Pine Oasis, Cougar Bait, and more, I pledged to myself to track these and get them added to the data that caltopo, gaia, and others draw on). 

I correctly figured that the high temperature of 64 on this sunny day would be cool enough to keep the rattlesnakes in their burrows. The only large mammals I saw were the deer under the apple trees near the trailhead. Don't miss the flower garden at the trailhead, it is spectacularly colorful right now, and the gardener was giving away cucumbers. 

Kay, Paul, Maggie, and John joined me for a Mountaineers hike up Westberg, west on the ridge road, a little dip down into South Riggs Canyon, and the Boy Scout trail on our return (see attached caltop for the 14 mile route). The large amounts of winter snow and the sunny spring has paid off, there are lots of flowers everywhere we hiked. We saw 64 species of flowering plants (Paul's list of the flowering plants is at the bottom, I like hiking with naturalists). 

What is especially nice is that there are different flowers in abundance in different areas. There are thick areas of Gairdner's penstemon (picture 3), thick, large, and colorful buckwheats (picture 1), balsamroot (thickest near woods on the ridge and at the top of the Westberg), paintbrush, showy phlox, bitterroot (picture 4, more than I have ever seen on a hike), yellow desert daisies/fleabane, larkspur, and lots of antelope brush lighting up the hillsides on the Westberg.  The 2 minute video will give you a little feel for the flowers. There were only a few royal penstemons, but they are striking (picture 2).  

WILDFLOWERS (64 species)

white (18)

chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)

bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata)

white campion / evening catchfly (Silene latifolia) — introduced from Europe

wax / DESERT currant (Ribes cereum)

showy phlox (Phlox speciosa)

common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

milk-vetch, species uncertain (Astragalus sp.) — 

46 species of milk-vetch grow in Washington, including 20 in Kittitas County!

tufted saxifrage (Saxifraga cespitosa)

saxifrage, probably Clayton’s (Micranthes, probably fragosa)

sagebrush stickseed (Hackelia diffusa)

western serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

prairie-star, species uncertain (Lithophragma sp.)

panicled death-camas (Toxicoscordion / Zigadenus paniculatum)

lance-leaved spring-beauty (Claytonia lanceolata)

Siberian spring-beauty (Claytonia sibirica)

large false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

star-flowered Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum stellatum)

Sitka mountain-ash (Sorbus sitchensis)

yellow (20)

salsify (Tragopogon dubius)

bitterbrush / antelope brush (Purshia tridentata)

Douglas’s buckwheat (Eriogonum douglasii)

thyme-leaf buckwheat (Eriogonum thymoides)

arrow-leaf buckwheat (Eriogonum compositum)

Carey’s balsamroot (Balsamorhiza careyana)

Hooker’s balsamroot (Balsamorhiza hookeri)

Carey’s x Hooker’s hybrid balsamroot (Balsamorhiza careyana x hookeri)

desert yellow daisy (Erigeron linearis)

nineleaf desert-parsley / biscuitroot (Lomatium triternatum) — or a split-off species 

barestem desert-parsley / biscuitroot (Lomatium nudicaule)

tall western groundsel (Senecio integerrimus)

tansymustard, species uncertain (Descurainia sp.)

hawksbeard, species uncertain (Crepis sp.)

Columbian puccoon (Lithospermum ruderale)

nodding microseris (Microseris nutans)

large-flowered agoseris (Agoseris grandiflora)

heart-leaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia)

holly-leaf / tall Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium)

field mustard (Brassica rapa)

reddish: pink to red to red-purple (10)

common snowberry  (Symphoricarpos albus)

mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus)

Gairdner’s penstemon (Penstemon gairdneri)

bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva)

harsh paintbrush (Castilleja hispida)

old man’s whiskers (Geum triflorum)

redstem stork’s bill (Erodium cicutarium)

Columbia / small-flowered rockcress (Boechera pauciflora)

big-head clover (Trifolium macrocephalum)

rose, bald-hip or Nootka or pear-hip (Rosa gymnocarpa or nutkana or woodsii)

bluish: blue to violet to blue-purple (14)

blue mustard (Chorispora tenella) — introduced from SW Asia

lupine, probably elegant or prairie (Lupinus, probably lepidus, variety lobbii or aridus)

lupine, probably silky or silvery (Lupinus, probably sericeus or argenteus)

royal / showy penstemon (Penstemon speciosus)

large-flower Triteleia / Douglas's brodiaea (Triteleia grandiflora / Brodiaea douglasii)

western blue iris (Iris missouriensis) — this is a native!

two-spike larkspur (Delphinium distichum)

larkspur, species uncertain (Delphinium sp.) —

19 species of larkspur grow in Washington, including 11 in Kittitas County!

bluebells, sagebrush or shade or trumpet (Mertensia amoena or umbratilis or longiflora)

ball-head waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum)

shaggy daisy (Erigeron pumilus)

few-flowered pea (Lathyrus pauciflorus)

thread-leaf phacelia (Phacelia linearis)

small-flowered blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora)

green (1)

Thompson’s paintbrush (Castilleja thompsonii)

brown (1)

chocolate tips (Lomatium dissectum)

BIRDS

Red-tailed Hawk

Steller’s Jay

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Western Meadowlark

American Kestrel

Common Raven

Chipping Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Sagebrush Sparrow

Western Bluebird

Spotted Towhee

Whitebreasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Dusky Grouse

Mountain Chickadee

Willow Flycatcher

Black-headed Grosbeak

Dark-eyed Junco

Osprey

Northern Harrier

BUTTERFLIES

Ochre Ringlet

unidentified white

Decided to head up Manastash this cold, snowy morning in search of a winter wonderland. I only live 15 minutes from the trailhead so the drive in was not a problem. There was snow on the road way, but it was groomed. My friend and I were in an AWD car with snow tires on. There were about six cars in the parking lot when we arrived. We put our spikes on right away and that ended up being a good decision. Under the snow the trail was ice.

We took the path called Boy Scout up, which follows the irrigation ditch, and then weaves its way through a canyon to the top. The snow was deep in places but someone else had gone before us and broken a trail. Not quite deep enough for post holing. We probably could’ve benefited from snow shoes but did alright with spikes and waterproof boots. At the junction with the Westberg Trail, my friend decided to turn back. Trudging through the deep snow aggravated her knees. So I continued on to the top with just my pup. A light breeze picked up once I left the tree line, and I had to keep moving to prevent myself from getting too cold. It was 19 deg F... brrrr! Only stopped for a brief moment at the top, had a sip of tea, texted my husband to come pick me up in an hour, and turned around to head home. Minimal views through the falling snow but oh so lovely.

Took the Westberg Trail down. This one is more exposed and steep in places. Also a lot more ice. I was very thankful for my spikes. I passed two other hikers going up as I came down. But in general it was very quiet day. My husband was waiting for me at the bottom. Watch stated it took me three hours, over 2,000 feet elevation, and 5.3 miles round trip. A much slower time than usual, due to all the trudging through the snow. But I have to say I do love a bit of a sufferfest!