Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area — Tuesday, Apr. 23, 2024

My original plan was to drive out to Olalla Canyon for the balsamroot, but after seeing AlpsDayTrippers report and photos from here, I changed my mind did this one instead. I knew it would be a completely different hike and I wouldn't be in a sea of balsamroot, but that's fine with me - I was more interested in seeing a Mountain Bluebird anyways. 

Parked in the Corrals lot on Monday, with only 2 other cars, and one person with his dog who pulled in right after me (they were off immediately and I only saw them once). It was sunny all day, but there was a lovely breeze so it was never hot, and no annoying bugs. The bluebird came up a lot sooner than expected - maybe 5 or 10 minutes into walking up the horribly rutted section of the off road track. There's a birdhouse attached to the fence post and they are most certainly using it - the male and juvenile female bluebirds were in and out carrying snacks and nest building material. And they are as beautiful as the pictures I've seen of them (is this how I know I've become old? I go on hikes to see specific birds now??). Hung out there for a bit just watching them, and then continued on. There are flowers around this area, but sparse, however there were a lot of butterflies in that area, and an abundance of caterpillars that moved incredibly fast.

I was never able to photograph them, but the Western Meadowlarks were singing all day through the middle section of the sage brush. There were also plenty of Sage Thrasher's, Sagebrush Sparrows, and White-crowned Sparrows (they really liked having their photos taken at least). 

The Simpson's Hedgehog Cactus is prominent on the higher ridges where you also get a great view of Mt. Rainier, and a partial view of Mt. Adams through the wind turbines. Looking east there's also a great view of Frenchman Coulee and the Sunshine wall (though too far away even with a big zoom lens to see if anyone was out there climbing).

The balsam root here is also most dense up on the ridges, though they are past peak already. If it wasn't so windy in that area it would be a great spot to sit and have some snacks, but I also didn't want to be there all day and get stuck in Seattle traffic to get home, so I didn't stay there too long. I ended up sitting back down by the birdhouse to eat my sandwich and watch the birds a bit longer. 

I ended up seeing 2 people the entire time I was there, and I imagine it's never really that crowded here. The only downside was I got there later than I wanted (around 10am), so I knew I'd have less bird watching potential than if I was there super early, but it was definitely not a wasted trip - the solitude, constant birdsongs, and neon pink cactus flowers were well worth the change in plans.