Having seen several posts on this hike, I decided on doing this one instead of Wenatchee hills area. My goal was to see lots of balsamroot flowers, as well as others, without overdoing a tendonitis issue I have dealt with for the past 8 months.
The road up the canyon from Cashmere to the trailhead is paved.
There is a nice bathroom/toilet at the trailhead, and it was stocked.
I arrived at the parking lot at 7:30 and started my hike before 8am. The earlier start increased my chances of seeing deer while late enough to let the sun start warming the air to the upper 40s. (When I went thru Cle Elum it was 32 degrees.) Note: while driving over Blewett Pass I saw signs about a high deer migration going on right now. I did see a few deer while in route.
The lower balsamroot near the trailhead seemed to be past season, but those on top were in their prime and made the trip payoff. I don't know how long the balsamroot will last.
I spotted 19 deer by the time I reached the crossroads (2 miles into the hike). I did not see any on my return hike back down. From the crossroads my choices were to turn left and see views from Sunrise, the Saddle, Little Bear, and do the Spring Loop trail, or could go right and head up Ridge Road and Lower loop. I chose going left. (I normally would have done both, but my heal was telling me that was too much). My total hike was 8 miles and gained a total of 2100 feet elevation.
The balsamroot was thick in some areas near the top of Sunrise, and on the Spring Loop. Balsamroot was not the only flower in blue. There was a lot of Lupine, and Bisquitroot (or was it parsley?). I also saw an abundance of prairie star, and ballhead waterleaf.
I saw one bull snake on the trail while heading down. The photo shown does include the head (you may need to zoom the photo and look closely).
A link is provided to my Facebook page where I posted more pictures of this hike.
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