Cowiche Canyon Preserve, Snow Mountain Ranch and Cowiche Mountain — Saturday, Apr. 8, 2023

I took an afternoon walk at the Cowiche Canyon uplands from the Scenic Dr trailhead on Wed.  There were lots of flowers, especially Grass Widows & Canby's Desert Parsley, but the were a little past, so when Ethan, Brenda, Jonah, & I wanted a close-by hike today, we chose Snow Mtn Ranch.  We went up the Wildflower Trail, across the Bench Trail, up the Cowiche Mtn Trail East to the upper junction with Betsy's Trail and then along Betsy's Trail to a nice lunch spot with views out to Mt Cleman.

   Betsy's Trail is a new trail to the east of the Cowiche Mtn Trail East opened by the Conservancy last June.  The lower junction with the Cowiche Mtn Trail East is just past the junction with the Bench Trail and the upper junction is about half-way up Cowiche Mtn or so.  The junctions are signed and the trail is mostly beaten in and well flagged, though there are a few short sections where it is a little faint and not so well flagged and you need to be alert to find the route.  This is a very nice trail and could use quite a bit more traffic.  Unfortunately the trail does not show up yet on Conservancy maps, either on-line or on the ground.

   After lunch Brenda & Jonah decided to go on to the top of the mountain, so they went back to the Cowiche Mtn Trail East and on up.  Ethan & I made our way down Betsy's Trail to the Cowiche Mtn Trail East, down this trail to the Ditch Bank Trail, and then on to the trailhead.  The wildflowers throughout were incredible.  I have never seen yellow bells as profuse as they were on the lower section of the Wildflower Trail and other spots, nor have I seen Columbia Desert Parsley as profuse as it was on the east facing slope of the big ravine with the engine casing that Betsy's Trail crosses.  Canby's & Piper's Desert Parsley were also profuse and there were almost as many grass widows and buttercups as well as a scattering gold star and prairie star and probably a few others I have forgotten.  There were a few muddy spots, but nothing to slow us down.  We didn't see any wildlife nor many other hikers except near the trailhead. but we heard meadowlarks throughout the hike.  The day was cloudy and cool, but calm, perfect for wildflowers.