Many Wildflowers, Some Butterflies, Lots of Birds, and Bunches of Fun

We took a ride with some friends, Rodger and Ginger, up into the mountains to look for some wildflowers and a few birds. On the map above we are showing the start in Dayon, Washington, Moose Creek Cafe identified on the map is in Dayton. We headed south out of Dayton down South Fourth Street towards Bluewood Ski Area. We turned east on Hatley Gulch Road way before reaching the ski area and wandered toward Godman Springs Campground. We mostly traveled along Skyline Road. It was largely slow travel along a very dusy road, sometimes through an old burn and sometimes through heavier forest. There were lots of wildflowers and many other things to see which slowed our travels even more.

Actually we had seen this sign earlier, on a road we were traveling, it is not along Skyline Road. There was a logging operation where they were chipping a bunch of wood and the chips were flying all over. You certainly had to be cautious and watch for flying material. At least they were off on a side road when we traversed the area. It is a fun sign.

Having that side note out of the way we turned on Hatley Gulch Road and immediately found this Western Kingbird. They are a very common flycatcher. This is most likely a juvenile or young bird, note the very light coloraation, an adult Kingbird is quite a bit darker in color.. We found about eight of these birds just after turning onto Hatley Gulch. Most likley there were a couple of nests there and the kids were getting kicked out and forced to move around.

Here are some other juveniles, in this case juvenile Brewers Blackbirds. They were a bit further up Hatley Gulch in a flock of about 7 of them. They were foraging among some small cedar trees along the side of the road and adjacent to a wheatfield. Often times juvenile birds are difficult to identify because they don't have many of the adult markings.

You go up Hatley Gulch by climbing through a canyon. The road was in great condition, not dusty and rather smooth. It appeared to have been sprayed with a dust retardent or sealer. It was in great shape and there were lots of birds in the canyon. After you get up on top you are on a plateau and can see for some distance. This shows some of the many windmills we have chatted about in a previous blog.

Here is an image from along Skyline Road, lots of wildflowers. The redish colored flowers are Indian Paint Brush and the tall row of flowers in the background are Fireweed.

This is a better look at the Fireweed. Years ago when we were volunteering in Homer Alaska there was an ice cream shop that had some interesting flavors beyond strawberry and rocky road. They had a flavor called Fireweed and it was fabulous. They would not divulge their trade secrets so we don't know what it was made from, it was delicious so we just ate it.

We are certainly not the foremost of wildflower identification people so we do a bit of research and make a guess at the species of flowers. We believe this is a Sulphur flower Buckwheat and if some one knows a different and more accurate name please let us know and we can learn something. It is a pretty little flower nonetheless.

The yellow flowers dominating the front of the image appear to be St Johns-wort while the row in the background is more Fireweed. The St Johns-wort was incredibly abundant along the road. There were patches of it where it was very thick and lined the road on both sides.

We had mentioned Indian Paintbrush earlier. This is a close-up of the flower.

We had during our various travels seen various amounts of Indian Paintbrush. We had never seen it in the volume that we found along Skyline Road. There were major extensive patches of Indian Paintbrush along both sides of the road. The flowers were quite colorful.

We saw many different butterflies working the various flowers. This is a Painted lady. A fairly common butterfly. We also saw many Swallowtail and Pale Yellow Swallowtail. It was great watching the butterflies.

We think this is a Mountain Aster. We were definitely in the Mountains about 5,300 feet in elevation and this certainly appears to be an Aster so the name fits.

We stopped as we were leaving Godman Springs for a look around. This shows the mountains off in the distance. It is great country.

You not only see large displays in fields of wildflowers but you can find hidden gems as you look around more closely. This appears to be a Canterberry Bell, a beautiful bell shaped blue flower. Again if we have mis-identified some flowers please let us know through the comments capability of this blog.

Starting down the road from Godman Springs we looked back and saw these trees on the horizon. They look like ghost trees to me, mere silhouettes of their former selves. At this elevation the winters can be harsh and the exposed trees take the brunt of the winter winds.

We are now heading back and so just like this bluebird, we are out of here leaving behind lots of beautiful wildflowers, wonderful things to see, and great times.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at the wildflowers and other sights along Skyline Road and around Godman Springs. It was a rather enjoyable adventure.

Let us know if you have any questions.
All the best - Be Well - George and Deanna