A group of 4 Mountaineers did a point-to-point, car-drop from HWY 97A up to Keystone Point and then down the Mills Canyon Road. A close approximation of our route is the attached caltopo route. Our starting point is the attached google maps link. Our ending point (where we left a car) was just inside/south of the cattle guard (there were some jaggedy rocks beyond this). Up to Keystone is a boot path 25% of the time and then walking through wildflower fields along obvious, rounded, ridge lines the rest of the time.
The wildflowers were very thick after the initial ascent from 97A, balsamroot, lupine, phlox, tritilia, groundsel, desert parsleys, stickseed, and more. Butte-Candle (aka northern cryptantha, Oreocarya glomerata) and the white-yellow larkspur were new to me and beautiful. Mills Canyon Road had many Tweedy's Lewisia in bloom and a whole hillside of Snow Douglasia. There were many other flowers on the way up and in the canyon. It's easy to time the flowers here, when Horse Lake is very good, this is very good.
Thanks Bob and Barb for the liter of gatorade, it was great to see you on the road! We took a long time going up, it's steep in places, a little slow-going in general, and the flowers were very distracting!
None of us saw any ticks. We did see 2 rattlesnakes and 1 gopher snake.
The wildflowers were very thick after the initial ascent from 97A, balsamroot, lupine, phlox, tritilia, groundsel, desert parsleys, stickseed, and more. Butte-Candle (aka northern cryptantha, Oreocarya glomerata) and the white-yellow larkspur were new to me and beautiful. Mills Canyon Road had many Tweedy's Lewisia in bloom and a whole hillside of Snow Douglasia. There were many other flowers on the way up and in the canyon. It's easy to time the flowers here, when Horse Lake is very good, this is very good.
Thanks Bob and Barb for the liter of gatorade, it was great to see you on the road! We took a long time going up, it's steep in places, a little slow-going in general, and the flowers were very distracting!
None of us saw any ticks. We did see 2 rattlesnakes and 1 gopher snake.
Comments
Bob and Barb on Keystone Ridge
BEAUTIFUL photos and video of a spectacular area! You are welcome for the gatorade! It was fun to see you again! What is Butte Candle? I Googled and couldn't find a flower by that name: only a candle!
Posted by:
Bob and Barb on May 13, 2023 11:20 PM
AlpsDayTripper on Keystone Ridge
Thanks. Sorry for just the common name and no photo, here is another common name and the sci name northern cryptantha, Oreocarya glomerata. I'm sure you two have seen it! :-)
Posted by:
AlpsDayTripper on May 14, 2023 05:10 AM
Bob and Barb on Keystone Ridge
Thank you for the info! No need to be sorry! I don't remember ever seeing it in full bloom! What GREAT hikes you did and BEAUTIFUL flowers you saw in the Wenatchee area! Thank you for all your reports!
Posted by:
Bob and Barb on May 15, 2023 08:47 PM