Peter Stekel - Best Wildflower Hikes Western Washington: Year-Round Opportunities Including Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks and the North Cascades

Peter Stekel has a BA in botany from the University of California, Davis. He did graduate work in plant ecology and received a secondary school teaching credential in life sciences from Humboldt State University. His previous work includes over 700 newspaper and magazine feature stories; another hiking guide, Best Hikes Near Seattle; a nonfiction book, Final Flight: The Mystery of a WWII Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra; and a mystery novel, The Flower Lover.

I am grateful to Dr. David Giblin at the Burke Museum and University of Washington Herbarium. He helped me choose not only the best hikes, but the best hikes in western Washington where the best displays and species diversity in wildflowers could be found. He was also there to help me with identification of the difficult species. Of course, any plants wrongly determined are my own responsibility, just as are any other errors in the text.

As to names of wildflowers: Please be kind. My UC Davis undergraduate botany degree was in 1975 and my graduate work at Humboldt State University was between 1976 and 1978. I tried really hard to update all the names I learned so long ago! If I missed a few, I apologize. Those darn splitters!

Thank you to my hiking companions while the field portion of this book was being researched: Peter Hesslein, Jane Hesslein, Sasha Kaufmann, Dawn Meekhof, Janet Cermak, Elizabeth Hurley, Alice Goldberg, and members of the Washington Native Plant Society 2015 Study Weekend at Mount Baker.

Thank you to Dave Flotree and Ellen Hauptmann for the use of their cottage on Lopez Island. Also to George Laird and Alina Dussort for the use of their home in Portland.

Heres a big shout out to Oboz Footwear for keeping me shod and Sherpa Adventure Gear for keeping me warm and dry. Also to Boo Turner at Footloose-Communications.com for making it happen. Thank you to Green Trails Maps for providing maps for this project so I wouldnt get lost.

To Dr. Paul Manner, Pete Hall, and physical therapists Gene Kopyt, Debbie Potter, and Carla Hofferber: Thanks for helping me walk again.

My editor, John Burbidge, helped shepherd this project through Falcon from beginning to end. What a guy! Thank you to Meredith Dias, senior production editor at Falcon, for her hard work.

Jennie Goldberg: Like everything else in my life, this book would not have happened but for you, your love, and your support.

Clubs, hiking forums, and access/advocacy groups, including online groups and organizations

Alpine Lakes Protection Society

www.alpinelakes.org

Give thanks to these people for their wilderness advocacy and their excellent 1:100,000 topo map that covers the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and surrounding area.

American Whitewater

PO Box 1540

Cullowhee, NC 28723

(866) BOAT-4-AW (866-262-8429)

info@amwhitewater.org

www.AmericanWhitewater.org

American Whitewater restores rivers dewatered by hydropower dams, works to eliminate water degradation, improves public land management, and protects public access to rivers for responsible recreational use by boaters, hikers, anglers, and other individuals and groups.

Burke Museum

University of Washington

17 Avenue NE and NE 45th Street

Seattle, WA 98105

(206) 543-5590

www.burkemuseum.org

Hours: Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture was founded in 1885 and is the oldest public museum in Washington. Affiliated with the University of Washington, the Burke Museum is research based and holds a collection with 16 million objects. The Burke serves many audiences and communities, including Washington State residents, visitors to Seattle, K-20 educators and students, Indigenous and Pacific communities, and researchers, scholars, and enthusiasts.

Green Trails Maps

PO Box 77734

Seattle, WA 98177

https://greentrailsmaps.com

Based in Seattle since its founding in 1973 as the first publisher of high-quality recreational topographical maps to Washington State, Green Trails publishes over 150 titles, covering Washington and Oregons Cascade Mountains, Washingtons Olympic Peninsula, and other places. The maps show the most current trail, road, and access available to national forests, national parks, state and local parks, and other public lands.

Hike Metro

https://sites.google.com/site/seattlemetrobushiking

What? You dont have a car? Then take the bus! Here are some links to walks, hikes, and outdoor adventures in the Seattle area that you can reach by public transit. The best part of all is that no car is needed. Dont forget your ORCA Card!

Hiking Meetup Group (Seattle)

www.hiking.meetup.com/cities/us/wa/seattle

Sign up and meet people who share your interest in hiking.

Hiking Northwest

www.kuresman.com

A compilation of thirty-plus years of trip reports from hikes throughout our region by John Kuresman. This guy gets around!

Issaquah Alps Trails Club

PO Box 351

Issaquah, WA 98027

www.issaquahalps.org

The club serves as a voice for protection of our open spaces, trails, and quality of life. Their mission is to act as custodian of the trails and the lush, open, tree-covered mountaintops known as the Issaquah Alps.

Local Hikes (Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton)

www.localhikes.com/MSA/MSA_7602.asp

A website providing information on local hiking opportunities contributed by volunteer reporters.

The Mountaineers, Seattle Branch

7700 Sand Point Way NE

Seattle, WA 98115

(206) 521-6000

www.mountaineers.org

The Pacific Northwests largest recreation and conservation organization.

Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust

911 Western Ave., Ste. 203

Seattle, WA 98104

(206) 382-5565

info@mtsgreenway.org

www.mtsgreenway.org

This group is trying to reverse the trend along I-90 to become the province of strip malls, billboards, and spreading urban development. Theyre working to keep an accessible landscape of forests and open spaces as outdoor recreation for people and habitat for wildlife.

Northwest Hikers

www.nwhikers.net

An online forum to talk about hiking, hiker issues, and places to hike or to find a hiking companion.

Seattle Audubon Society

8050 35th Ave. NE

Seattle, WA 98115

(206) 523-4483

info@s eattleaudubon.org

www.seattleaudubon.org

Seattle Audubon cultivates and leads a community that values and protects birds and the natural environment and envisions a healthy environment in balance with nature, where people enjoy, respect, and care for the natural resources that sustain the community of life.

Sierra Club, Cascade Chapter

180 Nickerson St., Ste. 202

Seattle, WA 98109

(206) 378-0114

cascade.chapter@sierraclub.org

www.sierraclub.org/washington/seattle-group

The Seattle Group focuses on Seattle local issues, including improving public transit, reducing waste, environmental justice, and endorsing and supporting green candidates.

Snoqualmie River Road Project

Federal Highway AdministrationWestern Federal Lands

610 E. Fifth St.

Vancouver, WA 98661

mfsnoqualmie@fhwa.dot.gov

http://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/wa/snoqualmie/

No phone number

Check for construction and road closures on the Middle Fork Road.

Spring Family Trust

5015 88th Ave. SE

Mercer Island, WA 98040

A charitable trust dedicated to enhancing hiking opportunities in Washington State with grants for trail-building and maintenance projects.