Outback

I landed on a morning hike on Memorial Day with my puppy Summit, my parents and their dog Belle, taking advantage of the cooler temperatures forecasted for the morning. The rest of my family were avoiding the outdoors due to serious allergies and opted to relax at home. There were no cars at the trailhead, and we started up Outback, with Belle taking the lead.

There was a steady breeze, and it was actually a little cool when not in the direct sun. I was questioning whether I should have brought another layer, but we quickly warmed up as we ascended the trail towards the loop. Upon reaching the loop, we decided to hike it counter-clockwise. I think every time I have done it clockwise, and after now having done it counter-clockwise, I think that is the direction I prefer. You end up having more elevation gain at the start, which I find preferable, plus you get better views of Lake Chelan on the second half of the hike (walking towards the lake versus walking away from the lake).

Lupine along the trail

While the season for Arrowleaf Balsamroot has passed, with only a few left still in bloom, there were many other wildflowers along the trail, with quite a bit of Lupine. We even saw some grayish Lupine in addition to the everpresent purplish Lupines.

Sagebrush Buttercup

While the season for Arrowleaf Balsamroot has passed, with only a few left still in bloom, there were many other wildflowers along the trail, with quite a bit of Lupine. We even saw some grayish Lupine in addition to the everpresent purplish Lupines. Other wildflowers encountered include Penstemon, Sagebrush Buttercup, Lyall's Mariposa Lily Snowbrush ceanothus (a shrub) and certainly more I can't remember.

While the trail itself was getting a bit dusty, the surrounding hills were still quite green, especially on the northern facing slopes, and the recent rain certainly has helped. There was evidence of quite a bit of bulldozer work done around the area, I believe for fire mitigation purposes. Hopefully the smoke and fires come a bit later this year to the Chelan Valley, as last year and the year before they started in June...

Penstemon

Once we reached the intersection with Mallory's Way, we stopped for a short water break. My puppy Summit had been running hard trying to keep up with my parent's dog, and he was glad to slurp down both his water and my parent's dog's water. Fortunately, Belle didn't seem to mind, and I gave her some of Summit's treats.

Summit running ahead

We continued on our way, enjoying the cool temps. We proceeded down Waterbar Heaven, as the dogs were out ahead of us and had already started down. At one point I was starting to doubt my recollection that Waterbar Heaven intersects with Outback right before the parking area. But sure enough, the trail switchbacked towards the parking lot. There were a couple of runners heading down Waterbar Heaven, and we had a mountain biker pass us on the final stretch to the parking area, but otherwise it was a pretty quiet day at Echo Ridge.