Ken Knittle's talk of Johnson Ridge got me curious about checking out
pseudo-local areas (to me anyway) with some elevation. I ended up going up
past Spado Lake (south side) to the end of the road near Boulder Lake
trailhead (this if north of Sultan off Hwy 2). I didn't have time to do
any hiking (this was more of a "recon mission" from the car), but I plan to
next time if I can persuade someone to go with me. I had to work in the
morning, so I got up there right around 2:00pm 7/8/99 (not the best time I
imagine). I did manage to see my first Black Swifts, though nothing else
in the unusual category (saw V Thrush, Robins, Juncos, a couple C.
Nighthawks, a B. Eagle on a snag in the lake, and some swallows.

Anyone who's been up around there willing to provide some feedback on their
experiences (or more feedback building on Ken's message)? What would you
expect to see? Is early or late morning typically the best time of day?
The road washed out in many places just up past the Boulder Lake
trailhead. I'd like to go back with a mountain bike to get to the trail up
Vesper Creek for the heck of it (not likely to have people on it at all).
Walking up there alone got me to wondering if there were any critters to
be concerned about, so I didn't venture to far from the car by myself.
Was I paranoid? I didn't want to become a cougar statistic.

=========================================
Ned McGarry
Kirkland, WA
nmcgarry at gte.net


-----Original Message-----
From: lu&krk [SMTP:xenops at email.msn.com]
Sent: Saturday, July 03, 1999 10:48 AM
To: Tweeters
Subject: Johnson Ridge, s.e. Snohomish Co.

It still seems a little to early for many species of birds in the high
elevations such as Johnson Ridge north of Skykomish. Friday morning I was
up there looking for Dusky Flycatchers. I couldn't find any. The
Townsend's Solitaires were everywhere. I was expecting a grouse on the
roadways, but didn't see any. They may still be on the nest which leaves
only 50% to roam the forest. The burn up there from two years ago isn't in
mature forest. This doesn't look good enough to pull in Black-backed or
Three-toed Woodpeckers. An Olive-sided Flycatcher has set up territory on
one of the taller dead trees. I figure two more weeks before it will look
like spring up there. The forest right above the ridge had a fresh layer
of
snow on the trees and there was a small patch of snow in the trail going up
to Joan Lake. MacGillivray's Warblers were singing in the
regrowth/clear-cut areas and a Hairy Woodpecker forced me to hit the brakes
thinking it might be that rarity that hasn't shown itself yet. The snow on
Evergreen Mt. was mainly gone and it looked better for birding except for
the road up there is gated leaving miles to hike before getting into that
higher elevation zone where some good alpine species might be lurking.
Maybe today I'll check Barclay Lake above the town of Baring.

Ken Knittle, Gold Bar