Tweeters,

A little late, but below is an a recent trip to the Goat Rocks Wilderness
west of Yakima:

GOAT ROCK WILDERNESS BACKPACK
5-6 AUGUST 2000

Ellen, Denny Granstrand, and I did an exciting, if all to brief overnight
backpack into the Goat Rocks Wilderness of western Yakima County. Our
destination was the above-treeline basin in the area about Warm Lake high on
the east shoulder of Mt. Gilbert, an area put on the map by the late Justice
William O. Douglas. He thoroughly explored and came to love this part of the
Cascades. The primary target for Denny and myself was White-tailed
Ptarmigan, a species none of us had seen in Yakima County.

APPROACH VIA CONRAD MEADOWS. The way to the beautiful untrammeled high
country of the Goat Rocks Alpine Zone is along the South Fork of the Tieton
River. The initial couple miles of trail crosses private land, an inholding
within the Wenatchee National Forest. Cows and a dusty trail make this a
less-than-desirable experience. Apparently, the landowner has deeded a
permanent easement for public access, which is good, but the flip side of
the coin is the beautiful lower Conrad Meadows are heavily grazed by cattle
and beaten down.

This stretch has been logged also; Lodgepole Pine (Pinus monticola) and
Ponderosa (P.ponderosa ), Grand Fir (Abies grandis), Douglas Fir
(Pseudostuga menziesii), and Western Larch (Larix occidentalis) all growing
in this area. Birdwise, this habitat had many Chipping Sparrows, Western
Wood-Pewees, a few Olive-sided Flycatchers, scattered flocks of Nashville,
Yellow-rumped (Audubon's), and Townsend's Warblers, and numerous Pine Siskin
and Evening Grosbeak, in addition to scads of Mountain and Chestnut-backed
Chickadees. These meadow edges seemed filled with birds.

The westernmost parts of Conrad Meadows were decidedly wetter and lusher, on
account of their proximity to the Cascade crest. In these meadows, cows were
also much less in evidence or absent. Lincoln's Sparrow, still singing,
were evident in lush growth (tall sedges?) by the crystal-clear South Fork
of the Tieton River - a beautiful song amidst a beautiful scene! These
meadows certainly invite further exploration.

CLIMB INTO THE SUBALPINE. Switch-backing north from montane forests at the
head of the South Fork of the Tieton River, it seemed an abrupt transition
to "Snow Forests" of Mountain Hemlock, which soon became surprisingly
common, given that this locale was east of the crest and on a south-facing
slope. Here, we found one Three-toed Woodpecker, a few scattered
Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Golden-crowned
Kinglets, and, of course, the ever-present Evening Grosbeak; generally,
though these dense forests were quiet.

Higher yet, the forests opened into typical Subalpine Zone "flower" gardens
with an "east-side" flavor - including a few clumps of Mountain or Sitka
Alder. It was here I heard the only Pine Grosbeaks of the trip, calling
"chee-vlee!"

PERCH HIGH ABOVE THE VALLEY. We found a campsite on a broad ledge with a
grand view overlooking the South Fork of the Tieton River, at the edge of a
dark, shady Mountain Hemlock grove. As with many other Eastside forest
sites, a fascinating juxtaposition of habitats can be found in proximity.
Our campsite was no exception. On the bench were many very impressive
Mountain Hemlocks, some of the finest I've ever encountered. A scattering of
Pacific Silver (Abies amabilis) and Subalpine (A. lasiocarpa) Firs , and
Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmanni) were also present. At the edge of the
bench was an exposed promontory, where, in addition to the above trees, were
Western White, Ponderosa, and Whitebark Pine(Pinus albicaulis), and, very
oddly, a nice Yellow Cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis). I found it amazing
apparently healthy Yellow Cedar was growing only 10' from Ponderosa Pine,
two species with radically different moisture requirements.

Very evident throughout the mid-elevation forests of this valley (and, as we
had observed on prior hiking trips this summer in adjacent drainages to the
south such as North and Middle Forks of Ahtanum Creek) was browning of the
forests, apparently caused by Western Spruce Budworm. At our cliff side
perch at dusk, we made the observation that numbers of little brown moths
were strongly attracted to true firs - Pacific Silver and Subalpine Fir,
while only a few were noted flying around the Mountain Hemlocks (Tsuga
mertensiana), none on the Western White, Ponderosa or Whitebark Pines. It
occurred to me these might be Spruce Budworm Moths (Choristoneura
fomiferana) and thus, we were observing the culprit for the incredible
damage to true firs and other trees throughout mid-elevations of South Fork
of the Tieton River and elsewhere east of the Cascade crest in south-central
Washington.

Ellen inquired with the Naches District regarding the insect outbreak and it
turned out the widespread epidemic is indeed, the Western Spruce Budworm.
The present infestation began on the Yakima Indian Reservation to the south
and is spreading north along the east slopes of the Cascades, now
off-reservation north to the Tieton River drainage ( I failed to observe any
significant damage in mid-elevation fir forests of the Bumping River
drainage on an all-day hiking trip 13 August). noted

How is this damage caused?

"Spruce Budworm is the caterpillar stage of a small moth, grayish with brown
markings. The moths emerge from pupal cases in the summer and soon lay eggs
on conifer foliage. In about 10 days, the young caterpillars emerge, only to
envelop themselves in a hibernating shroud until the next spring. Then the
real damage begins: the caterpillars begin feeding on the tender young
needles just starting growth. The loss of trees of all age classes can be
tremendous. For those only damaged by the budworm predation, growth and
yield will be severely curtailed. Also many weakened trees become part of
the total mortality in later years as they are most subject to other types
of infestation." (Kruckeberg, A. 1991. The Natural History of Puget Sound
Country. Univ. of Washington Press). Apparently, budworm outbeaks are
increasing in duration, intensity, and extent.

Many low and middle elevation forests along the Cascade east slopes exhibit
weakening by this and other insect outbreaks, due to past logging practices
and effective fire suppression which has dramatically increased Grand Fir,
and, to a lesser extent Douglas Fir.

While it was obvious a lot of damage was occurring to the forests in the
area, clearly one benefactor is the Evening Grosbeak, which was ubiquitous
throughout the forest belt on this trip, a species whose abundance in the
area has been shown to reflect insect outbreaks (Bill Tweit, pers.comm.).

ALPINE ZONE BELOW MT. GILBERT. Early the next morning we began our hike up
to the alpine meadows in the basin east of Mt. Gilbert. We were sidetracked,
however, only a stones throw from camp, when we encountered an impressive
number of migrants in Douglas Maples (Acer douglasi) at the edge of a
beautiful "Rock Garden," where many Scarlet Gilia, Buckwheats and Yarrow
were in bloom. In the maple thickets were many warblers: numerous Townsend'
s, fewer Yellow-rumped (Audubon's), Nashville, and one Orange-crown. Notable
was a Pacific-slope Flycatcher. Also present were Warbling Vireo, many
Chipping Sparrows, Mountain Chickadee, and Rufous Hummingbird. A most
impressive sight, all tending to move south along the precipitous slope from
maple to maple! Denny reminded us of our primary objective, so we continued
on up the steep and rocky trail to alpine heights.

The hike from our campsite at 5,600' to Warm Lake involved locating and
climbing an obscure, steep and rough trail west to the ridge crest, then
working our way south past the highest clumps of Mountain Hemlock and then
descending a little into a broad cirque filled with a huge snowbank (or tiny
glacier). Everywhere were rivulets of meltwater, rushing downward - the
headwaters of Conrad Creek, which flows into the South Fork of the Tieton
River.

In this basin is the most extensive and well-developed area of alpine
vegetation I've observed in the South Cascades. Near snowbanks were
well-developed sedge flats (Carex nigricans?). A colorful zone of herbaceous
alpine wildflowers, many in full bloom, bordered these spongy vegetation. On
drier terrain, we noted a narrow zone of Red Mountain Heather. The areal
extent of the alpine communities was what struck me as most notable.
Elsewhere in the South Cascades, alpine vegetation tends to be poorly
developed due, I suppose, to rugged terrain. Only in the North Cascades
(and, particularly the Paysayten region), does suitable topography at high
elevation occur over larger areas to allow a well-developed alpine flora to
develop.

We took this ptarmigan search seriously. Our strategy was to spread out (say
50 to 100') on the rocky and meadowy slopes. It seemed like we must have
covered every square foot of suitable habitat several times, but I guess
this was an exaggeration. After about three hours, all we had to show for
our White-tailed Ptarmigan search was one white feather (Denny found it in
the rocky, heather-grown slopes); proving the elusive "chicken" was close
by!

After the first part of our ptarmigan search, we lunched in gorgeous warm
sunshine by Warm Lake. Who should bound up to the lake, but Cascadian
President Jeff Hagen and his friend Allan, both powerful hikers. Jeff
mentioned the large boulder on the west shore was undoubtedly the spot
mentioned by Justice William O. Douglas years more than 50 years ago as a
perfect diving platform. Ellen, upon request, snapped photos of Jeff and
Allan diving into the not-so warm waters. A beautiful meadow-lined lake,
indeed!

Other birds? American Pipits were common in the wet areas, including begging
young. Gray-crowned Rosy Finch were heard by the cliffs on the west side of
the basin; Denny thought he saw a flock of sparrow-sized birds in that area,
but none came close for a good visual.

Two Mountain Goats resting on the snow high above the basin was perhaps our
most exciting wildlife encounter; these "Goat Rocks" are thus well named.

We finally left this Shangri-La about 2 PM, beginning the long descent (~
nine miles) back into the dust bowl of Conrad Meadows, dreaming of another
time when we could visit this area of superlative beauty.

Bird list:

M- low elevations, environs of Conrad Meadows
S-Subalpine, above ~ 5,000' in Mountain Hemlock Zone
A-Alpine, treeless communities above ~ 6,200' around Warm Lake

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2+ (M), screaming shrilly towards west end of Conrad
Meadows, juveniles begging?
Red-tailed Hawk - 1, (M)
White-tailed Ptarmigan - a feather collected by Denny south of Warm Lake!
Common Nighthawk - 5, (M|)
Rufous Hummingbird - 5, (S, A)
Belted Kingfisher - 1, (M)
Williamson's Sapsucker -1 male, (M)
Downy Woodpecker - 1, (M)
Hairy Woodpecker - 1 (M)
Three-toed Woodpecker - 1, (S)
Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker - 10+ (M, S)
Olive-sided Flycatcher - 1 (M)
Pacific-slope Flycatcher - 1, (S), upslope migrant
Western Wood-Pewee - 10 (M)
Tree Swallow -1+ (M)
Violet-green Swallow - 35+ (M)
Gray Jay - 1, (M), surprisingly scarce
Steller's Jay - 10 (M, S)
Clark's Nutcracker - 15 (M, S)
Common Raven - 3 (S, A)
Mountain Chickadee - 25 (M, S)
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 20+ (M, S)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 15 (M, S)
Brown Creeper - 3 (M)
House Wren - 1 (S), with uplsope wandering warblers at 5,200'
Winter Wren - 5 (S)
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 50+ (M, S)
Hermit Thrush - 5 (S), some singing at dusk
American Robin - 15 (M, S,)
Varied Thrush - 3 (S), some singing at dusk
American Pipit - 10 (A), begging juveniles
Cassin's Vireo - 1 (M)
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 (S), believe it was of the bright coastal race
Nashville Warbler - 15 (M, S)
Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler - 20 (M, S), many young birds about
Townsend's Warbler - 20+ (M, S)
Western Tanager - 10 (M, S)
Black-headed Grosbeak - 1 (M)
Chipping Sparrow - 60 (M, S), tons of begging youngsters
Song Sparrow - 2 (M)
Lincoln's Sparrow - 3 (M), some singing
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco - 55+ (M, S), many streaked youngsters
Brewer's Blackbird - 30 (M), associating with grazing cattle
Pine Grosbeak - 2, (S)
Cassin's Finch - 2 (S, uppermost tree snags), surprisingly scarce
Red Crossbill - 25 (M, S)
Pine Siskin - 125+ (M, S, A), many youngsters. Flying over highest ridges
Evening Grosbeak - 100+ (M, S), very conspicuous because of their loud
calling

Andy Stepniewski
Wapao WA
Steppie at nwinfo.net