Hello,

During the last week and a half, Mark Crawford and I completed an 8-day backpack and birding trip on the PCT section from Stehekin to Manning Park--without involving a private vehicle. The trip had multiple objectives:
- get to and from a long distance hike using only public transportation
- bird some of the less accessible backcountry of the northern Cascades
- complete another section of the PCT

Regarding the logistics first, the non-hiking elements of the trip involved these modes of transport:

- Bus from home to King Street station
- Amtrak from Seattle to Wenatchee
- 10-block walk to a local hotel
- Bus travel on the local Link system to Lake Chelan
- Lady Express on the lake to Stehekin
- Shuttle to the trailhead
.... [a long hike] ...
- Greyhound bus from Manning Park to Vancouver
- Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle

The hike itself took us through areas many have reported on in previous posts as well as other more out of the way locations. Our trip total of 64 species was hindered a little by some pretty impressive August rains and wind in the latter days of the trip (for example, on Lakeview Ridge, rain was blowing at 45 degrees--upward!). Nevertheless, there were several highlights.

In five different locations, Spruce Grouse appeared, twice wandering around our campsite. They were all in groups of 2 or 3, mom and nearly full-size juveniles, at elevations from 2500 to over 6500 feet.

A family of White-tailed Ptarmigan bolted out of the trail edge below Rock Pass, a steep slope descending from nearly 7000 feet, during a heavy rain.

A beautiful female Northern Harrier was twice observed cruising the meadows just north of Goat Lakes, at about 6200 feet. Observing this bird from above was a unique experience--it made the colors just vivid.

While setting up camp below Tatie Peak, 6600 feet, it was the call of the Northern Goshawk that first caught our attention, then we watched the bird traverse the basin for several minutes. We had a similar experience while taking a lunch break in the Meadows Campground at Harts Pass (6100 feet) when a Swainson's Hawk made an appearance. This was a juvenile bird nearing adult plumage--light coverts, dark wing tips and the beginnings of a darker breast.

Our first morning, we were still in the sack when a Northern Pygmy Owl began calling for a couple of minutes. This was at the upper trailhead for the North Fork Bridge Creek, about 2600 feet.

We had really nice looks at American Three-toed Woodpecker on 3 separate occasions: near Maple Creek among dead snags, next to our camp along Porcupine Creek (5100 feet) and chipping away the bark on the budworm-killed Spruces below Tamarack Peak (at about 6000 feet). This plague has consumed a significant number of trees in the middle stretches of this PCT section; we could hear, but not see, many more woodpeckers throughout the forests with the dead stands.

Constant companions at the higher elevations included Pine Siskins, with one flock exceeding 150 birds below Rock Pass, Dark-eyed Junco at almost every elevation, and Mountain Chickadee and Townsend's Warbler in increasing numbers at the higher elevations. At two of our campsites, near Goat Lakes and below Tatie Peak, we could easily count both of the latter species in the dozens. Many of the Townsend's were still feeding young. In addition, Chipping Sparrows were ubiquitous at some of these higher elevations but absent in others.

At lower elevations, Western Tanager were heard and seen in large numbers, mostly female and immature. Evening Grosbeak flocks were common at higher elevations but only at the beginning of the trip, not beyond Glacier Pass.

Several times, a hummer would buzz the red patch on Mark's pack but only once did a Calliope Hummingbird stop long enough for a positive ID. This was at the Meadows Campground, the same location where we also saw a single White-crowned Sparrow, several immature Mountain Bluebirds, Purple Finch and a Hairy Woodpecker.

After drying out at the Manning Park lodge, we finally had another dry day and an opportunity to see 2 Spotted Sandpipers at the nearby marsh, a pair of Swainson's Hawks wheeling up a thermal together with a Red-tailed Hawk and a Raven. While hiking up a nearby creek-side trail, a large owl (Great-horned?) coursed through the trees but did not give a good look. And in the shrubs along the creek, among the Townsend's Warblers were several families of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, babies actively begging.

Several of these locations are worthy of repeat visits, in particular, the ridges above Bridge Creek between Maple Creek and the South Fork; the easily accessible high elevation stretch between Cutthroat and Granite passes; and the Harts Pass area, including the basin below Tatie peak to the south. The basin below Holman Peak would require an overnight trip, but was very busy and could hold many surprises.

A really enjoyable trip!

Scott Ramos
Seattle

Trip list:
Spruce Grouse
White-tailed Ptarmigan
California Quail
Pied-billed Grebe
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Northern Goshawk
Accipiter sp.
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Spotted Sandpiper
Northern Pygmy-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Calliope Hummingbird
Hairy Woodpecker
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Hammond's Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Gray Jay
Steller's Jay
Clark's Nutcracker
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
American Dipper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Mountain Bluebird
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Varied Thrush
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
Western Tanager
Chipping Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Black-headed Grosbeak
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
Evening Grosbeak
House Sparrow


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