Guided Wildflower Hike – North Cascades, Washington

This Guided Wildflower Hike is ideal for the wildflower enthusiast!  Join Skagit Guided Adventures small group Wildflower Tours & Hikes in the North Cascades to “Re-Wild” Your Spirit!

Nestled in the Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and in the heart of the North Cascades, this fun (but rooty and rocky) trail is about 6 mi long and gains 1350 ft.  It is also located within a Research Natural Area, so the forest has grown old from its original state.  Because of this, many huge old trees line the trail.  Wildflowers in the lower forest make their debut in Spring, therefore few were still blooming and most were already seeding.  Up in the lake meadows, however, the wildflowers start blooming late June and continue their procession of color thru September.  July and August are definitely peak flowering months.  Fall colors are stunning later on.

Guess how many wildflowers we counted? 55! Yeap, fifty five, 55, too many to list them all. From the get go, the coast boykinia was the most abundant flower in the forest.  Joining in, in white and pink, were the Siberian miner’s lettuce, the dainty foamflower and a few twinflowers. The berries?  Oh my, we picked so many we lost count and our hands ended stained purple! Blueberries, thimbleberries, red huckleberries and salmonberries were all yummy. Higher up, along the talus slope, we found: goat’s beard, self-heal, red columbine and Pacific ninebark (a new one for a couple of us).

The lake setting is supreme, with the stunning huge rock wall of Mt Pilchuck as the backdrop.  We set off around the lake and the wildflower spectacle we got ourselves into was incredible!  These are some of the flowers we found dressed in white: bog lily, Sitka valerian, mountain bistort, cow parsnip, kneeling angelica, partridgefoot, rusty saxifrage, pearly everlasting, queen’s cup and false lily-of-the-valley.  In pink and purple were alpine and Douglas spireae, pink mountain heather, pink monkeyflower and edible thistle. In green was the slender bog orchid. Perhaps, the most uniquely colored flower was that of the copperbush, with its rusty pink – orangy shade.  The stars of the show were, by far, the elephant’s head and the tiger lily!

On our way down, the sun decided to shine making the forest look, and feel, magical!  We all enjoyed our Guided Wildflower Hike immensely; our spirits were joyful!

For more information and details click Book my Chasing Wildflowers in the North Cascades Adventure!

Skagit Guided Adventures offers small group Nature, Hiking & Farm Tours around Anacortes, Skagit Valley, Mount Baker, the North Cascades & San Juan Islands.  Join one of these fun Adventures for a day. Or stay longer for a multi-day Adventure to “Re-Wild” Your Spirit! in NW Washington. Check out all Guided Adventures.