Lost Creek Ridge Hike

Left: Lost Creek Ridge Hike Route; Right: Trail Through a Meadow Heading East

Hike Notes

Length: 13.0 miles GPS in camera
Duration: About 8 hours, 9:20 am - 5:40 pm with a break for lunch
Elevation: Starting 1,875 ft, max at 5,875.
Location: North Cascades, Lost Creek Ridge / Round Lake

Overview

The star attractions in the shaded, lower part of the hike were orchids and heath family myco-hetrotropics (parasitic) plants like candysticks (Allotropa virgata) and pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea), and then Lily family Queen's Cup (Clintonia uniflora). In the meadows the usual suspects: bistort, valerian, lupin, columbine, daisies and more.

It's quite a climb to Bingley gap (> 2,000 feet), and you are still not  done until you do some more climbing to break into the meadows where your reward is at hand: leisurely meadow to meadow walking. From the meadows, Red Mountain, Bedal Peak, Sloan Peak and Glacier Peak seem so close.

We ate looking down on Round Lake, but did not go down for a visit, instead saving time to push on along the ridge. We turned around and start back to the car around 3:15pm before reaching Hardtack Lake.

Plant List

Photos in next section.

[Asteraceae] Aster Family
  Luina hypoleuca - Little-Leaf Silverback
  Petasites frigidus - Artic Sweet Coltsfoot
  Solidago multiradiata - Northern Goldenrod

[Caryophyllaceae] Pink Family
  Eremognne capillaris - Mountain Sandwort

[Cornaceae] Dogwood Family
  Cornus unalaschkensis - Western Bunchberry

[Ericaceae] Heather Family
  Allotropa virgata - Candystick
  Chimaphila umbellata - Pipsissewa, Common Prince's Pine
  Gaultheria shallon - Salal
  Monotropa hypopitys - Pinesap, Many-Flower Indian-Pipe
  Phyllodoce empetriformis - Pink Mountain-Heath
  Pterospora andromedea - Woodland Pinedrops

[Grossulariaceae] Currant/Gooseberry Family
  Ribes lacustre - Prickly Currant

[Liliaceae] Lily Family
  Clintonia uniflora - Queen's Cup
  Lilium columbianum - Columbian Lily

[Linnaeaceae] Flax Family
  Linaceae borealis - America twinflower

[Orchidaceae] Orchid Family
  Corallorhiza mertensiana - Western Coralroot
  Goodyera oblongifolia - Western Rattlesnake Plantain

[Orobanchaceae] Broomrape Family
  Castilleja parviflora - Mountain Indian Paintbrush
  Pedicularis bracteosa - Bracted Lousewort
  Pedicularis groenlandica - Elephanthead Lousewort

[Phrymaceae] Lopseed Family
  Erythranthe guttata - Seep Monkey-Flower

[Plantaginaceae] Plantain Family
  Penstemon davidsonii - Davidson's Penstemon
  Penstemon procerus - Small-Flowered Penstemon

[Primulaceae] Primose Family
  Dodecatheon jeffreyi - Jeffrey's Shooting Star

[Ranunculaceae] Buttercup Family
  Aquilegia formosa - Red Columbine, Western Columbine
  Thalictrum occidentale - Western Meadow-Rue

[Rosaceae] Rose Family
  Rubus lasiococcus - Dwarf Bramble
  Rubus parviflorus - Thimbleberry

[Saxifragaceae] Saxifrage Family
  Leptarrhena pyrolifolia - Leather Leaf Saxifrage
  Saxifraga mertensiana - Merten's Saxifrage
  Tiarella trifoliata - Three-Leaf Foam Flower

[Valerianaceae] Valerian Family
  Valerniana sitchensis - Sitka Valerian

Plant Photos

In approximate order from lowest to highest altitude.

Allotropa virgata – Candystick looking like a Christmas treat!

Left: Corallorhiza mertensiana – Western Coralroot; Right: Pterospora andromedea - Woodland Pinedrops

Left: Pinesap - Monotropa hypopitys. Left with Linaceae borealis - America twinflower

Left: Cornus unalaschkensis - Western Bunchberry; Right: Chimaphila umbellata - Pipsissewa, Common Prince's Pine

Left: Clintonia uniflora - Queen's Cup; Right: Tiarella trifoliata - Three-Leaf Foam Flower

Left: Ribes lacustre - Prickly Currant; Right: Thalictrum occidentale - Western Meadow-Rue

Left: A Drift of Aquilegia formosa - Red Columbine, Center: Artemisia Not Yet Blooming Trailside; Right: Valerian Snack for a Butterfly

Left: Pedicularis groenlandica - Elephanthead Lousewort; Right: Penstemon davidsonii - Davidson's Penstemon

Left: Solidago multiradiata - Northern Goldenrod; Right: Luina hypoleuca - Little-Leaf Silverback

Left: Eremognne capillaris - Mountain Sandwort; Right: Saxifraga mertensiana - Merten's Saxifrage

Left: Phyllodoce empetriformis - Pink Mountain-Heath; Right: Castilleja parviflora - Mountain Indian Paintbrush

Left: Erythranthe guttata - Seep Monkey-Flower; Right: Dodecatheon jeffreyi - Jeffrey's Shooting Star

Left: Glacier Peak Viewed from the Lost Creek Ridge Trail; Right: Round Lake

Left: Sloan and Bedal Peaks Looking South from the Lost Creek Ridge Trail; Right: Example of the “Vertical Meadows”.