We finally got a chance to get out and check out the in Eastern Washington flowers. The heat pushed the blooms and most of the flowers were past. 90 degrees in Quincy in May and the flowers are not going to last long.

We headed off over Snoqualmie Pass. It was 50 degrees at the pass so we knew it was going to be hot. Our first stop was Hayward Road and we pulled off at Cle Elum and headed towards Hwy 10. Along the way the lupine and balsamroot was in full bloom. We turned off on Hayward Road and found lots of Douglas’s Triteleia, Penstemon in addition to balsamroot.

Then it was off to Quincy. We joined I90 at Ellensburg and headed toward Vantage. Just before we got to Vantage, we notice that there was a different blue/purple flower on the hillsides. The purple sage – Salvia dorrii was in bloom. We pulled off at Vantage and headed towards Wanapum dam. We found it right off in full bloom. Stunning!

Back on the road, next stop was Beezley Canyon Preserve. We had hoped that there might be a few hedgehog cactus still in bloom but no luck. We found a lot of the cactus plants but the blooms were past. The bitterroot almost made up for it.

We decide to make a loop out of it and headed towards Wenatchee and Stevens Pass. The lupine and balsamroot were in full bloom from Peshastin up the pass. The river as reported was running high and wild through Tumwater Canyon. Along the wall we saw a few plants of Lewisia Tweedii.

Here are some additional photos from my flickr collection: