Over the Cascades
Saturday, June 30, 2007:
I got an early start today! Had to be up at 4am because of an early flight to Seattle, combined with a fair amount of risk aversion concerning showing up too late. It wasn't a long wait at the airport, so I probably could have slept longer, but you never know.
I arrived on time in Seattle. It took longer than expected to hit the road, partly because of slow baggage handling, partly because of a long line for the car, and partly because I just plain underestimated the time involved. You would think I'd know by now.
I had planned to visit some minor waterfalls along the way, but had to content myself with a view of Wallace Falls from the road. Some of the views along US-2 through the cascades were spectacular! This place is vertical! The view of snowy Mt. Index (?) with a braided stream in the foreground was particularly nice. I don't why I didn't unpack the camera today, but I didn't.
I made my first scheduled birding stop at the old highway at Steven's Pass. Birding was fairly frustrating as I was hearing a lot more than I could ID. My ears aren't tuned up yet, so I'm missing calls I should know. I was also just not seeing these birds. Some of the birds darted across the road, but of course that only increased my frustration. I decided to visit Lake Wenatchee next, which added some more birds, but also increased my frustration further.
Tumwater Canyon was nice, but no birds were evident. I skipped a possible visit to Icicle Gorge, stopping at the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery instead. I walked a fair amount of their nature trail and finally had some luck seeing some birds. Finding a Lazuli Bunting that I had been hearing at the top of an evergreen marked the end of my birding frustration.
By then, it was getting late, so I headed to Wenatchee and the motel. As soon as I could, I got to sleep!
Today's bird totals: Day, 32. Trip, 32.
Econo Lodge, Wenatchee, WA