Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area

 We went looking for a snow free hike with wildflowers this morning and found one at Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area between Ellensburg and Vantage. This area is closed to motor vehicles from February 1 - April 30, so this is a great time to hike on the closed roads.  We hiked 7.75 miles round trip with an overall gain of 800 ft. We only saw 2 other people, who were on horseback, all day.

View from the lower trail looking east towards the ridge we would ascend.

We hiked past the high point on the ridge, as that was a more gentle slope to ascend. Looking out towards the Columbia River to the east, before turning around and heading up to the high point

View from the high point looking west, Mount Adams and Mount Rainier in the far distance.

zoom of Rainier

zoom of Adams

view to the east from the high point

some of the wildflowers we saw in bloom along the trail today (and some cacti):