Wenatchee

Glacier Peak seen from hills west of Wenatchee. Photo: Natalie Williams

Landscapes and Forests

The northeastern quadrant of the Alpine Lakes region comprises the watershed of the Wenatchee River. The Wenatchee country is an attractive place, with no end of varied and diverse landscapes. The northeastern quadrant of the Alpine Lakes region comprises the watershed of the Wenatchee River. The Wenatchee country is an attractive place, with no end of varied and diverse landscapes.

Cedars in upper Icicle Creek valley. Photo: Jim Scarborough

Junction of French and Icicle Creeks. Photo: Jim Scarborough

The Pacific storms that keep the west side lush and green start to lose strength twenty miles or so east of the crest. Air masses warm up and dry out as they descend. The landscapes become more open as rainfall amounts decrease. Blue skies are more prevalent, and the different look of the land can be a pleasing change for west siders accustomed to clouds, rain, and thick forests.

When crossing the Cascades west to east on Highway 2, over Stevens Pass, the country at first looks little different. But after that first twenty miles or so, blue skies are often seen up ahead. Descending into the valley of Nason Creek, ponderosa pines start to appear, and the land starts to look very different as the west side clouds are left behind.

Ponderosa pines and lupines on Eightmile Lake trail. Photo: Karl Forsgaard

Soon, open grassy areas can be seen on south-facing slopes. Sagebrush begins to scent the air. Pine and fir-clad ridges stretch for miles on the eastern side of the Cascades. Great variations in slope aspect and soil moisture make eastside forests more diverse in comparison to the more uniform forests of the westside. Stately ponderosa pines grow at lower elevations. Although logging and fire suppression have taken a great toll on these once extensive woodlands, certain areas, particularly on south-facing slopes, can still retain some of the classic ponderosa woodland look, with open, grassy groves of large, golden-barked “yellowbelly” pines.

Douglas firs almost always grow alongside the ponderosa pines. Although the eastside Douglas firs do not grow as tall as on the westside, they are often even more picturesque, with their thick corrugated bark and wide spreading limbs giving them a very individual and pleasing look.

East side Douglas Firs

Open, park-like forests of ponderosa pine and Douglas fir once grew across large areas of the east side of the Cascades and beyond. Many of these woodlands were kept open by frequent but low intensity fires which burned on the ground but usually not reaching far up the tall older trees. Many of these fires were set by Indian people to renew the grasses and aid in hunting. Many such places were described by early settlers, as places where one could ride a horse, or even drive a model T, for miles through the open savannahs.

Logging and settlement spelled the end for almost all those woodlands. Effective fire suppression began soon after the beginning of the 20th century. This allowed brush and smaller trees to fill in the spaces that were formerly kept open by the frequent ground fires. This also meant that fires, when they did occur, were far more intense than they had previously been, due to the increased fuel buildups.

These changes altered or eliminated most of the open woodland savannahs. But something of those landscapes still lingers in a fair number of places along or near the lower timberlines where the trees meet the grasslands, and areas where the trees were never numerous enough to attract much attention from logging interests.

Thick stand of tall ponderosa pines, lower Mad River valley. Photo: Karl Forsgaard

Open grassy ponderosa pine savannah, lower Mad River valley. Photo: Karl Forsgaard

Perhaps it has something to do with having evolved in the highland savannahs of Africa, but whatever the reasons, the tree dotted grasslands of the easternmost Cascades seem to strike a resonant note with most people. They make a very pleasing landscape, perhaps reminiscent on an instinctive level of the places where humans first lived.

Above the ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forests, middle elevation forests often have substantial areas of grand fir. Higher still, subalpine fir is found. Some fire prone areas have extensive forests of lodgepole pine, which can stretch on for many miles.

Two species of larch can be seen in the Wenatchee region. Western larch is a tall, stately deciduous conifer, somewhat resembling Douglas fir in stature and growth habit. In the Wenatchee country, it seems to grow only in the easternmost forests on places like Mission Ridge, standing above the semi-arid Columbia Basin below to the east. Western larch casts a very light shade, often forming open forests with many flowers below during the early season. Their needles turn yellow-orange before falling in late October.

Western Larch on Mission Ridge Photo: Gus Bekker

Alpine larch, Carne Mtn. area, upper Chiwawa watershed in Wenatchee river basin. Photo: Don Schactel

Alpine larch grows in the highest places, often forming the upper timberline in mountains well east of the crest. These forests are usually very attractive, often quite open places, with gnarly old trees of great individual character, frequently with wide-spreading limbs. They can be delightful to wander through. Alpine flowers usually grow below or near these trees. Alpine larch needles turn yellow in early October, with a luminous golden glow when the sun hits them on clear autumn days.

Alpine Larches. Photo: Greg Shannon

Alpine Larches, Carne Mountain area of upper Wenatchee basin, Buck Mountain behind. Photo: Don Schactel

Meadows

Meadows are much more common on the eastern side of the Cascades than on their western side in the Alpine Lakes region. Most east side mountains have at least some meadow zone near timberline, with some having meadows that go on for miles.

Because of the more open forests and landscapes, many meadows, or at least open areas with flowers, can be found much lower on mountains. A surprising number of what are commonly thought of as “alpine” flowers can be found on lower slopes in springtime. At least some meadowy areas can be found all the way down to the “meadow steppe,” where the forests meet the grasslands. Yellow balsam root, purple “daisies,” camas, and many other flower species abound there in spring.

High mountain meadow near Wenatchee/Yakima basin divide. Photo: Karl Forsgaard

Meadow, North Side of Mt. Stuart. Photo: John Warth

Fish & Wildlife

Salmon and other anadromous fish are present in the Wenatchee watershed. They must climb fish ladders on a number of dams on the Columbia River to reach their spawning grounds. An even more perilous journey must be made by young fish descending that same series of dams as they journey downriver to the ocean.

Sockeye salmon spend a year or two in Lake Wenatchee before traveling downstream. Many tributaries of the Wenatchee River, such as the Little Wenatchee, White River, Chiwawa River, Nason Creek, Icicle Creek, and others, have extensive spawning habitat. The need to negotiate the gauntlet of dams on the Columbia seems to be the main factor limiting their numbers.

The more diverse and varied landscapes on the east side of the Cascades make many species of wildlife more numerous and more visible than on the heavily forested west side. Deer are abundant in many areas, providing a food source for predators. Wolves have returned in recent years, filtering down from British Columbia, and are now established in the Wenatchee watershed as well as further south.