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Manastash Ridge trail
April 2021
Synopsis
In an attempt to avoid crowds for a relatively pandemic safe hike, we took a weekday to check out the Manastash Ridge trail system right outside of Thorp and Ellensburg. This fairly popular hiking trail is best done on the weekday as it has gotten a lot of attention, perhaps especially since the pandemic hit. While we made the smart decision to hike up to the ridge using the Boy Scout trail, we made the poor decision to hike down the Westburg trail, which is the most popular way to reach the ridge. The Westburg trail may have been somewhat reasonable before the pandemic, but heavy use has turned the trail into a wide dead, dusty swath that is very steep in places. Any trace of switchbacks was completely erased.
Still we enjoyed the hike through predominately antelope brush and open flats of large-head clover, sagebrush violets and Douglas grass widow on top of the ridge. The Boy Scout trail followed a dry creek through sagebrush and Ponderosa Pine. The ridge is popular with horseback riders and mountain bikers - a nice long trail system criss-crosses over the ridge and green dot roads. While we had an enjoyable time and soaked in the songs of Vesper and Brewer's Sparrows and Western Meadowlark, this is a trail we likely won't visit again. Given the damage to the Westburg trail and the lack of diversity, its difficult justifying choosing the Manastash Ridge trail system over the nearby Robinson Canyon, which is much less used and is richer in wildlife and microhabitats.
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| California Quail |
| Sooty Grouse |
| Mourning Dove |
| Northern Harrier |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| Northern Flicker |
| American Kestrel |
| Steller's Jay |
| Black-billed Magpie |
| American Crow |
| Common Raven |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
| Mountain Chickadee |
| Violet-green Swallow |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| Brown Creeper |
| Western Bluebird |
| American Robin |
| House Finch |
| Purple Finch |
| Pine Siskin |
| American Goldfinch |
| Brewer's Sparrow |
| Dark-eyed Junco |
| White-crowned Sparrow |
| Vesper Sparrow |
| Savannah Sparrow |
| Spotted Towhee |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Critters |
| Mule deer |
| Douglas squirrel |
| Chipmunk |
| Horned Lizard |
| Butterflies |
| Mourning Cloak |
| Sara's Orangetip |
| Oreas Anglewing |
| Blooming flowers |
| Sagebrush Buttercup |
| Sagebrush Violet |
| Daggerpod |
| Douglas Grass Widow |
| Gold Star |
| Lanceleaf Springbeauty |
| Arrowleaf Balsamroot |
| Small Bluebell |
| Lupine |
| Dwarf Hesperochiron |
| Large-head Clover |
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