Field Trip 4 - Seattle Naturalists Intro Natural World Course - Sourdough Gap

Meeting Time and Place: We will meet at 6:00 AM at the 65th Street P&R under I-5. We will be north of 65th and at the far north end of the P&R. An early start is necessitated to obtain parking at Crystal Lakes.

This is a beautiful one-way hike beginning at Chinook Pass through Sourdough Gap and down to a car shuttle at the Crystal Lakes trailhead. 

The early flowers nearer Chinook Pass are more typical of eastside mountain wildflowers. But soon, we find ourselves in the wet meadows of Sheep Lake often adorned with Avalanche Lilies. We then work up through rock garden wildflowers to Sourdough Gap and traverse mountain meadows, before descending to lush Crystal Lakes; and then ultimately through forest to the cars. https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/sourdough-gap.

This area is already free of seasonal snowpack. We’ll give more details in July via e-mail and at the 4th Presentation.

Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous.

Pace: Moderate

Distance: Seven miles one way