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Driveway Butte, Mazama Washington


It's pretty obvious this is from way back, well as far back as the end of May. Memorial Day weekend to be exact. The morning I hiked this trail it was pretty overcast which made the flowers more intense but then there was no color in the sky till late afternoon. It was plenty warm and slightly muggy. The last time I hiked this trail I blistered up my heels really bad, which made for a very unpleasant hike. So this time I had my brook trail running shoes on and man they made a huge difference. Made this steep up hill hike seem easy, and very enjoyable. The trail takes off from the parking lot and you start climbing immediately. The flat sections of the switchbacks allows for time to breath before you attempt the next switchback up hill. There was so many flowers blooming it was incredible. Me and a parking lot full of other hikers were out enjoying the views and the hillside covered in flowers. I spent most of my time taking pictures of all the flowers not intending to join the hordes at the end of the trail. Did a full work out of Squats, lost my balance once or twice, hiked out to take pictures of strange off colored balsam roots on shell rock, managed it with a little slipping and some sliding. Decided it wasn't the wises decision, but they were calling my name. This is a great place to catch the balsam root in bloom with lots of Ponderosa Pines scattered through out, my last trip up this trail I was just a little bit early. On the way down I found some Chocolate Lilys blooming, hiding in the tall grass, what a treat. Between my hike to Patterson Mountain and Driveway Butte I saw lots of Balsam root in bloom this year. Just another lovely hike along Highway 20 heading up the North Cascades. You want to do this trail early because it gets hot and dry, and it is very much a up hill hike.
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