Washington Trip Report - part 16 - approaching White Pass

[kknight]

Driving towards and over the mountain passes in Washington is always interesting because the difference between the east and west side is rather extreme. Where I live, if you go over the mountain, the other side still looks the same. Not so in Washington. The east side is dry and either relatively bare with sagebrush or if there is forest it is mainly Ponderosa Pines. The west side is wet and full of a very different kind of forest with ferns, lichens, and moss all over the place.

In these photos I'm driving towards the Cascades from the east, on the White Pass Scenic Byway. White Pass is the southernmost of Washington's passes over the Cascades. (I took the northernmost pass going the other direction later in my trip.)




This is the Tieton River, which the road followed for a long way.




The hills here are still relatively bare and rocky.






The top of the hill




Another view of the Tieton River
















As I drove west, the hills got greener.











And then the relatively bare hillsides disappeared completely and gave way to forested mountains.






to be continued....