Whychus Canyon Preserve

This week, we decided to explore the Whychus Canyon Preserve, a property owned and maintained by the Deschutes Land Trust, situated about four miles north and east as the crow flies from the town of Sisters. The canyon was formed by Whychus Creek which flows southwest to northeast until it meets the Deschutes River.

We found the Preserve a worthy place to visit for its varied habitats (juniper-antelope bitterbrush scrub, ponderosa pine-big sagebrush, mountain alder riparian, etc.), gorgeous views of Black Butte and the Three Sisters, varied topography, and copious amounts of flora and fauna. We both would like to return in different seasons to see the area at different times of the year.

Looking Northwest Up-Canyon Towards the Deschutes

The Land Trust has done a fine job with this property and the trails are very clearly marked and easy to follow. We started from the parking lot and headed left to the western boundary, then back east on the Rim Trail. Then we dipped down onto the Creek Trail and followed that to the eastern boundary and then made our way back to the car along the Rim Trail, for a total of about five miles, a quick walk.

Trails are Well Marked

In the parking lot and left along the Rim Trail, we found ourselves in typical open Ponderosa Pine savannah with the understory predominantly given over to Wax Currants (in full bloom) and Antelope Bitterbrush (just starting to bloom). All along the trail was plenty of evidence of a recent forest fire that has left charred stumps. It must have been a quick fire, for the Ponderosa trunks do not look very scorched.

Open Ponderosa Savannah

Wax Currant (Ribes cereum) in Full Bloom

Antelope Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) Starting to Bloom

Lots of Evidence of Recent Fire

The western end of the Rim Trail afforded us good views of Black Butte with a little bit of snow on its northeast flanks. It was too cloudy to see Mt. Washington, Mt. Jefferson, or Three-Fingered Jack. It is quite a shame that the northern rim of the canyon has so many houses spoiling the viewshed.

Black Butte

Working back north and west along the Rim Trail, we finally got a glimpse of the creek below as we also started to see the rock layers forming the northern wall of the canyon. I wish I knew more about geology to help me understand the processes that formed this land and this canyon.

First Glimpse of Whychus Creek

Down in the creek bottom, the valley presents an entirely different habitat, tall Ponderosa Pines with an understory of Mountain Alders and Oregon Grape. In the open areas, Big Sagebrush dominates the landscape.

Large Stands of Dwarf Oregon Grape, Mahonia repens, Creekside

Alders Staring to Leaf Out

As we walked by one rotting stump on the Creek Trail, we saw that it was covered by thousands and thousands of swarming Western Thatching Ants, large red ants with black abdomens. I've never seen anything quite like it, even after kicking over fire ant nests.

Western Thatching Ants (Formica obscuripes) Swarming

Checking out Boulders Fallen From Walls

Big Sagebrush Dominates the Open Canyon Floor

At the far northwestern end of the Creek Trail, we started to climb back up the canyon to the rim, emerging onto red dirt flats covered in Western Junipers and Antelope Bitterbrush, a stark contrast to the Ponderosa habitat below. Walking back southwest along the rim afforded us beautiful views of the canyon and of the Three Sisters. North Sister with Middle Sister off its left flank are visible most of the time, but there are a couple of points at which South Sister is also visible.

North and Middle Sister from Overlook

All Three Sisters

One of the primary reasons for visiting Whychus Canyon Preserve in the spring is to view the abundant wildflowers. We were not disappointed by the show. Having just moved to Central Oregon from the Willamette Valley, almost all of these flowers were new to us.

Crevice Alumroot, Heuchera micrantha

Goldfields, Crocidium multicaule

Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Balsamorhiza sagittata, Starting to Bloom

A Milk-Vetch (probably Astragalus filipes, Basalt Milk-Vetch)

Nuttall's Larkspur, Delphinium nuttallianum

Sand Lily, Leucocrinum montanum

Tidy Tips, Layia glandulosa

Spreading Phlox, Phlox diffusa

Showy Townsendia, Townsendia florifera

Red-Stem Miner's Lettuce, Claytonia rubra

Western Tansymustard, Descurainia pinnata

Prairie Star, Lithophragma parviflorum

Prairie Agoseris, Agoseris glauca

Nineleaf Biscuitroot (aka Desert Parsley), Lomatium triternatum

Blue-Eyed Mary, Collinsia parviflora

Our walk through the Preserve led to several opportunities to photograph still life images that demonstrate just how beautiful this place is.

During our visit, we saw a fair number of birds, but no raptors except one lone Osprey circling very high above our heads. While this looks like an excellent location for raptors, I guess it wasn't our day. We did see a pair of Ravens doing some synchronized flying, one wingspan apart from each other and perfectly mirroring each other's moves. 

We were greeted almost immediately by a Yellow-billed Magpie and a lot of smaller birds in the scrub along the canyon walls. Flickers worked along the walls and bottom of the canyon. A small flock of 7 or 8 Steller's Jays accompanied us pretty much the length of the Creek Trail.

I also got my first definitive sighting of a Mountain Chickadee, one of the three Chickadees here in Oregon. West of the Cascades, we had Black Caps and Chestnut-backs. Here, east of the Cascades, we have Mountain and Black Caps.

Male Northern Flicker (Red-Shafted)

How Many Steller's Are in This Tree?

Mountain Chickadee

Acrobatic Chickadee Giving Me Grief

In terms of fauna, our late morning start did not give us much opportunity to see animals, other than a couple Douglas' Squirrels who yammered at us. But the Creek Trail is a veritable deer highway, totally covered in deer tracks. Further up on the hillside, we followed elk tracks for a good half a mile. We saw a lot of burrows, probably for Yellow-pine Chipmunks, but we saw none of those little guys.

Elk Tracks

All in all, we have a great morning at Whychus Canyon Preserve before heading back into Bend for lunch and a beer.