I've been vicariously hiking the Klamath Mtns with the book Conifer Country by Michael Kaufmann. The wife and I are also planning a trip for real, which we'll have to put off until 2013. However, while reading the trail descriptions and the number of species that can be seen along each trail, we realized that our own favorites here in WA state could almost be as competitive.

I'll introduce our favorite and then look for others to tell about theirs.

Our absolute is the Hidden Lake trail from just above the shore of Lake Wenatchee to a terrace containing a small, hidden lake. We've compiled a list of 11 conifers along the trail:

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Tsuga heterophylla

Tsuga mertensiana

Thuja plicata

Abies grandis

Abies procera

Abies amabilis

Pinus ponderosa

Pinus monticola

Pinus contorta

Picea engelmannii

An additional three species could also occur in the area:

Taxus brevifolia

Abies lasiocarpa

Larix occidentalis

Furthermore five more occur in the county (Chelan):

Callitropsis nootkatensis

Pinus albicaulis

Larix lyallii

Juniperus communis

Juniperus scopulorum

with only J. scopulorum unlikely within a few miles of Hidden Lake.

The Hidden Lake trail is a gentle and less than a mile. We first began hiking it when we had small kids. It's located just east of the Cascade summit with slop over of the Tsuga mertensiana/Abies amabilis forest from the west.

I realize this isn't the Miracle Mile from the Klmath Mtns., but its not bad.