Cowiche Canyon Conservancy announced the sixth annual Images of the Shrub-Steppe, a juried art exhibit featuring a diversity of visual art inspired by the region's shrub-steppe ecosystem, will open this Saturday in Tieton.

Special events to celebrate the opening include an Artists Reception from 1-4 p.m., the presentation of the Juror's Award at 2 p.m. and a talk from local photographer David Hagen at 2 p.m. The collaboration with Boxx, a nonprofit art gallery at 616 Maple Street in Tieton, will open at 11 a.m. Saturday and runs through Aug. 28, featuring artwork from 41 artists.

Entrance at all national parks will be free on Thursday to celebrate the second anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act.

The bill signed into law by president Donald Trump in 2020 allocated up to $1.9 billion to the National Parks and Public Lands Restoration Fund, designed to address the massive maintenance backlog at parks across the country. Fees still apply to visitors for amenities such as camping, boat launches or transportation.

To beat the dreadful heat of this past week one birder started early birding the Forest Road 8225 S of Mt. Adams. While enjoying clear skies, light winds and a cool 60º-68º F he tallied 27 species including rufous hummingbird, Williamson’s sapsucker, hairy woodpecker, northern flicker, olive-sided flycatcher,

western wood-pewee, Hammond's flycatcher, Cassin's vireo, warbling vireo, common raven, mountain chickadee, chestnut-backed chickadee, golden-crowned kinglet, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, house wren, hermit thrush, American robin, evening grosbeak, purple finch, chipping sparrow, dark-eyed junco, Nashville warbler, MacGillivray's warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, hermit warbler, a hybrid Townsend's x hermit warbler and western tanager.

Nearby along the Forest Road NF82 birders had a bonanza of young hummingbirds with a juvenile black-chinned hummingbird, two juvenile Anna’s Hummingbirds, a juvenile calliope hummingbird and two juvenile rufous Hummingbirds with extensive rufous in flanks and tail feathers. They also noted turkey vulture, Cassin’s vireo, Canada jay, common raven, chestnut-backed chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, evening grosbeak, purple finch, Cassin's finch, red crossbill, pine siskin, chipping sparrow, dark-eyed junco, Nashville warbler, MacGillivray's warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, black-throated gray warbler, western tanager and black-headed grosbeak.

A birder hiking the trail to Sheep Lake spotted a couple of sooty grouse, olive-sided flycatcher, mountain and chestnut-backed chickadee, golden-crowned kinglet, red-breasted nuthatch, hermit thrush, purple finch, pine siskin, chipping sparrow, fox sparrow, dark-eyed junco, white-crowned sparrow, spotted towhee, yellow-rumped warbler and Townsend's warbler.

Email bird sightings to kdturley@embarqmail.com and be sure to like The Yakima Valley Audubon Society on its Facebook page or visit yakimaaudubon.org.

SATURDAY: The Hard Core Runners Club will host its weekend fun run of three to six miles with all paces and abilities welcome. Meet at 8 a.m. in the Yakima Greenway’s Gleed parking lot, at the Northwest corner of Highway 12 and Old Naches Highway.

MONDAY: The Cascadian Camera Club will host its monthly meeting on Zoom from 7-9 p.m. with the theme “Tattoos.” Participants can join at the link Cascadians Camera Club Zoom, meeting ID 899 4856 7669.

WEDNESDAY: The Hard Core Runners Club will meet for its weekly fun run at 6 p.m. at Franklin Park, where they run either on the track or on the street.

SATURDAY: Evergreen Trails will host the Suncadia 5K and half marathon on the trails surrounding the Suncadia Lodge near Cle Elum. The half marathon starts at 8:30 a.m. followed by the 5K at 9:30 and a kid's race at approximately 9:45 a.m. For more information and to register to $32 for the 5K or $62 for the half marathon, go to evergreentrailruns.com/suncadia.

SATURDAY: Runners can still register from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. on race day for the Moxee Hop Festival 5K Run/Walk at Moxee City Park, with walkers starting at 9 a.m. followed by runners at 9:15. Registration is $15 with prizes for the top three men and women in each age group.

WEDNESDAY: All riders are welcome for a weekly community group mountain bike ride at 6:30 p.m. at the Rocky Top trails on Rocky Top Road in Yakima. The rides will continue as long as daylight and weather permit. All riders must have a helmet, bike and tire repair kit. For more information, contact yakimavalleymtbteam@gmail.com.

THURSDAY: The Cascadian Pathfinders will hike seven miles to 6,000 feet above sea level with 1,300 feet of elevation gain along the Glacier Basin trail from White River campground, with an option to add 0.3 miles to the Emerald Lake Overlook. Email Jenifer at ykma99@gmail.com or call Marianne at 509-969-3490 for meeting time and place.

Reach Luke Thompson at luthompson@yakimaherald.com.

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