Trail 25 (North End) Riverside State Park

 I hit the trail rather early around 6:20. The parking area west of the 9 Mile Dam was empty.  It rained a bit last night so it was a little damp; just enough to keep the dust down.  The trail climbs gently and first passes through an area of medium age Ponderosa pines that are nicely spaced rather like a park setting.  After a trail juncture there are some areas of slightly steeper climbing and the trail has some intermittent rocks in it.  Soon you can begin to see some of the basaltic monoliths peaking through the trees.  After climbing so more and topping out above Deep Creek you are in the midst of what I like to call the Wastelands.  It looks like the ancient remains after a great flood (which it is) or eons after the collapse of Mordor!  I love this trail and I think it is my favorite hidden gem around the Spokane area!  

I checked on 3 of my letterboxes here and they are all in great shape but seldom visited. Partly because they are hard to access off trail and it involves some scrambling over loose, moss covered basalt chunks that are unstable in places.  The type that will easily turn an ankle.  I also crossed the creek to check on Funhog's Deep Creek box, which I maintain for her, but it is gone.

Hiking back the way I came gave me a chance to see the area in a different light, quite literally.  The early morning cloud cover had given way to more vibrant light.  The understory leaves on the bushes are showing their pre-fall, drought induced colors of orange, red and brown.  

A threesome of trail runners passed me as I ascended out of the creek bottom and I was passed by one woman mountain biker.  There were quite a few vehicles at the parking lot (about 10 or so) and two women were just starting to walk their dogs.  

Overall the trail is in great shape.  One area had some recent work done on it to clean some downed logs.  I highly recommend this one.  I look forward to exploring the other connecting trails in this area north of Deep Creek.

Total Mileage today was 4.5 miles with 787 feet of elevation gain.

Early morning solo hike along Breedan Road that crosses Rock Creek.  I probably could have driven the road with my Outback if I was cautious but I needed the exercise. It was quite chilly due to the wind and 52 degrees on this 23rd of June so I was glad to have some light gloves, buff and rain jacket along for extra layers. I hit the trail about 6:30 in the morning as I like to do. I love hiking in the barren scablands of Eastern Washington.  It is seldom visited except by hunters in the fall.  I hiked a total of 8 miles along this seldom dirt lane but never found Perch or Wall Lake.  However, I think the mileage in my hiking book must be off a bit.  I will look at the area on Google Maps later to see if my turn around spot at a Y was the way to Wall Lake. This would have been a great place to ride my mountain bike instead.

 I saw a smattering of bird life; a pair of ravens, western and eastern kingbirds, rough winged swallows, 100's of western meadowlarks, one great blue heron and a western tanager. 

I only came across one other vehicle that was parked near the falls along Rock Creek.  Two men were fly fishing but left about the time I made it back to my car. 

We Are Lucky to Live Where We Do!

These are from this mornings 4 mile loop walk from our house to the Spokane Arboretum.  Many gossamer threads to pass through!

Mini Hike Along the East Coast of Antigua

Hiking on St. Lucia!

Scabland Ramblings

I had hiked around Fourth of July Lake with the hiking group I belong to but I wanted to explore more of the area.  I scoped out 3 smaller, successive lakes to the SE of the approximate mid point of the lake.  I decided to go for it since this area is only open from the Friday after Thanksgiving until March.  Oh, and I intentionally got lost...

Early morning light over Fourth of July Lake

Cool shaped 2nd unnamed lake I hiked to

Small 'cave' made of basalt

Buck rub

As you can see I love big trees, dead trees ie snags, B&W photos and wide open landscapes!  The desert like environment of the Channeled Scablands is ideal to hike in the winter; no ticks, no rattlesnakes, no heat and, for this day at least, no sun.  The bottom screen shot is my route and the bottom is where I got lost.  When the sun finally peeked out I knew I had succeeded in getting disoriented so I pulled out my compass and 'found' myself.  Truly, a great time all by myself on the first day of the new year!