In anticipation of my first Cascadian hike of the year as designated leader, I didn't get a wink of sleep the night before this trip... worried about the forecasted chance of rain and typical 30 mph wind gusts in the Columbia Gorge. I was fretting about the various routes from the Catherine Creek trailhead to the Coyote Wall, wondering which path would provide the appropriate distance, the best scenery, challenging elevation, and grandest views. As I had only trekked to the Wall once before, my memory was a bit foggy about certain intersections on the trail... and as leader, I worried I'd drag my hiking companions on "the never ending journey", wandering around the hillsides in search of our goal. As several new hikers would accompany me on this trek, I also worried that everyone would keep pace and not get lost at these questionable intersections.

All for not - my worries! First of all, the eight hikers who met in the Yakima parking lot at 7:30am were ready for adventure! Everyone was eager to hit the trail, seven of whom had never been to the Catherine Creek area EVER. When I mentioned the various routes available, and my disclaimer about possible wandering, one of the gentleman calmed my nerves by saying, "Part of the fun is the trail-finding!" Phew! This was the attitude I needed!

We left Yakima in blue skies and entered the Columbia Gorge in the same. Temperatures were expected to reach 70 and the forecasted winds were keeping both my hands firmly on the steering wheel as we drove down Hwy 14 towards Rowland Lake. We parked at the Catherine Creek Trailhead and were immediately welcomed by the winds. Everyone grabbed their windbreakers and gear and we headed up Road 15 to the left. Never was there a threat of rain! All day we claimed the sun! It was awesome...

This route crosses grassy, rocky, swampy (at times) terrain riddled with all sorts of wildflowers - too many to name. And of course, the views are remarkable... especially on a mostly sunny day like this one!

The trail follows a cliff as it gains elevation; the path is very rocky, but easy to see. Poison oak begins to present itself - and it is PLENTIFUL!!! I regretted wearing short pants, as I had the added chore of watching not to brush up against the poison plant. The trail leaves the cliff area, dips into a canyon, crosses a creek, then climbs again through oak and pine. It's delightful to walk through the forest filtered with sunlight... and the path begins to shake off all the rocks to reveal an easy dirt trail. The trail travels up, then down and comes to lovely veiwpoints of Rowland Lake and the Columbia River looking both east and west. Ignore the faint trails leading down into canyons, as these take you back to the old highway, but are options for future hikes. There is an obvious trail which comes in from the right as you walk through the woods; this is an option for return, though I've heard it's a longer and less scenic route to the trailhead. Continuing on, you pass through the most wonderful meadows, dotted with tiny yellow and white blooms. The meadows are mostly open, with an occasional lonely pine or oak tree... and with the vast river view as a backdrop, you can't help but claim each lonely tree as "Your new favorite tree." I do, anyway.

Within a mile of the Coyote Wall you reach a large intersection, an old jeep road with a giant oak tree to the west and a house to the northwest. The road leading north is marked with a sign posted Burns Farm. The owners would appreciate your not trapsing through their property; I hope all hikers and bikers honor their request. It was at this point, my memory of my previous visit eluded me. I was unsure which direction to head. A member of our party called the number on the posted sign, and when the owner answered, admitted that we didn't meet his criteria (of bringing gifts of wine and cheese, or other such delicasies in exchange for passing through his land), but he told him we did have six beautiful women in our party! Ha! The property owner was delighted by my fellow hiker's charm and gave us quick directions on how best to pass through to the Wall. His only request was that we did not let his dog follow us away from the residence. Okay! We agreed.

It turns out, there is a narrower, fainter trail which cuts off into the oak thicket to the right (headed north) BEFORE you reach the bigger intersection and his posted sign. Take that trail up and meet his driveway. Follow it to the right until you reach the first left. At the T in this road, on the right, there is an old oak with a giant hole at eye level - it's distinctive enough - you can't miss it. It points to the road headed west. There are private property signs posted along the way on the left side, but follow this road, which eventually morphs into a trail headed west again. But oh, no! Fido got wind of us, and followed us off the property... just what was NOT to happen. We tried to shooo the dog away, but it seemed to enjoy our company. We agreed we would make every effort to return the doggie home after our visit to the Wall.

Cross the last and grandest meadow leading to the destination. Here, we were pleasantly surprised that the winds from earlier had died down. We were able to walk along the wall, sit comfortably and eat our lunches, and enjoyed the perfect weather conditions all the while! The breezes were hardly a bother. Mt. Hood, hidden when we first arrived at the Wall, showed herself in full glory before we packed up and left! It was the best dessert we could have had! Meanwhile, Fido mooched a little treat here and there from everyone's pack.

We decided to follow the wonderful trail which hugs the Coyote Wall's edge downhill, thinking we'd cut across to Fido's home and drop the dog easily on our return. Though there are several routes and trails which can be seen from a distance, there are also canyons, creeks, and thick patches of poison oak scattered about. We trapsed down, then up, then down, before ultimately deciding to make our way back to the intersection at Fido's residence, in order to return on the same trail back. Our wandering and indecision added about a half mile to what should have been about 8.2 miles round-trip. My companions were good sports... no one minded the extra steps, as everything about the day was agreeable.

Once we landed on the trail, we simply retraced our steps, and were reminded of the ups and downs, some steep, slippery sections and the rocky descent near the end. Take care on these rocky slopes, as they are steep and feet and legs are tired at this point in your journey.

All told... it was 4.5 hours of great fun! We had left the trailhead at 10am and arrived back to our vehicles at 2:30pm. My troop was pleasantly tired; one gal commented the adventure was a "10" in her book. That was music to my ears! Next time I won't fret so much about leading such an adventure. I will try-out some of the other trails in the area... as they look promising too!

We had a great day hiking this trail. The weather was just right. Spring means not too hot or cold. Nice to hike with just shirtsleeves. We saw an amazing amount of wildflowers. They are all blooming but I guess will be gone soon so go now.

This is an easy hike.

We did see a baby rattlesnake so be aware of that. Also we had to brush several tics off our dogs. Luckily they are short hair and pretty tic resistant but longer hair dogs and people need to be aware.

Overall just a fantastic hike. Limited time only the wildflowers... :)

As we got closer to the Catherine Creek Trail, the rain subsided and was completely gone. It had rained there earlier and made the pictures of the few grass widows shimmer in the light from the overcast sky. Hiked the lower, paved trail and sighted many grass widows. Not much else but the widows made it worth it. There will be more soon. Also took the homestead trail past the arch and were disappointed to see all the trees cut down at the top of the hill (for the power lines). We usually see the big clover there and ball waterleaf plants. Probably not any more! We noticed they chopped down the trees and left the poison oak! Still a great hike and should be well worth it in about a month or so. Also stopped for a quick picture of Dog Creek waterfall in the rain.

Wildflowers and Wildlife are the highlights in the eastern Columbia River Gorge right now. We spotted the first Grass Widow of 2012 in bloom along the paved trail at Catherine Creek on Saturday, January 7. It was a lone flower but it will soon be joined by others.

The date is in sync with the timing of previous years for first Grass Widow sightings; we were specifically hunting for the first bloom. Salt-&-Pepper Desert Parsley, Canby's Desert Parsley and buttercups are on the verge of beginning their bloom cycles, too, in the eastern Gorge.

After hiking the 1.5-mile paved trail, we drove east about 3 miles to Klickitat-Balfour Park at the mouth of the Klickitat River to check on the status of bald eagles. This park is a little-known but premier spot to observe bald eagles when coho salmon are spawning in tributary creeks just upstream of the mouth of the river.

The parking lot overlooks the sandbars at the mouth of the Klickitat, which bald eagles use as a loafing site. Depending on time of day, the number of loafing birds can vary from few to many.

A short trail in the park goes to a wildlife viewpoint where we ate lunch while being entertained by bald eagles. Although the creek does not have enough flow for the salmon to go up it yet (and we did not observe any salmon in the pool at its mouth), we did count 18 adult and juvenile eagles perched in trees visible from the viewpoint.

Since courtship is underway, the adults were doing a local of vocalizing to one another, which biologists think is a bonding mechanism. This was the greatest amount of bald eagle "chatter" that I had ever heard.

After lunch, we drove across the river and parked at the Lyle trailhead for the Klickitat Rail Trail. We hiked 1.5 miles upstream to the high trestle at Fisher Hill and back. Along the way, we observed many more bald eagles flying up and down river and perched in trees along the canyon.