Northrup Canyon
Apr 28, 2012
by
multivariablespace
—
last modified
Apr 28, 2012 09:13 PM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Northrup Canyon
- Region: Eastern Washington -- Wenatchee
- Agency: Washington State Parks and Recreation
- Avg Rating: 3.40
- Hiking Companions
- Hiked with kids
- Why You Should Go Now
- Wildflowers blooming
- Be Aware Of
- Bugs
Snakes, bears, ticks Oh my!
Took the "Old wagon road" up the side of the hill, kept going up past the cut off that dropped back down to the valley floor. The plateau on top was nice but didn't seem to go anywhere. Noticed a couple of ticks on us during this stretch. We headed down the hill, and not wanting to back-track (as the two snakes we saw up were enough for my wife and kids) we followed a ridge line down. It turned into cross country scrambling pretty quick. We did find a newspaper from 2010 someone had left near a fire pit so the area must get some foot traffic. Our 5 year old could do it with a bit of hand holding, and we had the toddler in a backpack so it wasn't too bad, but did make me nervous in a few spots.
Saw the farmhouse and hiked back into the canyon until the kids were done walking. Got up a nice hill for a view of the valley but didn't make it to the lake. Didn't see any bald eagles, but did see some vultures. It seemed like they were circling us, "Come on, I'm not in that bad of shape".
The farm houses are falling apart. Didn't let the kids go inside.
On the way back saw a bear and two cubs. Very neat. Nice chance to share some nature with the kids.
Waded in the stream a bit. Got all sorts of little wormy things (baby leeches??) on our feet. That was sort of freaky, they didn't seem to bite or anything but they were all over the rocks.
Great mix of things on the hike: Leafy trees, pine trees, basalt, granite, meadow, stream, cliff, etc. Excellent family hike. The Yellow balsam root were blooming, as well as some blue bells, lupine were just starting to and other flowers I don't know.
Took the "Old wagon road" up the side of the hill, kept going up past the cut off that dropped back down to the valley floor. The plateau on top was nice but didn't seem to go anywhere. Noticed a couple of ticks on us during this stretch. We headed down the hill, and not wanting to back-track (as the two snakes we saw up were enough for my wife and kids) we followed a ridge line down. It turned into cross country scrambling pretty quick. We did find a newspaper from 2010 someone had left near a fire pit so the area must get some foot traffic. Our 5 year old could do it with a bit of hand holding, and we had the toddler in a backpack so it wasn't too bad, but did make me nervous in a few spots.
Saw the farmhouse and hiked back into the canyon until the kids were done walking. Got up a nice hill for a view of the valley but didn't make it to the lake. Didn't see any bald eagles, but did see some vultures. It seemed like they were circling us, "Come on, I'm not in that bad of shape".
The farm houses are falling apart. Didn't let the kids go inside.
On the way back saw a bear and two cubs. Very neat. Nice chance to share some nature with the kids.
Waded in the stream a bit. Got all sorts of little wormy things (baby leeches??) on our feet. That was sort of freaky, they didn't seem to bite or anything but they were all over the rocks.
Great mix of things on the hike: Leafy trees, pine trees, basalt, granite, meadow, stream, cliff, etc. Excellent family hike. The Yellow balsam root were blooming, as well as some blue bells, lupine were just starting to and other flowers I don't know.
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