Dusty Lake
Jan 09, 2002
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Dusty Lake
- Region: Eastern Washington -- Wenatchee
- Agency: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Avg Rating: 3.60
Badly needing a breath of fresh air and SUNSHINE to brighten my spirits after a month of no hiking due to sinus surgery, I headed east hoping to escape the gloppy dark clouds of the west. The sun broke out by Ellensburg and I was well on my way to a great day in the Quincy Wildlife Area. Upon arrival at the north entrance I found that although the area is signed to be open road after 1/1/02 after hunting season, the gate was still closed. Alas, this made for a much more pleasant day of hiking anyhow as I got to slowly hike the road in past Quincy Lake, other lakes, and to Burke Lake. Stands of cottonwoods shined against the brilliantly polarized blue Eastern Washington sky! Each of these lakes was a worthy stop and photography experience in its own right: clumps of lonely grass reeds in deep blue water, cattails lining the shores of each lake, ice patterns in the waters of Burke Lake, etc....
Across from Burke Lake I headed down the unmarked path which takes you to the lip of the canyon that heads to Dusty Lake. Due to the melting snow of the week the three waterfalls pouring into the canyon were spectacular! The large beaver pond below the one falls was smooth and reflecting the basalt cliffs and waterfalls surrounding it, with the beaver lodge keenly placed well across the pond from where I was hiking. The views down the canyon as you cross the creek on a board were fascinating, and slowly Dusty Lake became more of the western scenery. Dropping down suddenly into the shade of the southern canyon walls made the air temperature feel at least 20 degrees colder as I hiked across the ice. But there was still sunshine along a portion of the Dusty Lake shoreline and my did my food taste good, and the photography was terrific! Reflection City!
I hiked back up and spent another 1/2 hour photographing around the waterfalls and beaver pond, and finally started back up for the road just as the sunlight left me for the day as the next approaching front started moving in. I startled a few belted kingfishers along Quincy Lake and a large gathering of quail near a feeding station near the Ancient Lakes trailhead. This turned out to be a better day than had I just hiked into Dusty Lake if I drove in since I now had a beautiful seven mile hike under my belt rather than the short three miles from the ""trailhead"". By the time I was driving home past Cle Elum it was snowing for much of the rest of the drive home, but I hiked in sunshine all day!
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