Ancient Lakes
Feb 26, 2002
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Ancient Lakes
- Region: Eastern Washington -- Wenatchee
- Agency: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Avg Rating: 3.96
Clear pristine winter weather took me again to the Quincy Wildlife Area on the eastern shores of the Columbia River to visit the Ancient Lake area, a set of three gorgeous lakes that fill the punchbowls in the coulee left from the great Missoula Floods. The sky was as blue as you can imagine, and I left the trailhead area eager to explore. Don't take the roadway to the right near roads end--it's signed with a cute snake Xing sign and goes to the residence at the end of the road, who I met later...).
Not 200 yards down the old jeep road past the gates I was suddenly startled beyond belief as I found myself no longer hiking solo for the rest of the day. An adorable 10 month old black lab puppy came blasting past me from behind, and proceeded to be the best hiking canine I could ever ask for! She never was more than 100' from me, she always came back to find me if out of sight, and I saw more game birds on this desert hike than I've ever seen as she sniffed out dozens of quail and chukars. I tried numerous times the first 10 minutes to send her back or hide with hopes she would return, but the stinker found me each time! So I figured I might as well enjoy her company and figured she likely has done this before and belonged to a local farmer or to one of the archeology workers back 1/4 mile from the trailhead (they are digging up a giant ground sloth!!!). ""Pepper"", as I later found her name to be, led me off the dirt jeep track at just the exact location where the obvious trail heads up into the heart of the vast coulee that contains the Ancient Lakes about three miles in. Spring's wildflowers are really beginning to show they are waking up as the ground is covered with emerging plants! I can't wait for April and May! The coulee basalt cliffs are so colorful in this region and the deep blue sky made them look even more impressive. One location has so many patters of different types of rock showing it's amazing, and a huge rock is laying out in the coulee floor 200' from the walls, all by itself, and it must be 30' in diameter! When I approached the first lake I left the boot path and angled to the SE to begin hiking around the lake after first dropping down to it. The photography was stunning with gray silver cottonwood snags lining portions of the lake. Three common mergansers and two buffleheads took off once I rounded a corner. Raptors soars the coulee headland areas. Pepper danced, swam, and was still as energetic as possible, and she even lied at my feet resting when I stopped for 5 minutes to get a new water bottle and a snack. What a dog!!!! We rounded the first lake and found ourselves (note how I call myself and my new puppy friend ""we"" now!) staring at an amazing sight of a desert scene: a reflecting lake surrounded by basalt cliffs of the coulee and a huge waterfall cascading down into the lake!! It was like a dream. After much photography Pepper and I hiked back out of the coulee, taking note of all of the coyote scat that covers the place. The pickings are pretty slim for them at the moment and they obviously spend a lot of time in the area orchards as the scat was filled with fruit signs along with the rodent remains. As we hiked out two fighter jets roared by to the west hugging the contours of the Columbia River just a 1/2 mile away from me. I enjoyed spying a couple impressive looking caves up high in the basalt cliffs that have to be home to anything from bat colonies to coyote dens or raptor nests.
I soon was back at the rig and Pepper waited for me by my side to see what I would offer her next. I was a bit worried that she was lost out there, but her health led me to believe this couldn't be the case. Sure enough, just as I was done giving her water from my bottle in case she had a long run to get home, I saw a note on my windshield from the farmer of that last place apologizing for her having followed me in. Noting that I should just drive off and not worry about her if he didn't see us come out from his shop, I did just that. Just as she finally stopped chasing my rig pulling away from her after 1/4 mile, the white pickup that was coming toward me stopped and it was Dave the owner. We had a great little chat about his great dog, and I drove home with memories of what I cannot wait for: when I return to the world of being a poochie owner soon, and how many photographs I'll have of my one day adventure with Pepper, the wonder lab pup! Being with such a nice dog all day really made me miss my late Brittany Spaniel, Beta. Maybe she sent this charming young lady to cheer me up, I like to think.......
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