Steep and rocky in the beginning but quickly levels out. Clear trail for about 1 mi but disappears at sandy beach. Nice views of the lake. 

Well... the “trail” mostly was a cross country ramble after the first quarter mile but that’s fine. Can’t get lost. Several places to cut down to sandy beaches/swimming holes. Gorgeous views. No one else on trail but beaches did have a small bit of boat visitors.. 

     I was supposed to lead my Fall Color Spectacular backpack for the Cascadians Thurs – Sun to the Goat Rocks, but the weather was forecast to be colder and a little wetter than I wanted, so for the second year in a row we went over to Dry Falls/Sun Lakes State Park in the Grand Coulee.  We arrived about 4:00 on Thurs.  After dinner we took an evening walk down to Park Lake.  On Fri we hiked up East Lenore Coulee on a 2-track from the barrow pit near the mouth of the coulee.  After about a mile we came to the giant, 800’ wide megapothole mentioned in Bjornstad & Kiver’s book, On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods.  We found an easy way down into the pothole and walked across the floor of the pothole to the northeast corner and climbed out an easy pour-off.  Once back on the coulee floor, we walked back over to the west wall of the coulee and up the coulee a ways on an old 2-track until we came to an old “keep out” sign, so we turned around, walked a little ways down the coulee, then climbed one of the many buttes to get a view of the coulee and the Great Blade.  With some searching we found a way down the other end of the butte and walked along the bench above the coulee until we found a way down to the coulee floor, then walked the 2-track back to the cars.  From here we drove to the Lake Lenore Cave Shelters trailhead for lunch.  After lunch we walked the Cave Shelters trail out to the last shelter in the cave in another huge pothole.  After exploring the cave, most of the party climbed up to the notch in the Great Blade with the view over East Lenore Coulee while Rudy & I slowly made our way back to the cars.

     After breakfast on Sat we packed up (Sun was predicted to be cloudy with showers) and drove up to the Dry Falls Visitor Center, then over to Billy Clapp Lake.  We followed the well-defined trail ½ mile until it began to fade, then made our way cross-country up the lake to a small butte where the lake begins to curve to the northwest.  We climbed to the top, found a place out of the wind, and had lunch.  The top of the butte had a nice view up and down the lake and what appeared to be a low stone wall that was likely built by Native Americans.  After lunch we made our way back down the lake to the main trail by a more direct route.  Before returning to the cars, we stopped at the little protected bay about ¼ mile from the trailhead.  Jeff went for swim while some of the rest of us waded along the sandy beach.  After about ½ hour we made our way back to the cars and headed home to Yakima.

     We had some rain Thurs night, but Fri and Sat were sunny and in the mid-70s.  We saw geese, deer & racoons in the campground, and a few large flocks of cranes overhead.  In addition to rabbitbrush, there were a few other wildflowers still hanging on including Richardson’s penstemon and blazing star.  We encountered no other hikers either day except on the Lake Lenore Cave Shelters Trail.  Everyone agreed that the trip was a nice alternative to the partly sunny and 40s forecast for the mountains