Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - Crab Creek — Saturday, Apr. 3, 2021

Today we drove to the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge hoping there would still be some Sandhill Cranes to be seen, but we saw none. We began by stopping at the refuge headquarters at 51 S. Morgan Lake Road.The refuge was closed, but refuge pamphlets were available at the kiosk. The pamphlet has information about the area, a map of the area and descriptions of the hikes. We drove most of the 22 mile driving loop which takes you through the scenic landscape of rugged cliffs, canyons, lakes and sagebrush grasslands. We hiked a short section of the Crab Creek Trail starting at the North TH. Here we saw a scenic waterfall and the trail was lined with many golden currant shrubs. Another stop was the Pipistrelle Cliffs area which was recommended to be the best place to view the many basalt columns in the area. The trail looked like it would be a nice one to meander when we had more time. Our best and only bird sighting was when we were at the Drumheller Channels National Natural Landmark Overlook. Flocks of 1000 or more snow geese flew above us on their way to their evening destination. The sight and sound was awesome as always!