Thirteenmile — Thursday, Sep. 21, 2017

All the other trip reports for this hike seem to be in the spring. We went in on a chilly midweek day in early fall and had the place to ourselves.  No people, no bugs, no rattlers, no snow, and no animals (except birds).  Just lots of coyote scat.  The trail stays in the canyon for the first mile.  Impressive cliffs above us.  Then it switchbacks up and across a talus slope to the top of the rim on the left side of the canyon.  From there on the trail stays high, indeed it keeps climbing.  Shady side canyons followed by high open outlooks.  The second side canyon had a trickle of water. Another hiker described these south-facing hillsides as “Ponderosa parklands” and that’s an apt description. I’ve seen a few bigger ponderosa in other parts of eastern Washington, but these were splendid. Only one blowdown and it was no problem.