The weather forecast predicted clear skies for a couple hours around sunrise, so that seemed like a good time to get a workout in while visiting eastern Wa and see the views. Only a couple cars in the parking lot when we got to the Trailhead Park TH a little before dawn, and we headed up the Canyon Trail in the first light with some big, desert winds.
A family of Chukar (a type of pheasant) waddled away from the trail single-file as we approached, no doubt not thrilled to have their breakfast disturbed.
More hikers and runners started showing up as the skies began pinking up.
The Canyon Trail is a solid if short workout, the trail is in ridiculously good shape, and the views from Badger are among the best in the area. The best trail info, maps and directions are on the Friends of Badger Mountain site: http://friendsofbadger.org/trail-faq/
Still a couple desert flowers to be seen here. Big sage shrubs covered in yellow flowers are still going strong (maybe Horsebrush or Rabbitbrush), and who knew tumbleweeds flowered? They do, and evidently in the fall, when they're covered in little pink flowers.
We came down the upper Skyline trail that connected to the Sagebrush trail to make a loop back to the TH. Lots of loop possibilities on these well-built and thought-out trails, so I'll be looking forward to exploring this place further and am grateful for all the hard work that went into making those trails as good as they are.
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