I left Lynnwood at the ridiculously late hour of noon on Monday, and made it to the Dusty lake trailhead just off of White Trail road by 3:15. I was somewhat chagrined to find out I needed a pass from some obscure bureaucracy that is not available at the trailhead (or listed in the hiking guide I used as my info source), but as the posted penalty was only $66, I was willing to risk it rather than head back to Quincy in a probably futile attempt to comply. The descent into Dusty lake basin is pretty cool, with a nice waterfall, and some columnar basalt, and a spot where the boards crossing a stream are underwater, but only two inches, so no problem. It just got better and better as I descended, even the dog seemed into it. I loved the green moss or lichen that colors the more-shaded cliffs, and the whole place has an other-worldly feel to it, like the beginning of ""Planet of the Apes"". Going as slowly as possible to savor every inch, I was still at the lake by 4 pm. There are some strange plants growing down there, believe me. Reminded me of ""Day of the Triffids"". OK, Enough sci-fi references. The reflections of the sunset-bathed cliffs in the utterly still water were amazing. I must have taken the same picture 20 times at least. It was cool to be there with no heat, no bitter cold, no ticks, no snakes, no other people, and no wind at all. Just me and the fabulous wonders of creation. Oh, yeah, and a yellow dog. But she knows when not to interrupt my raptures. We attempted to follow the trail across the talus slopes to the other side of the lake, but the part where the rocks are bowling-ball sized and prone to movement unnerved the dog, who refused to cross that stretch, but just looked at me with those large eyes dogs use for just those types of occasions. It was getting late, and I figure to return someday from the other side anyway, so we went back to the lake shore and waited for darkness. The stars came out through the partial cloud cover, and we headed back using my new $250 flashlight (Light&Motion Solo Logic Mv Turbo). Man, that's one great flashlight! Upon our return to the car at 7 pm, we were serenaded by about a million geese-like creatures, and then about a thousand coyotes. Oh, yeah, we heard a bunch of owls, too, down at the lake and at the car. I should have had that durn pass, because we could have camped in that area for no extra charge, but instead we bailed, and drove through Quincy and Ephrata to Sun Lakes State park, where a whole array of expensive fees awaited us. We got there at 9 pm, paid our $15 for a glorified parking spot, had our pick of any campsite there except one, out of hundreds, but still were barely able to achieve some privacy. That place must be a zoo in summer. I built a fire from wood I brought, due to it being by now bitter cold, and I mean bitter. The temps were dropping about a degree per minute, no kidding. The dog and I took a tour of the place by flashlight, illuminating far-off things like only a guy can get a kick out of, but I had no idea that there were tall cliffs right across the small lake near our camp. The stars were of epic proportions. Seeing them shine brightly through the branches of the bare trees in our site was pretty cool.
Comments