Ethan, Brenda, Jonah, & I took a walk at Frenchman Coulee on this mostly cloudy, mild day.  We started at the parking area at the bottom of the hill on Babcock Bench and walked south across the mouth of Echo Basin to the first area of sand and climbed the steep boot trail beside the sand to the little basin.  From here we climbed into the notch at the northeast corner of the basin and dropped down to the big flat bench above the mouth of Echo Basin.  Once there we climbed to the top of the little butte with the pillar reminiscent of one of the Mitten Buttes in Monument Valley.  Afterwards we walked over to the butte at the southwest corner of the bench, climbed to the top, and found a nice spot for lunch with 360 degree views.  Though it wasn't sunny as predicted, it was mild and we stayed our usual hour or so.  When it was time to go, we walked down the easterly arm of the butte and dropped into the notch via an easy 10-15' downclimb.  Instead of going down into the little basin, we dropped down to the bench instead and walked south to the route that goes behind a fallen column to the top of the cliffs above the bench.  Once on top we walked over to the coulee that takes you down to the little basin and then retraced our steps back to the car.  We saw lots of tracks, but no wildlife and only one other hiker.  Everything was green and I was surprised not to find any little desert parsleys in bloom, but all the lichens and mosses on the rocks still made for a colorful hike.

Today a couple of friends and I went out to the climbing area in Echo Basin just south of the Frenchman Coulee. We parked in the second lot (past the Feathers), where there are two privies and, this spring weekend, tons of cars. We then hiked on the climber’s trail up over the hill and down through the walkthrough, a twisting crack that leads to Sunshine Wall and several other climbing areas. This walkthrough is not safe if you don’t have some basic climbing skill.  Getting off it where it ends onto the ground level below is a few moves of down climbing. This is familiar ground for me, as I spent literally hundreds of days climbing here between 1995 and 2015. We walked west along the climber’s trail past lots of climbers, esp on Sunshine, and kept going to where the trail leads down to Riverview Park. These trails are rough, very rough in places and you have to pay attention because there are places you are right along the edge of 20-50 foot drop offs to levels below. Anyway, we hiked the way down past Riverview and took the trail down to the road that lead in from the lower parking. Again, lots of cars there and many climbers, although not like Sunshine. Then we took the dirt road in the  valley back east almost to the dry Fugs Falls at the east end of the basin. We scrambled from there back up to the walkthrough and over top then back to the car. Again, much of this “hiking” has a scrambling feel to it. There is loose talus and other nonstandard “trail” experiences. It’s not really hard, just pay attention and use caution. I have hiked all this many many times, with climbing packs and gear, etc. We were hiking around for 2+ hours.  Now, the good part. T-shirts and shorts weather, fantastic desert environs, phlox, death camas, serviceberry, and others. Much sage aroma. The feel of an ancient geological landscape featuring basalt from the flows millions of years ago.  Oh, and possible rattlesnakes. I saw them maybe 10 or 15 times in 20 years. We had a fun hike today in warmth and companionship. Discover Pass required. 

We had 2 little hike here today. One started from the first parking place, which has a short trail to the fall. The other was from the trailhead described in WTA to the sand dune. Both were easy and fun, with pretty views. There were beautiful birds near the fall, and we also saw two small animals hiding in the rocks that were very quick, not sure if they were marmots.

Spent two nights dispersed camping (free with discover pass) in the large campsite near the climbing area. Great place to camp, though the only facilities are two gross pit toilets at the trailhead. I think this spot can get pretty busy with climbers, but on an early season weekday there were only like a dozen groups so everyone was spread out. Not very many people on the trails, mostly only saw climbers from a distance.

 The mileage listed for this hike is low, but WTA is only describing one approach to the waterfall. There actually are tons of trails (and former roads that are now trails) to keep you busy exploring. I did about 10 miles worth of exploring yesterday. I started out exploring the climbing area up on the coulee.. found some great viewpoints to watch the swallows and pigeons swooping around, also saw a coyote in the distance. Then I made my way down into Echo Basin.. I found a spur trail that led to some sand dunes! Not as striking as the ones at Hanford Reach but still a cool find. I had no idea we had multiple sand dunes out East! Washington is so amazing. 🙂 Saw a lizard and a couple marmots. Balsamroot is around but most hasn’t really started blooming yet.

 Made my way back to my car for lunch break, then drove over to the shortest approach to the waterfall. There’s more dispersed camping here, right on the edge of the canyon, but you need high clearance for sure… higher than my Subaru 😬 there’s room on the other side of the street for 4-6 cars to park so I parked there. This way is less than a mile to the waterfall, which is super amazing! It’s a really tall waterfall and was dumping with great force. Super dynamic to watch because every time the wind shifts the position of the water changes completely. In the rocks on the way down to the falls I disturbed probably a dozen marmots.. they were running all around and whistling at me. Lol sorry guys. Really cute though. 

Drove back over to the climbing area for one more night in my car. Great trip! Love coming out to Eastern Washington early season!

I had heard about this area (Old Vantage Highway) as a possible early season camping area.   Thought I would check it out. Super glad I did.

This is a Washington State Park run area.  Discovery Pass needed.

I parked at the camping area that showed as "Echo Basin" TH on my Topo Map. There is a clean and well cared privy at the parking lot.

I hiked up to the ridge from there.  Once up on the ridge, I was able to see a fairly well establish trail system.  I followed the ridge south down to the county park and boat ramp.  This is the end of Old Vantage Highway if one were to drive.  

I then headed east and turned north. This made for a nice loop back to Echo Basin area along a different trail. 

The views of the Columbia River Basin were fantastic. I found the various geological formations also pretty cool. The best view is the Waterfall that can be seen from the trail near the Frenchman Coulee campground.

 I didn't see any flowers along this trail system.

Glad I discovered this area.  I would not drive to it as a destination hike.  If in the region, a beautiful area to check out.

For those wondering about the campgrounds, they were 50% full when I left around 1pm.

I didn't see anyone else on the trails!