On Valentines Day I took myself out on a small hike. I thought that this was going to be snow free, it was not. I had a hard time tromping through the snow all day. I got there early in the morning so the top of the snow was still very frozen, it took extra effort to get your foot out of it. I am not really sure if I was following any trail, there was too much snow to know. During the summer I will return to see the trail again.

This is an amazing place to explore in the winter some of the most beautiful sunsets and lots of trails... really cool trails the snow covered landscape at night feels like another world. In the winter it can get very windy and cold. Bring microspikes some of the trails are steep and icy and right next to cliffs.

I led my 4th Winter Walk of the season for the Cascadians to Frenchman Coulee today. With all the snow we have had, I didn't know if we would even be able to drive down into the coulee, but the road looked like it had been plowed and, though icy in the shade, it was passable by any car with careful driving. We parked on the floor of the coulee and then climbed climber's trail up the nose of the Frenchman Coulee Rib. There was quite a bit of snow, though we never felt that we needed showshoes or traction devices. We walked east along the top of the rib until noon & then found a nice lunch spot (I'm not sure there's a bad one up here) overlooking Echo Basin. Contrary to the forecast, it had been cloudy most of the morning, but it cleared off as we ate. After a leisurely lunch, we walked east to the Sunshine Wall Slot (aka Cave). At this point some of the party elected to go down the slot to the bottom of Sunshine Wall & then down into Echo Basin. The rest of us walked back along the top of the rib. The afternoon walk was glorious in the sunshine with the white hills shining all around. We didn't see other hikers, but there were quite a few climbers on the cliffs below us.

See additional links below for more trip photos With winter storm warning and travel restrictions, eastbound I-90 traffic was moving much slower than usual. Spin outs and reckless semi truck drivers between exits 47 and 52 made driving over Snoqualmie Pass in snow showers juuuuuust a tad bit more exciting. Weather calmed down quite a bit after passing through Easton. More snow than anticipated in Frenchman Coulee. I knew snowshoes probably weren’t necessary, but I packed them just because. Judging by the one car parked on south side of the road, there was at least one other person in Echo Basin whom we never saw. As with the trip from a year ago, we traversed counterclockwise on coulee rim starting from the southwest corner. Four to six inches of snow on average, but packed enough that I never got to snowshoe. Covered in a white blanket, the area looked drastically different but more aesthetically pleasing compared with a year ago. Not terribly breezy at the start of the scramble, wind eventually died down as the afternoon rolled on. Eastern end of coulee above a frozen waterfall marked our halfway point. Pups and I took a break, ate, and grabbed some photos. There I spotted boot tracks of the other hiker who appeared to have traversed in the opposite direction earlier in the day. Western sky began to exude vibrant colors through storm clouds one hour before sunset time. We finished rest of the traverse through basin’s northern rim, where snow wasn’t as firm yet manageable. Also checked out some of the climbing routes on sunshine wall, as we slowly made our way back down into the basin and hiked out.

I wasn't able to get out over the holiday weekend, so I decided to go over to Frenchman Coulee to photograph on this mostly sunny, mild-for-the-end-of-Nov day. I started from the parking area in the middle alcove and took the climber's trail up to the top of the Frenchman Coulee Rib. Once on top, I went over to the entrance to the Sunshine Wall slot and then made my way around to the head of Echo Basin as Ethan & I had done a couple of weeks ago. I went a little ways further, but not as far as I went with Ethan. I found a nice lunch spot overlooking Echo Basin and hung around for an hour or so and then made my way back to the truck. I only saw a few other people at a distance and didn't see any wildlife except for some rock doves. But I did hear what I am pretty sure was a canyon wren and, can you believe it, saw wildflowers in bloom: cushion daisy, yarrow, & blanket flower (Gaillardia aristata). It's not spring , is it??!! Anyway, with the sun so far south, the light was nice all day, though I did have a little trouble with sun flare.