Day 3 of my trip to Badger Mtn - Moses Coulee still found me feeling sluggish (old age isn't catching up with me, is it?!). Rather than go over to Douglas Canyon, I decided to head for home, taking photos along the way. The day was sunny with not as much wind as the day before. I drove back to the Nature Conservancy Preserve and walked around a bit to some photos of the coulee. Then I headed down to Hwy 2 & continued down the coulee on Rimrock Meadows Rd. South of Hwy 2 the coulee opened up & wasn't quite so dramatic until I came to what is known as Three Devils Hill, where I had lunch. This is the Moses Coulee equivalent of Dry Falls in the Grand Coulee - not as dramatic, but very interesting & scenic nonetheless. The hill takes you down to the lower Moses Coulee. The floor of the coulee here is all farmland, but the cliffs, especially on the southeast side are impressive. I drove home to Yakima through Quincy with a stop to photograph at the North Alcove Overlook of Frenchman Coulee.

We drove out intending to hike up through the coulee, but were enticed by the possible views from the rib to hike out along the rib instead of hiking up the canyon. I believe this was the better choice. There were some beautiful desert flowers, some great hiking, a wee bit of scrambling, and soon we were at the very end of the rib. The view of the Columbia River Gorge from this point was spectacular. Don't skip this if you are planning on hiking out in the coulee. Just stop at the parking lot midway down into the basin (usually a couple of tents and cars from climbers there) and hike up the trails leading up along the cliffs (no climbing skill needed). Wind was stiff, but comfortable as long as we kept moving. Should start to get pretty hot out there soon, so go now before the heat and sun kills off all the flowers and plants!

Ethan, Brenda, Jonah, & I went over to Frenchman Coulee on this warm, sunny day & did a couple of hikes from Bruce Bjornstad's book, "On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods". We arrived at the parking area in the middle alcove where camping is allowed about 10:30 and it was tent city because of all the rock climbers. We first walked out to the South Alcove Overlook where we had a panoramic view of Echo Basin. Frenchman Coulee Rib was crawling with climbers. After about 1/2 hour taking photos and soaking in the view, we headed over to Frenchman Coulee Rib and walked about 3/4 of the way out the rib and found a spot for lunch at the edge of the cliff with a view back into Echo Basin. After a couple of hours we headed back, taking the main trail down the north side of the rib back to the car. Showy Phlox was in bloom with a scattering of Hooker's Balsamroot and a few other flowers. Walking on slabs of basalt with a coarse reddish sand above towering cliffs was a little like hiking in Utah. Since all the climbers were on the cliffs in the distance or out of sight below us we never felt crowded even though there was probably a couple hundred other people in the area. It was a very nice day.

I drove to Vantage excited to hike this trail while I waited to collect some buddies cycling the Iron Horse.I was dissapointed to not be able to find the trail head. Following the directions leads to a pull in at the side of the road and a trail of sorts that leads to the climbing area. I was expecting a parking lot of some description and a trail marker. I just bought my $35 Discover Pass which I was told I needed. looks like WA state needs all the mney they can get to sign the trails! Regardless I set off for an hour of meandering amongst the climbing area. Saw lots of little lizards and just 2 climbers.

Oh my gosh, it was windy. So windy couldnt hardley hear others talk. It was nice to be out today.