The only flowers we (a group of social Mountaineers) saw were 2 wooly-pod milk-vetches that were just starting to bloom. There are lots of plants coming up, including the beginnings of many balsamroots.

We hiked a 13 mile lollipop, visiting the waterfall, traversing the climbing area (there were around 100 climbers out on this sunny Saturday), across the sand dunes, and went south on the old road that cuts into the cliffs of the Columbia. We took a bootpath down from this road that led to a trail along the river that took us to the boat ramp at the end of the paved road.

We went east to avoid the mud in Kittitas Valley. We drove down the Old Vantage Highway past the Feathers parking area to Echo Basin. Parked near the gate and Discover Pass sign on the right side of the road. Only a couple of cars there. Crossed the road and headed south along the two track toward the dunes, which were visible in the distance. Trail was dry and easy to follow. Walked over the dunes and climbed to the ledge above the main sand slide by hugging the hillside to the right and following a game trail. We climbed to a high point where we stopped for lunch. Turned back and ran down the slide on our return (weee!). Fun, easy excursion close to home. For those coming from further it is easy to extend your hike and explore more of the area including erratics, waterfalls, lakes, and columnar basalt. Total time out: 1.5 hours, distance: 3 miles.

Ethan, Karen, & I returned to Frenchman Coulee on this mild, sunny day.  This time we parked at the climber's trailhead with the two outhouses and followed the trail up the Frenchman Coulee Rib and across the rib to the Sunshine Wall Slot (aka the Near Trail Cave).  We went down the slot and then walked out the trail along the narrow bench at the base of Sunshine Wall all the way to the end of the rib.  Along the way we heard a canyon wren. We then walked back up to the top of the rib and found a nice spot overlooking Echo Basin for lunch.  It was sunny and warm and we stayed our usual hour or so.  As we ate, we were treated to some areal acrobatics by 3 ravens.   Finally we headed back along the top of the rib and down to the car.  The trail below Sunshine Wall looks impossible from a distance, but is really a good trail, though it has some loose rock and is exposed here and there.  It probably not a trail for the faint of heart.  We were surprised at how few climbers were there on such a beautiful day.

Ethan, Karen, & I took a hike at Frenchman Coulee on this cloudy, cool day.  We started at the trailhead at the bottom of the hill.  There are no facilities here, but there are a couple of good outhouses with toilet paper up the road a little ways at the climbers trailhead/camp.  We followed the old 2-track up the south side of the coulee to the waterfall, admiring the cliffs as we went.  From the waterfall we walked down the north side of the coulee for about 1/2 mile and found some rocks to sit against for lunch.  It was mild enough by now that we spent close to an hour, but then the clouds got thicker and it cooled down, so we continued down the coulee and back to the car.  The cliffs on this side are probably even more impressive than those on the south side.  We didn't see any wildlife except for a few crows, rock doves, and a number of flights of geese.  Except for a couple riding fat-tire bikes, we had the place to ourselves.

Been thinking of this ridge loop around Echo Basin since the very first time I drove down Frenchman's Coulee. And indeed it was a lot of fun, especially the final descent down the dunes...  

Approach:

• I-90 to Silica Road exit, then left down the ( now paved ) Vantage Road SW
  • If you haven't done this before it's worth taking a side trip down to where the road ends at the river 
• As we were doing the "full loop", we drove past the climber lots to the lower "car pen" at the base of the Frenchman / Echo ridge @870'
• We did the loop clockwise, which I'd recommend, and directions are listed as such...

Car Pen to "Climber Central":

• Cross the road and in 0.3mi pick up the left trail ( right is direct to basin/dunes ) that gains the top of the ridge/mesa @ 47.02384, -119.98749
• From there follow a myriad of climbers trails east along the ridge
• We chose to stay on top of the mesa, with views down into Frenchman, but there is also a lower climbers trail that skirts along the bottom of the Roza(?) lava flow's basalt columns, with cool names like Tomato, Corn and Hen House walls, et. al.
• Soon the trails converge before descending into the valley leading towards the camping area
• Once reaching the dirt road ( 47.02441, -119.96906 ), take the fork that ascends a scenic canyon, staying alert in case one is lucky enough to spot any of the pileated NW climbers that haven't migrated south for winter yet

From here on things start to get a bit "choose your own adventure", and definitely recommend a GPS as many of the gullies end in cliffs.  Also be rattlesnake ( heard but did not see ) and tick aware.

Climber Central to Powerhouse Wall:

• Following the dirt track south, then eastward takes you to a spectacular viewpoint at the head of echo basin ( 47.02050, -119.96832 )
• To continue on, one has to get past the draw to the south.  You may be able to do this direct, but we played it safe and backtracked to "the pond", crossing (47.02053, -119.96415), then returning back to the cliffs towards powerhouse wall ( 47.01848, -119.96974 ). 
• From then on there are some on-again-off-again trails, but we just meandered westward, stopping to admire the view from the clifftops periodically

Descent:

• The main thing is that one needs to drop south into the next draw ( that leads to the dunes ) before things get too cliffy. We descended into down gentle slopes to about 47.01357, -119.97773.
  • BTW: appears you could take a more direct root to this draw from the above pond.  Looking at the satellite photos, might be simpler navigation/trail, but we wanted more of the Echo Basin views
• Descending down-valley, steering left of the greenery, takes you to the cliff band that sits above the sand dunes
• Appears like you can bypass the cliff by traversing descenders left on the south ( may offer better uphill travel ), but we walked north along the cliff to find a short gully, which ( at the time of writing at least ) was an easy drop to the apex of the sand dune
• Giggling like school children we ran the dunes to bottom of echo basin
• Sand track takes you back across the basin to the car

Neat area, with lots more exploring to be had.