I spent three nights in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness. Hiked from Panjab trailhead to Indian Corral the first night, out to Bear Wallow Spring and back and then to Oregon Butte the second day, camping at Table camp. Then another day hike to Danger Point sticking with the same campsite and back down via Panjab trail in the morning.

I did see a bear dart across the trail near Bear Wallow. I suppose they named it that for a reason! Snow patches were getting bigger and more stubborn that way as well so I decided to turn around. The trail to Oregon Butte from Panjab was fine. Some trees down and a little snow but nothing bad. The section of Mount Misery Trail from Oregon Butte to Danger Point was the sketchiest just because the grade is steep and there were still some snow patches making the trail slippery. Picked a tick off myself before it latched on and a few off the dog.

I saw quite a few other backpackers out but there was still plenty of solitude to be had. I imagine on a weekend besides memorial day things are even quieter.

I was pleasantly surprised that this trail was snow free and in such good condition. Thank you WTA work party which was recently here!

It is important to note DO NOT take the "alternate route" listed in the Directions for this hike! I took it last summer and although I made it in my Subaru, I would NOT recommend it to anyone! The FR roads are better for ATVs or small pickups and there is absolutely no way to turn around should you realize your car won't make it.

An alternate thar I've used several times is as follows: Go North through Dayton and just at the edge of town turn (can only go Right here) onto Patit Rd and follow until you come to a T in the road. Turn left. Shortly thereafter you will come to a 3 way in which you will basically stay straight with a slight right onto Haysock Rd. This road will become gravel for a few miles. You will come to a stop sign at the bottom which is on Tucannon Rd. Turn Right and you are back on pavement. Follow this road back until you come to the large wooden forest service sign marking the trailhead on your left.

There are multiple camping areas lining Tucannon Rd as well as primitive camps and horse camps at the trailhead.

Wildflowers are popping up all along the trail, the river is full and boisterous right now, annoying bugs are super minimal (the teen hikers with me said they saw 2 ticks) whereas colorful butterflies were plentiful and as stated before the trail is in really good condition, dry and snow free so this makes for a pleasant Spring hike!

Eleven of my new best friends and I spent a week working here on our volunteer vacation. We removed countless logs and debris from the trail, and cut back brush in places as well. The first three miles are free of downed trees until the wind blows again. The entire trail is about five miles long, but time and the number of fallen trees did not allow us to complete the logout of the entire length. The snow I encounter about 3.5 miles from the trailhead on my hike on my day off would have presented a different level of challenge as well.

We experienced the variety of weather that spring in eastern Washington offers, from overnight lows in the 20s with snow falling as we woke up to sunny days in the 70s when the butterflies woke up and entertained us.

I never did make it to the top of the trail, but the first few miles are well trod by the crew on our way in and out every day, and most hikers will not notice the lack of trees to climb over or around until the reach the upper part where the fun begins, especially if the stream is still flowing down the trail from the spring. 

I spent the weekend doing some day hikes in the Tucannon River region. The Panjab and Meadow Creek THs are snow free and accessible. The recent warm rain has melted much of the snow so low down the Panjab, Rattlesnake, and Meadow Creek Trails are snow free. Higher up the snow is pretty crusted and easy to walk on. Only saw one other car at any of the trailheads all weekend.

When a friend & I noticed we could juggle our schedules a bit in order to take advantage of a perfect weather window, we headed south for a mid-week visit to the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness.  In Spokane, there has been a temperature inversion and days upon days of fog and low-visibility.  Due to the same inversion, the forecast for the Mount Misery Trail was into the 40s during the day, with clear skies and sunshine.  Then I heard that there was a meteor shower for our trip!  

We started from Panjab TH early Wednesday morning after car-camping nearby the night before.  We hiked to the Dusty Camp site just before Indian Corral and set up our base camp.  This camp tends to be abused, and we picked up quite a lot of trash from around the area, which is unfortunate to see.  There was a bit of bare ground to pitch the tents on, and the nearby water trough wasn't frozen yet.  

After setting up camp, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Mount Misery Trail, first toward Oregon Butte, and then afterwards toward Diamond Peak.  We were mainly just wandering around in the high country, taking photos and admiring the views.  We carried our snowshoes along, as we had checked the closest Snotel sites before the trip & they were registering close to 2'.  However, we found the snowshoes unnecessary.  Training weight?

We returned to camp just after sunset and enjoyed dinner and a campfire before calling it a day.  I set my alarm to wake up for the peak of the meteor shower.  It was tough leaving my warm sleeping bag in the middle of the night, but then I ended up spending nearly two hours out on the open slope near camp and also up on the Mount Misery Trail, watching the show & looking at the stars.  There is no light pollution up here, and it was perfectly clear outside.  I think I would have stayed out all night, but eventually my toes went nearly numb and I had to return to my sleeping bag and down booties.

On Thursday we followed the Rattlesnake Trail about as far as Alnus Spring.  I had last visited in May and found the trail impossible to follow, but the FS has since cleared the worst of the downfall.  Of course, there's a little new downfall in places since it's now winter, but all in all, it was pretty easy to follow.  We returned to camp a little after 1pm in order to pack up and hike out by dark. 

The Panjab Trail has the least amount of snow but is the most difficult section to hike, partially since that's where we had full pack weight, but also due to some downfall trees, some icy trail conditions, and a layer of hoar frost hidden under a few inches of snow.

By the time we returned to Spokane Thursday night, the weather pattern was already starting to change, so I'm not sure it's still possible to pull off this trip this winter.