When they sweep the last run and lock up the lodges at Stevens Pass, many of us want the snow to magically vanish with the skiers.
It has served its function as gravity’s playground. If they won’t operate the chairlift, we don’t want to play anymore.
The unsparing, deliberate pace of snow-melt in the Cascades deeply limits our high-country options. But, graciously, our wondrous state responds to this challenge.
Braced for July’s torrent of campers, boaters and picnickers, Central Washington is quiet, dry and sort of warm just now. And deserted. Its canyons, lakes and open sagebrush ridges have wintered in isolation, and are now eager to gloat about their terrific spring tune-up walks and wildflower pageants.
Although the bliss of "East Side" can scrub your soul in one long day, any trip beyond the 49er Diner at Cole’s Corner, about 15 miles east of Leavenworth, begs at least an overnight.
Leavenworth, Wenatchee, Ellensburg and Yakima, portals to our mid-state treasure trove, are stuffed with motels and bistros, although camping is more fun and more gallant, and campgrounds are abandoned for the moment. Some, in fact, are closed, so call the closest ranger district.
Central Washington conforms well to the "That looks good!" method of outdoor strolls. Unlike the floral tangles of wet west side, eastside routes can be mapped visually — not so many annoying trees in the way. As long as one respects private property, almost any place is a potential trailhead.
Many of the routes found in Central Washington are off-road vehicle tracks or open ridge walks, so a compass and altimeter will make your return trip more reliable. State parking permits are required in many areas.
Doing your own detective work with just a Washington Gazetteer is glorious fun … . or sample a couple of these walks:
Gentle floral ridge walks are available minutes out of Wenatchee. Drive south on Malaga Road (becomes Colockum Pass Road), which bends with the Columbia River. Keep right at approximately 12 miles (to the left is Tarpiscan Road) then, 4.8 miles further, go straight where the main road turns sharply left. In less than another mile, keep right just before a group of buildings. Drive as far as you want. You’re on broad open ridges cluttered with islands of bright yellow arrowleaf balsamroot daisies, pinkish penstemons and blue lupine.
I continued on the road to a 4,200-foot pass and explored rolling terrain southward, topping out in a stellar display of rose-purple and yellow shooting stars and a smattering of purple grass widow. Don’t step on them. Check for landmarks frequently because the convolutions of these hills are complex and may disorient you. Views to the east extend beyond the cliffs of the Columbia Gorge to the flat, volcanic high plateau.
To reach the Colockum Game Reserve, keep left on Tarpiscan Road for approximately 2 1/2 miles to a signboard and parking area. You can park here, walk 200 yards on up the road to the beginning of animal trails which explore Whitson Canyon, or continue driving to game trails which access Lone Pine and Davies Canyons (in another 1 1/2 miles is a gate where private property begins). Game Reserve headquarters, with free maps available, is at a house just up a short hill from the first stop. Mule deer and many varieties of birds reside here and are easily viewed.
A medley of oases are clustered together in the midst of semidesert south of Quincy. Take Highway 28 south from East Wenatchee. Between mileposts 25 and 26 turn right on U-NW (White Trail Road). For Ancient Lakes, a four-mile trek through Potholes Coulee to three lakes, turn right at one mile and continue 5.9 miles to a small parking spot and gate. Walking on a vehicle track, keep left at one-half mile, then proceed 3 1/2 miles to the first two lakes. The third lies ahead, beyond a modest ridge.
For Dusty Lake, stay on U-NW, which becomes 5 NW, to a gravel road to the right marked "fishing and hunting" 5.9 miles from the highway. Continue 2 miles, past three lakes, to the Dusty Lake trailhead parking lot on the right. The lake is visible from the trailhead, but you’ll pass through some lovely micro-sites on your descent — little waterfalls and ponds and rock faces. The walk is framed by cliffs of columnar basalt, from which emerge doves chasing away plundering crows and swallows having all-you-can-eat insect feeds. On Dusty Lake, geese complain and herons go about their curious routines.
Spectacular basalt columns and a great river walk along Wanapum Lake are hidden just off I-90 between Vantage and George. Take Silica Road westerly from Exit 143 for 0.7 miles to an unmarked road on the left. Follow this road (old U.S. 10) through the breathtaking canyon of Frenchman Coulee to Babcock Bench, stopping off to climb or watch others climb dramatic pillars on the left at two miles, called The Feathers. From a giant parking area at 5.3 miles, walk down river on any track and explore a couple of little canyons before the riverbank becomes a wall.
In the last canyon, a trail leads up a ridge to the right and intersects another piece of the old highway, presumably built for access to a ferry landing (pre-Wanapum Dam). Advance to the right and enjoy a breezy ramble down the road through basalt cliffs and sand dunes. The road meets the river and ends at what appears to be a duck blind. Across the river and down toward Vantage is a boat launch which may have once been the west ferry terminal.
Don’t look. You’re not going to find a prettier little valley than the one cut by Manastash Creek. Charming farms and basalt cliffs grace this crease between the rounded swells of endless Manastash Ridge.
Walk up the ridge in spring, and find a striking number of flower species, each in its own little ecological pocket. Look past the showy yellow balsamroot to find the modest purple larkspur and waterleaf, the tough, ground-hugging stonecrop and a fragile blossom that looks remarkably like two white dancing butterflies. Long panoramas of the craggy Stuart Mountain Range and beyond toward Snoqualmie Pass are beheld from highest points.
To get to Manastash, take the Canyon Road exit off I-90 in Ellensburg, drive north to Umptanum Road, turn left and go 1.7 miles to a crossroads by a school. Turn right onto Manastash Road and proceed 10.5 miles to a turnoff on the right, marked with a big map and a small road marker for "Shell Rock Road." Park and walk up the moderately steep road, which levels out after gaining 550 feet of elevation. Continue on the road or create your own path.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
