Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scablands

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Naturebat
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Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scablands

Post by Naturebat » June 24th, 2016, 1:34 am

From Thursday, June 16th to Saturday, June 18th, we backpacked into the Ancient Lakes in eastern Washington's Channeled Scablands region and made a 2-night basecamp to explore the area further.

We drove in from Oregon hoping to experience a little bit of what eastern Washington has to offer. It was beyond breathtaking! :D

Opening Image:
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The Ancient Lakes as viewed during sunset.


Here is an aerial image of what the Potholes Coulee (Ancient Lakes and Dusty Lake basins) look like from above.
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Photo by Jim Wark at AirPhotoNA.com.



A map of our 3-day route:
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(CalTopo Interactive Map Link)




Day 1:

We hiked in from the lower trailhead up to Ancient Lakes to camp for two nights. We wanted to take the north cliffside trail, but decided to take the "main" trail into the lakes for the first day instead. Wildflowers lined this trail. We hiked in about two hours before sunset; the colors on the sage-covered fields and rocky cliffsides came alive with color! We didn't see anybody along the hike either, so we had plenty of solitude! We camped at the far end of Ancient Lakes at the second campsite below the back cliff. We were the only ones there that night too. The mosquitos were bad, so be warned! Not as bad as some places I've been, but still an annoyance. But the beauty more than makes up for it.


It was about a five hour drive to the trailhead from Portland, Oregon. We got to the trailhead around 6:30 PM, two and a half hours before sunset.

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The Ancient Lakes Trail departing from the traihead. (Photo Sphere)



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Right from the start, we were greeted by a brilliant display of Round-headed Buckweat



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The scenery was just incredible! It felt like walking into the gates of some ancient city.



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Brilliant wildflower display!



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Entering the magnifiscent Potholes Coulee! (Photo Sphere)



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More wildflowers! These particular ones were seen all along the first day's hike. Not sure what they're called.



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Not sure about these ones either, but they were beautiful!



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A seasonal waterfall could be seen off in the distance (zoomed photo). Our hike back would pass right under it.



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The trail heading into Ancient Lakes making its way through grassy meadows.



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After a short while, we came upon Susan Lake, the first of the Ancient Lakes.



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Ascending a few hills before getting to the furthest of the Ancient Lakes.



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The view of the Ancient Lakes at 1.9 miles in.



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Cliffs and sagebrush, looking off to our desired campsite located on the isthmus below the cliff-face.



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Passing one of the many campsites and fire rings. Scenic waterfall in the background.



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Rugged cliffs lit up by the sunset.



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Large rock and cliff-faces above our campsite.




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Sunset from camp.



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Our camp between all three lakes and overlooking the waterfall.




It was an extremely short 2.5 mile hike in. I stopped a lot to take photos, video, and photo spheres.
Last edited by Naturebat on June 24th, 2016, 1:55 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Naturebat
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by Naturebat » June 24th, 2016, 1:36 am

Day 2:


On the second day, a few campers came in to camp below us. We went on a day hike up onto the south cliffside and to a vantage point overlooking Dusty Lake. The trail was easy to follow, wildflower-strewn (tons of flowers!), easy to hike, all except for the last tiny section descending the canyon wall. It was steep and slippery, covered in loose scree, fine dust, and talus. Nothing too tricky, but can be a bit slippery. After getting to the bottom, it was a gentle coasting up and down over grassy, wildflower-covered hills back to camp.



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Late morning/noon from our camp.



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Clouds moving in.


We started our hike late, around 1:55 PM.


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Walking around the southernmost of the 3 major Ancient Lakes. Many campsites here too.



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This hike featured many different types of wildflowers.



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Such as this Round-headed Buckweat.



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As we climbed higher, the views increased.



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Round-headed Buckweat carpeting the slopes above the Ancient Lakes.




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The Ancient Lakes from the viewpoint (Marked as Lakes Overlook on map below) (Photo Sphere)



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The Lakes Overlook




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After we reached the top of the cliff-face, we saw quite a few of these. :D



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We passed by a faint trail leading up the cliff. This path is one of the ways to reach the upper trailhead.



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This is what the trail looked like as it meandered the floodwater-scraped plateau area above the first layer of cliffs.



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Wildflowers speckled among flood-stripped basalt.



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More of these wildflowers!



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At about 0.9 miles, we got to a spur trail that led up from the main trail. It leads to an epic view of Dusty Lake and the other half of the Potholes Coulee formation.


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Dusty Lake from the viewpoint (marked "Dusty Lake Viewpoint" on map. (Photo Sphere)



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The overlook is marked on the map above.



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Panorama taken from the Dusty Lake Viewpoint.



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From here, it was all down. The trail dropped down into the second plateau before making its way down the lower cliff.



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The view just before the trail dropped down steeply in what is marked as "Steep Descent" on the map.



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Another image to possibly be submitted to Equestria Daily's "Ponies Around the World" contest.



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Filming the timelapse.



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Lots of Round-headed Buckweat! They were putting on quite a display today! :D



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The trail then started to hug the cliff-face as it dropped down–gently at first and then steeply. (Photo Sphere)



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Panorama from this spot.



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From here, we could see our campsite at the Ancient Lakes.



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Once at the bottom, looking back up the steep section. It looks a lot less steep in the photo.



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Hiking back through more brilliant wildflower displays!



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Looking back at the way we came.



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Descending back down towards Ancient Lakes.



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Passing by one of the Ancient Lakes at the junction connecting this lollipop loop hike.




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Looking back up to our camp spot and tent between two of the lakes.



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Passing by one of the many campsites located along the shores of the Ancient Lakes.



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After a nice dinner of Mountain House Beef Stroganoff, looking off to one of the lakes and the waterfall from our site.



Once we got back to camp, it started to cloud over. Around 10 P.M., it started to rain—lightly at first, gentle though heavy by the next morning.



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The waterfall across the lake from our tent. Now that I look closer, I can kind of see a faint trail climbing up the left side of the falls.



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This little guy came and wandered above our camp that afternoon.
Last edited by Naturebat on June 24th, 2016, 2:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Naturebat
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by Naturebat » June 24th, 2016, 1:36 am

Day 3:

On the third day, we hiked out in the rain via the "shortcut" trail, which hugs the north cliff-face (the same trail we wanted to hike in by). It was a wildflower-strewn hike, but the brushy and narrow path meant our pants and shoes got soaked very quickly (not an issue since we were wearing quick-drying synthetics/running shoes, however ;) ). It passed right below a seasonal waterfall and a large boulder/erratic.



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Hiking out in the rain along the cliff-side trail.



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Although it was wet and cloudy, we did see a couple of wildflowers on our way back.



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We also passed under this seasonal waterfall, the same one seen on our way in.



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And finally the last 0.2 miles passed through this lush, grassy meadow. (It wasn't muddy, thankfully. :D )



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Some more wildflowers, as viewed from a distance.






While yes, there is farmland surrounding the Ancient Lakes coulee basin, we couldn't really see them from our campsite at the lakes. It feels as if they aren't really there! As if it were sage-covered desert for miles and miles! Along the hike through and above the cliff-faces, you can see more of the farms, but they aren't really a distraction/detraction to the "wilderness" experience, in my opinion. You will be gawking at the amazing views that the Ancient Lakes have to offer.

There are also tons (and tons) of campsites, so I guess either this area must get super crowded/full on some weekends, or there's just a lot of space to spread around and choose your site. Most sites seem to be pretty flat and have large fire rings (I guess people bring in their wood?). Some sites even have stone benches to sit on.

This is a super easy backpacking trip or day hike, so even families with children could make it.



http://gpsfly.org/a/6094

GPS Track Download:

Photo Sphere Virtual Hike: I took a total of 16 photo spheres! You can view the photo spheres here to take a "virtual hike." They are linked together in the same style as Google Maps Street View. :D

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Example Photo
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sprengers4jc
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by sprengers4jc » June 24th, 2016, 7:46 am

Great trip report! This is an area we have longed to visit but the long drive has deterred us. Perhaps this will finally be the year :)
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texasbb
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by texasbb » June 24th, 2016, 11:35 am

Nice report on an interesting place. I've done a couple of overnighters there, but never stayed two nights like that. There's a lot to see if you really engage those higher plateaus. You could have even stayed another day to climb up past the waterfall and play around at Judith Pool, 'H' Lake, and the mine! Route finding in all that roughness can be a fun challenge. Did you carry in that much water or just drink from the pools?

Interesting geological/historical note: The place is actually named Ancient Lake (singular) because the entire north part of the coulee used to be one big lake, or at least the entire east end of it. What's there today are just remnant pools of that once large lake. Several of your pictures highlight that by clearly showing the bathtub ring of the old shoreline. Here's a good example that shows the change from white-tinged to deep red rocks at a height about level with the top of the waterfall:

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After a nice dinner of Mountain House Beef Stroganoff, looking off to one of the lakes and the waterfall from our site.

I really like that aerial view you found...I hadn't seen that before. I wonder if the light coloring all down the floor of the coulee on the Ancient Lake side is where the lake used to lie. I also wonder how long ago it quit being one big lake. I'm pretty sure I've seen online an old picture (early 1900s?) looking into the coulee at one big lake, but I've never been able to find it again.

Thanks again for the report.

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retired jerry
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by retired jerry » June 24th, 2016, 11:44 am

I like the aerial view

Would have been cool to see one of those big floods

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bobcat
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by bobcat » June 24th, 2016, 12:45 pm

Great outing, Fluttershy. The Potholes was the first overnight trip for my wife and I when we were dating. I forgot to bring the poles for the tent. We slept under the stars among cow patties and I peed all around our site to keep the rattlesnakes away (so I told her).

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Naturebat
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by Naturebat » June 24th, 2016, 6:45 pm

texasbb wrote:Nice report on an interesting place. I've done a couple of overnighters there, but never stayed two nights like that. There's a lot to see if you really engage those higher plateaus. You could have even stayed another day to climb up past the waterfall and play around at Judith Pool, 'H' Lake, and the mine! Route finding in all that roughness can be a fun challenge. Did you carry in that much water or just drink from the pools?
Thanks! :D I carried all the water in for all three days. I read on WTA that it might not be a good idea to drink from the pools, even with a filter, since it is mainly agricultural runoff.

texasbb wrote: Interesting geological/historical note: The place is actually named Ancient Lake (singular) because the entire north part of the coulee used to be one big lake, or at least the entire east end of it. What's there today are just remnant pools of that once large lake. Several of your pictures highlight that by clearly showing the bathtub ring of the old shoreline. Here's a good example that shows the change from white-tinged to deep red rocks at a height about level with the top of the waterfall:
Wow, I didn't know that. I did notice the bathtub rings, but I figured it must have drained hundreds of years ago or more.

texasbb wrote: I really like that aerial view you found...I hadn't seen that before. I wonder if the light coloring all down the floor of the coulee on the Ancient Lake side is where the lake used to lie. I also wonder how long ago it quit being one big lake. I'm pretty sure I've seen online an old picture (early 1900s?) looking into the coulee at one big lake, but I've never been able to find it again.
That makes a lot of sense. I wondered what that strange lighter coloring on the satellite imagery was on the hike in. I guessed it was different soil types, but the bathtub basin explanation makes a whole lot more sense. :)
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Naturebat
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by Naturebat » June 24th, 2016, 6:50 pm

bobcat wrote:Great outing, Fluttershy. The Potholes was the first overnight trip for my wife and I when we were dating. I forgot to bring the poles for the tent. We slept under the stars among cow patties and I peed all around our site to keep the rattlesnakes away (so I told her).
Looks like it worked, then? ;) They knew it wasn't their territory, haha. :lol:
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Naturebat
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Re: Ancient Lakes 3-day Backpacking Trip | Washington Scabla

Post by Naturebat » June 24th, 2016, 6:52 pm

retired jerry wrote:I like the aerial view

Would have been cool to see one of those big floods
I'd watch from a safe distance... on top of Mount Adams. :lol:

It sounds like a theme of some Hollywood movie. :P
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