Coulee Country - The Other Side of Washington State, 9.12.21 - 9.15.21
Like many states, Washington is a land of contrasts. We have Pacific Ocean seashores, the rolling hills of the Palouse and of course the Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Range. As if there wasn’t enough to see, on the hotter, drier eastern side of the state is an area more closely resembling southern Utah than the mountains our state is known for. This is the land we refer to as Coulee Country and the geologic history of this area is fascinating.
During the last ice age, great ice sheets blocked the Clark Fork River and this giant ice dam created Lake Missoula which stretched from Sand Point Idaho halfway across Montana. Another ice sheet blocked the Columbia River. Eventually these ice dams broke and sent billions of gallons of water rushing across the land and through the upper and lower Grand Coulee at an estimated sixty-five miles per hour. As it ran over the newly created cliffs of Dry Falls it became a massive waterfall four hundred feet high and five times the width of Niagara Falls. Once the ice sheet melted and the rivers returned to their normal course, Dry Falls was once again a waterfall without water.
Steamboat Rock State Park is located in the lower Grand Coulee next to the monstrous rock that bears its name. Surrounding Steamboat Rock on three sides and filling much of the lower Grand Coulee is Banks Lake, fed by the waters of the Columbia River which is pumped almost three hundred feet over a big hill, filling up the Grand Coulee for twenty-seven miles behind Dry Falls Dam at the lower end by Coulee City.
We have camped here numerous times and there is always new things to see and do. It is usually booked up a long way out but they just opened a new loop in the campground and we were lucky enough to hear about it right when it opened so Dana and Bob secured a site and Bridgit and I got the one right next to theirs.
Our brand new site in the brand new loop at Steamboat Rock State Park.
Bridgit in her happy place, paddle boarding in the warm water of Banks Lake
Fall colors beginning to show as the sun sets on Banks Lake
The morning after we arrived, while the rest of the world slept, I took a really nice walk around the east end of Steamboat Rock. My timing was perfect and as I climbed up onto some rocks overlooking the lake the sun just lit up Steamboat Rock. The morning colors and textures were incredible and the clouds really added to the overall scene.
Dawn on Steamboat Rock
East end of Steamboat Rock
Mornings don’t get much better than this!
Looking east into the rising sun from Steamboat Rock
Morning light bathing a secluded cove on Banks Lake
Dawn turns to day
My whole morning photo walk only lasted about an hour. Heading back to our site, we all had breakfast and hopped in Mr. Green Jeens to do some exploring. We drove across the mesas above the lake and up to a lake none of us had ever been to called Jameson Lake. Then we took roads through the middle of nowhere between huge tracts of croplands before connecting back up to the road above the dam. After that we dropped down below Dry Falls to some back roads that took us back in to several lakes butted up against the cliffs of Dry Falls. I had seen these little lakes many times from way up above at the Dry Falls Overlook but had never made it to the lakes.
Looking up Banks Lake along the Million Dollar Mile, named for the cost to build this one mile of road in 1940
Dry Falls and Dry Falls Lake from Dry Falls Overlook
The next morning while the ladies spent several hours on their paddle boards, Bob and I drove back down past Dry Falls to a trailhead for the Lake Lenore Caves. I had read about this hike many times but just never had taken the time to check them out. It was an easy 1.5 mile out and back hike that hugged a wall of basalt columns and led to about seven different caves. None of them were extremely deep but they were pretty cool to wander around in.
Lake Lenore Caves
Bob silhouette at Lake Lenore Caves
Lake Lenore Caves
Blazing sunset on our final night
This morning as usual I was up by around 6:15AM. Rather than just sit around and wait for everyone else to get up I decided to go for another walk where I had been the second morning. I didn’t expect it to be quite as spectacular since the cloud cover wasn’t as good as that first day but it was still very nice and I had an added bonus of seeing a family of five deer and a rafter (I had to look that one up) of about twelve wild turkeys.
A new dawn at Steamboat Rock State Park
Quiet cove on Banks Lake
Deer
Deer
Turkeys
Fall is in the air! My favorite time of the year. Bridgit and I are super excited. We leave in just eleven days for a full week in Yellowstone. Rather than “roughing it” in the Navibahn, this time we will meet up with our dear friends Kent and Candice from Colorado and stay at the Canyon Village Lodge. Weather could range from pleasant sunny days to blizzard conditions so we are keeping our fingers crossed for gorgeous fall weather, brilliant autumn colors and hopefully some great wildlife viewing!