Towell Falls

I am interrupting my series of photos of Big Bend National Park to post some hiking photos. The last two weeks we have made a point of getting out for a day to do some hiking and have found a few spots even though most parks are closed. We are under a stay at home order on account of the corona virus and have managed to find plenty to do, but feel the need to get out.

Last week we went to Escure Ranch a former Basque sheep ranch in the channeled scablands of eastern Washington and hiked along Rock Creek to Towell Falls. We saw only four other people so we were able to maintain "social distancing" easily. This was not the main falls - we could not get to them because of high water in the side channel which had these falls.

The wildflowers are a Lomatium or Desert Parsley, probably Lomatium multifidum. There were few wildflowers in bloom but these were abundant near the falls. It is interesting that the roots of this plant and other related plants are reputed to increase resistance to viruses. We did not sample it, however, in hope that it would help us avoid the corona virus.

We had beautiful weather, though a cold front and rain were moving in by the end of the day. It was windy and chilly but the sunshine was most welcome. We hiked about six miles and had a cup of coffee to warm us when we arrived back at the car, using our backpacking burner and some Starbucks instant coffee and then went on home for our evening meal.