RHH's photos with the keyword: rock creek

We were out hiking today at a place called Goose Butte, but I have not had a chance to look at those photos, so am posting these from an earlier hike. Today we did about six miles of easy hiking along Crab Creek. We did about the same mileage several weeks ago on this hike to Towell Falls. Towell Falls is on Rock Creek on the Escure Ranch, now federal land but once a Basque sheep ranch. There is a larger and more impressive part to these falls, but we could not get to them since the water was too high on this side channel.

Several weeks ago we hiked in this area of Washington's channeled scablands and followed Rock Creek to Towell Falls. This part of the scablands was once a Basque sheep ranch, Escure Ranch, and is now under the authority of the Bureau of Land Management. The channeled scablands are an area of poor fertility west and east of Spokane scoured by ancient floods.

This is Rock Creek in the channeled scablands of eastern Washington on what was once a Basque sheep ranch, Escure Ranch. We hiked there several weeks ago, following Rock Creek to Towell Falls.

This is Rock Creek in the channeled scablands of eastern Washington just above Towell Falls. We hiked this area several weeks ago, following an old road on what was once a Basque sheep ranch. The lady is my wife and she is looking for rocks as is her wont.

This is Rock Creek near Towell Falls in the channeled scablands of eastern Washington. We live in this area and during the present crisis have been hiking in this area an area of basalt outcrops, Ponderosa Pines, long narrow lakes, coulees and prairie.

This was where we hiked several weeks ago. Because of the current health crisis most public lands are closed but we have found some places close to home.

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.

This was part of the area we hiked at Escure Ranch in eastern Washington. The area is known for its basalt outcrops, and is known as the channeled scablands, apparently formed by massive floods in the past.

This is Rock Creek on the Escure Ranch in eastern Washington. Escure Ranch is a former Basque sheep ranch that is now government property. We followed Rock Creek through these scablands to Towell Falls.

The channeled scablands of eastern Washington are a rather barren area of basalt outcrops, coulees, dry flood channels, deep, narrow lakes and dry falls. These outcrops are on the Escure Ranch, a former Basque sheep ranch not far from our home, part of that vast area.