White Bluffs - North Slope - 4.1.2011
From Ellensburg... drive east on I-90 and cross the Columbia River... take Exit 137 and drive WA-26E for 1 mile... turn right onto WA-243S and drive 14.3 miles... turn left onto Road 24 SW and drive 13.8 miles... turn left onto WA-24E and drive 9.5 miles... then see next map.
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Just beyond Mile Post 63 on WA-24E... turn right, drive thru the fancy gate, and drive 3.9 miles on a gravel road... turn right and drive 1.4 miles... watch for the trail on your right, leading uphill towards the top of the bluffs... park in a grassy area next to the road.
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rodman's GPS route of our hike in the White Bluffs area... 8 miles roundtrip, gaining 1078 feet of elevation... part of the GPS route has us walking on water... just for the record, this did not happen.
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Parking in a grassy area next to the road... look north and you will see the unsigned trail heading uphill towards the top of the bluffs.
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That's the unsigned trail going up to the top of the bluffs... taken from our parking area.
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ragman, Denali Girl and BarbE on the White Bluffs.
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Looking back on the trail we used to get up on top of the bluffs... our car is parked near the group of large trees next to the road.
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rodman, Denali Girl and ragman hiking north above the White Bluffs.
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The cliffs are impressive.
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Looking south.
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Some flowers, but not a lot yet.
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Looking north... interesting terrain below the bluffs.
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We can see the sand dunes above the cliffs on the left.
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Interesting green plateau on the bluffs... mid-way between the river and top of the bluffs.
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Relaxing in yet-to-bloom balsamroot.
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More yellow.
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Looking south... and down on the green plateau.
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Looking north... Locke Island in the middle of the river.
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Denali Girl and BarbE tempting fate.
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Denali Girl is 'Tumbleweed Queen for the Day'.
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We will continue along the bluffs... and head for the sand dunes on the right.
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Looking south.
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We saw lots of these guys on the hike.
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Sand dune in sight.
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Denali Girl and BarbE nearing the top of the first sand dune.
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rodman, Denali Girl and BarbE on top of the first sand dune.
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Group shot... rodman, BarbE, Denali Girl and ragman.
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Looking south from the first sand dune.
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Looking north from the sand dune... we will head for the big sand dune in the distance.
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Shadow People were out today.
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Water.... water...
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ragman and Denali Girl on the White Bluffs.
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Looking north along the White Bluffs... layers of basalt.
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Fragile.
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Looking north... heading for the dunes on the far right.
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Uh... we didn't see this coming.
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BarbE, Denali Girl and rodman heading for the second sand dune.
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Nearing the top of the second big sand dune.
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Looking south.
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Lunch break on top of the second big sand dune.
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Looking north from the second big sand dune.
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A pano shot from the second sand dune... south (left) to north... Locke Island in the middle of the river.
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We have decided that we will return via the interesting terrain a few hundred feet below the top of the bluffs.
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BarbE leads us toward a place that will make it easy to get down below the bluffs.
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Looking south... down below the bluffs now.
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Basalt.
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We are well below the top of the bluffs now.
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Close to the river... looking north.
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Close to the river... looking south.
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Not everything gets out of here alive.
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Walking south now... and looking north from above the first pond.
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Not as dangerous as it might seem.
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Looking north... lots of ups and downs on the terrain below the top of the bluffs.
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Looking south.
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Another pond below the bluffs.
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Looking south.
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Yet another pond.
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Looking south.
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Looking north.
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Looking south.
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Looking south.
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Looking south.
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Looking north.
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Even though there are pretty good paths, you still need to work through some brush at times.
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rodman and BarbE heading south.
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Looking south.
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We are going to try and return by staying close to the river.
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The terrain next to the river is getting steeper.
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rodman finds us a route up from the river... we had to retreat about an eighth of a mile because it got too steep by the river.
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rodman and BarbE look for the best way to get back up on top of the bluffs.
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Looking north.
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Looking south.
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BarbE and rodman nearing the top of the bluffs.
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Looking north from the top of the bluffs... almost back to the car now.
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We can see the car... just to the left of the large trees.
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