Forum Index > Trail Talk > 2 Night Backpack Trip Ideas out in WA deserts?
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lentze
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lentze
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PostTue Sep 17, 2019 2:07 pm 
Hello, I am looking for some advice on a good 2 night backpack trip out in the deserts east of the Cascades (currently I am in Bellingham, WA). I am a bit new to the area and options for short trips out that way don't seem very apparent. Most of my experience comes from hiking all through Joshua Tree NP using their trail systems as well as all of the dry washes to make several different loops over the years (hardly anyone out there). I am used to carrying my own water for the trip and probably prefer to be further away from water sources (that's where I have encountered most rattlesnakes - though I know they are more scared of me!). Anyhow, I typically don't hike very far, maybe 4 to 6 miles per day. Just enough to get out and away from people for a night or two! Any ideas are much appreciated for an out and back or loops. Thanks!

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Noheaperture
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PostTue Sep 17, 2019 2:42 pm 
This isn’t technically the deserts out east but, check out trails in the Teanaway community forest. A lot of great alpine views but more dry and arid than the western slopes of the area.

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SteeperColder
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PostTue Sep 17, 2019 3:16 pm 
Noheaperture wrote:
This isn’t technically the deserts out east but, check out trails in the Teanaway community forest. A lot of great alpine views but more dry and arid than the western slopes of the area.
Teanaways are a great recommendation... but heads up, looks like some possible snow coming in this week out there (+4,000' EL and higher)

"You won't find reasonable men on the tops of tall mountains" - Hunter S. Thompson
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RichP
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PostTue Sep 17, 2019 3:26 pm 
Juniper Dunes or Ancient Lakes come to mind.

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altersego
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PostTue Sep 17, 2019 4:03 pm 
I had looked this up recently, too. I found a hike with "established campsite" on WTA that might fit the bill. Sounds like there are some trail quality issues and some road walking, but 26 miles roundtrip! https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/odessa-lake-creek-trail

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RatherBOutdoors
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PostTue Sep 17, 2019 8:38 pm 
Both Juniper Dunes and Ancient Lakes have some nice options for overnights, but each might be a little limited in options for 2 nights. I think Ancient Lakes gives you more ground to explore for a second night.

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texasbb
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PostWed Sep 18, 2019 6:11 am 
Ancient Lake (it's singular) is great for an overnighter, but I agree it might be hard to find enough to do there for three days. Also, it's really best not to drink from the pools there, so you'd be packing in a lot of water for 2-nights/3-days. I've drunk (filtered) water from there and survived, but it's irrigation runoff.

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Sculpin
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PostWed Sep 18, 2019 8:25 am 
I just did a two-nighter to Dusty Lake, adjacent to Ancient Lakes. We had four guys with time off work and a dicey weather forecast for our intended destination, so we bailed to eastern Washington. One in the party wanted to backpack anyway, so we made it work. We arrived kind of late so getting to Dusty was day 1. On day 2, we did a big loop hike. The old jeep road that heads south from the Dusty Lake coulee - same road you hiked in on from the north - forks with a (new?) trail that goes down a very scenic coulee to the southern end of Babcock Bench, then follows the bench north and returns to the jeep road in another very scenic coulee. From there, we hiked towards Ancient Lakes, but made a brief side trip back to the car for fresh water, which was a bit strange I will admit. We looped around the Ancient Lakes coulee on well-established boot path. There is a spur trail that goes to the rim and beyond at the southeast corner of the coulee. On the third day, we picked our way on the rarely used trail that goes up the coulee to the east from Dusty, the "Dusty Lake Trail," until we reached the parking lot. There are side trails in here to explore. Then we turned around, packed up, and hiked out. Re: the water. We filtered water from Dusty Lake. When it warms up in your bottle, it tastes a bit foul. But filtered water won't give you the runs, and you won't accumulate enough toxins from agricultural runoff to create any problems in two days worth of drinking. Edit: re: camping. There are a few decent sites at Ancient Lakes (not sure why it is singular when there are three lakes), popular even this time of year with three tents mid-week. There is one decent site at Dusty on the small peninsula to the southwest. This time of year, other sites are overgrown with sticker weeds. The really good site is up above Dusty to the east, but to get there from the west you would have to cross the nasty boulders on the north side of the lake with full packs. It is really difficult to get to the shore of Dusty anywhere because of extremely thick growth. Same is true for most of the lakes over there. Make sure you know how to identify poison oak and watch for it. There are a few spots where the trail goes right through it. No snakes this time of year that we saw, even with daytime temps in the 80s.

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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texasbb
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PostWed Sep 18, 2019 9:35 am 
Sculpin wrote:
not sure why it is singular when there are three lakes
It's because those are just three small pools that remain of what was once a very large lake that filled the whole east end of the coulee. (And there are sometimes five little pools, BTW.) There's a very interesting history of the place that kind of gets ignored when one thinks of it as three separate ancient lakes. See here.

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Sculpin
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Sculpin
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PostThu Sep 19, 2019 9:57 am 
texasbb wrote:
It's because those are just three small pools that remain of what was once a very large lake that filled the whole east end of the coulee.
cool.gif A discussion about whether a lake that formed in the 1950s from agricultural runoff, and since receded to form 3-5 smaller lakes, should be called Ancient Lake or Ancient Lakes. blah.gif fencing.gif hockeygrin.gif You know what? I will defer to you! cheers.gif

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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BigBrunyon
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PostThu Sep 19, 2019 1:25 pm 
No need to filter water at ancient. Those waters are glacier runoff! Very pristine

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tunnelman3
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PostThu Oct 17, 2019 5:02 pm 
Let me know which one you chose as we're looking for same...although we'll be going end of October so could limited

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