Our trip leader was anxious to see a sunset over the Columbia River at White Bluffs. He expected the big skies above the river and the afternoon light on the sand dunes and cliffs would make for a spectacular picture on a winter day. Was he ever right! It turned out to be a warm and windless afternoon in the Wahluke National Wildlife Refuge at Hanford Reach. Nine of us hiked to the highpoint on the dunes, distractedly taking photo after photo along the way. The light in the sky got better and better; we even got to enjoy the dark silhouette of Mt. Rainier against the orange sunset. It was a beautiful evening! Some of the highlights included the sounds and flight patterns of the birds!! Hundreds of geese and ducks camped along the sandy beaches of the river. They'd take off in huge numbers to fly the short distance to the island in the river, barely skimming the water's surface, cackling and honking, cackling and honking. The tracks and trails of deer and coyotes across the sand was fun to see... evidence that many animals enjoy the preserve. We had the pleasure of a near full-moon! It's light lit up the dunes; we hardly needed headlamps. We howled at the bright orb like good Cascadians and found ourselves dueling with yips and yowls of what seemed like a dozen or more coyotes in the sagebrush below our sandy perch. To say it was a special evening is a conservative estimate. We turned on our headlamps for the walk out, stopping occasionally to listen to the wild night life. Our line of lights along the cliff edges was a fitting sight, just days before the Christmas holiday.

Locating the turn off on Hwy 24, and finding the tree groves were no problem. The TH is harder to find, but I could see the trail going up the bluff about 1/2 mile away. The trail, fading at times, was generally not hard to follow. It disappeared into first sand dunes. The condition was near perfect - sunny, low wind. Besides the gorgeous river/bluff vista, walking on the ridge of sand dunes was an unique experience. It's about 3.5 miles to the end of last sand dune and that's where I turned around.

My hiking buddy and I enjoy all things geology and history on our adventures, so off we went early Saturday morning for about a 3 hour drive from Spokane (with a couple of stops along the way). All I can say is, WOW! This is one of the most geologically diverse areas I’ve seen in Eastern Washington and am only sorry it took living here 12 years before I experienced it. First off, the trailhead is not easily found, but the locust grove is easy to spot so that’s where we parked and just headed towards the cliffs. We soon found the trail, which gets very close to the edge of the steep somewhat unstable drop off, but makes for some spectacular overviews of the bluff sandstone formations, the landslides, the free flowing Columbia and the waterfowl that like to hang out on the shores and along the upriver island. We had our dogs along, and though one of them kept searching for ways to visit the ducks up close and personal, she fortunately didn’t create another major landslide. We hiked as far as the large sand dune, climbed up and felt giddy with the views and the fresh air. My hiking buddy thought it was the next best thing to a late winter snowy mountain climb. As we stood up there, we could see the remains of the Manhattan Project – odd looking buildings and roads that seemed to go nowhere. It looks like the cleanup is well underway, but I’m glad we were on the non-radioactive side of the river! I gazed across the landscape, trying to imagine what this area looked like 60 or 70 years ago, and how it ever could have been a secret for so long. We had lunch on a lower landslide bench nestled in a large patch of fall-blooming wind-guarding rabbit brush. Orange-colored tumbleweeds were caught in the back slopes of the landslides, as the high winds surely would have blown them far away otherwise. We saw evidence of the Missoula Floods in the form of erratics tossed about here and there. Coyote and deer tracks were numerous, and we spotted ducks and geese/swans, crows, chukkars, and hawks. After we climbed the dunes, we as “loopers” decided to take the Columbia shoreline back. Climbing down through layers of sandstone we oohed and ahhed at the swirls and layers of sandstone and siltstone, which varied from shades of pink to green and yellow, but predominantly white. We speculated that this sand was deposited by the ancestral Columbia as it meandered through a flat basin many many years ago. Later on, we discovered concretions of this silt and sandstone on the beach (some folks call them “sand babies”). These are crazy fun layered globular cemented sand and silt grains, which form as groundwater seeps through the layers, causing the grains to adhere to foreign objects. Most appear to be attached to small pieces of wood, which has long since turned to rock (the Ringold Formation here is around 5 million years old). The mud is a little factor down here, as it quickly sticks to the boots adding an extra pound of weight and forms wet cement slippers on the dogs paws. Never fear though, if you take the route back that we did through a swamp (not advisable) that stuff will quickly wash off… If you do the loop, cut back to the parking area the same way you came at the bottom of the bluff… don’t cross the little catchment basin. I can’t wait to go back and hike all the way to the end. Ours was about a 6 mile RT, with 900 ft elevation gain. Super easy, and super scenic. I think the fall, winter or early spring are probably the best times to visit due to the summer heat factor. There were a few duck/geese hunters so we decided to wear bright hats. A word of caution at the parking area, we saw puncture vine which sticks to your tires, boots and dog paws (ouch). Seems this stuff is spreading in south central WA. Have a great trip if you get the chance to go! Don’t wait 12 years like I did…

Great access from the road with new gravel. Boat Ramp road is newly paved and parked at the boat ramp parking opposite Hanford Reservation across the Columbia. Walked to the trail head which is visible rising to the North across now burnt (dry) grass. The trail follows the bluff, but there are other trails that meander to the north and intersect. Most flowers were drying up, but there were some surprising flowers in the middle of the dryness. Significant birds around the cattails near the boat ramp. Eagles calling as we approached the huge white sand dunes that look out across the beautiful valley. A great level hike with beautiful views of the river.

Faced with the long weekend, my brother-in-law and I decided to hike White Bluffs. Upon arrival we drove straight to the boat launch, the historic site of the White Bluffs ferry crossing. There we visited the Old Timer's Shelter, one of the oldest structures in Franklin County. Shortly after we drove back up to the trailhead and headed north along an easily recognizable trail through the cheatgrass. The cheatgrass would’ve been annoying at this point in the season, but the trail was established enough that only a few unlucky steps yielded us frustrations. It was an unseasonably cool day for the area with occasional light rain and gusty breezes. The passing rains were pleasant. When you live in an area that only averages about seven inches of rain a year, you’ve got to get out and enjoy it! Then again, while we didn’t always need our rain gear for the rain, it doubled as wind protection and we were glad to have it when the winds picked up, common on the ridges along the rivers on this side of the state. While we were a little late for peak wildflower blooming, we did see several different types of interesting flowers such as some lingering phlox, threadleaf fleabane, the sagebrush mariposa lily, and yarrow among others. We were even treated to the Columbia Bladderpod, which is currently causing a ruckus in the area between the federal government and local farmers. We hiked out to the top of the second set of dunes before returning. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife other than a few birds and a porcupine along the road as we left. Course, the porcupine doesn’t count, we saw him from the car. Saw three other people at the boat launch as well as a tour boat that cruised by on the river (Columbia River Journeys offers tours of the Hanford Reach). Then on trail we saw four more hikers. It was a popular day at White Bluffs… Getting downright crowded! Overall, it was a good day for a hike.