Followed the Rimrock trail up to and around a mesa, and the Marsh trail around some ponds.
Access. The road through the refuge was generously graveled, double-wide, and even.
Conditions. The trails were all free of obstacles. The Rimrock Trail even had interpretive displays at regular intervals. The loop trail at the top had some steep drop-offs. The Marsh Trail wasn't as well signed: Looked like you could do several different-sized loops; we ended up doing an intermediate loop.
Flora & Fauna. Found some flowers in bloom, most near the top. Observed flocks of geese flying past. The only sandhill cranes we saw were on the drive in, from the overlook at Marsh Unit One. Lots of ducks in the ponds. Got swarmed by non-biting bugs on the Marsh Trail, headnets would have been useful.
Crowds. There were maybe a dozen cars in the parking lot at noon, and we encountered a similar number of parties on the trails (incl several families with children).
Comments
Bob and Barb on Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - Rimrock Lake, Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - Marsh Lake Unit
I enjoyed your photos with their usual fun titles and am looking forward to your report! I had to look up "midges"! Can't believe that is a new word to me or maybe it's a "senior" moment! Did you see any sandhill cranes? Barb
Posted by:
Bob and Barb on Mar 28, 2021 04:11 PM
ejain on Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - Rimrock Lake, Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - Marsh Lake Unit
There were a lot of sandhill cranes at Marsh Unit One, had stopped over at the overlook on the way in... The "midges" appeared to be emerging from galls on the sagebrush (and congregating near the water); you can see one of them close up in the photo I posted at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72306342.
Posted by:
ejain on Mar 28, 2021 04:17 PM
Bob and Barb on Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - Rimrock Lake, Columbia National Wildlife Refuge - Marsh Lake Unit
Thank you for the link!
Posted by:
Bob and Barb on Mar 28, 2021 10:30 PM