A few weeks ago I did a trip heading south from Ancient Lakes along the Babcock Bench to see if I could connect up to Frenchman Coulee at the south end of the bench. Unfortunately due to a late start and short daylight hours I fell a few miles short of my goal and had to turn around. This past weekend I returned to finish the job but starting from the south instead of the north.
The area is similar to Ancient Lakes in that there are two coulees, Frenchman Coulee proper to the north and the shorter Echo Basin just to the south. The two are separated by a massive basalt “rib” or wall. A larger parking area featuring toilets and popular with climbers is located on the south side of Frenchman Coulee but only provides hiking access to the rim of Echo Basin. If you’re more interested in hiking around the bottoms of the coulees continue a bit farther west down the road to a smaller parking area.
Goals
- See if there’s a trail that connects Frenchman Coulee to Sunland Road (and in turn, Ancient Lakes)
- Locate a large basalt pillar mentioned in a random trip report
- Test Easton Nano Nail tent stakes
- Test Oboz Arete hiking shoes
- Test Phala Tape
- Test downloading multiple layers in Gaia
- Test Columbia PFG Zero Rules hiking shirt
- Test DexShell waterproof socks
Day 1
Not realizing that the lower parking lot existed I parked at the climber’s lot and headed into the (basalt) hills. I followed the west rim of the rib south, hit the end, and then continued back north along the east rim. Eventually I circled the entire rim of Echo Basin before stumbling upon the pillar I’d been looking for:
I was hoping that this would present an opportunity for astrophotography but unfortunately the line between the pillar and the neighboring wall ran north-south. This meant that there wasn’t an easy way to position the Milky Way next to the pillar while still having enough separation from the nearby rock. Also, this time of year the galactic core barely rises above the horizon (gotta remember to check this next time) so given that the pillar was in a giant bowl it was a definite no-go. Still, it was fun to have a “target” with only a rough location and be able to find it.
At this point I needed to find a way down to the coulee floor in order to avoid hours of backtracking along the rim. I’d asked a climber earlier if they knew of a way down from the south side of Echo Basin but they had no idea. Fortunately just south of the pillar I stumbled onto this:
I wasn’t expecting to stumble across a giant sand dune. While I gawked a pair of dirt bikes did loops across the sand. More interestingly, there appeared to be a trail on the far side of the dune leading to the shelf I was currently descending towards. I had a way down.
From here I followed a trail north to the lower parking lot, crossed the Old Vantage Highway, and continued north along the bench. Along the way I discovered an unopened Fred Meyer water bottle under a bush near the trail which made a significant contribution to my water supply for the trip. A little over an hour later I arrived at my previous turn-around point at Sunland Road, completely my goal of joining up the two sets of coulees. Continuing north I eventually arrived to a point just below the Gorge Amphiteater. Spotting an odd shape on the shelf above it (which I assumed to be some makeshift shelter put together by people too cheap to pay for concert tickets) I decided to investigate.
The structure turned out to be a pair of small stone cribs left over from the frontier days. Apparently some trick of the light makes distant silhouetted objects appear much larger than they actually are. In any case the sun was setting and the low-angle light lit up the wood with a nice smoldering red.
Speaking of sunset, it was about time to set up camp. I wanted to stay away from trails and out of view of the concert venue and nearby Cave B Inn so I decided to follow a canyon west towards the Columbia River gorge. This proved to be a bad idea since the canyon was basically a giant V with almost no flat spots whatsoever (and definitely no clear ones). I ended up pitching my tent on some large clumps of grass with a bowling-ball sized hole underneath my knees.
Around 4:50AM I woke up chilly and put on my puffy. The temperature at that time was 34.6F.
Day 2
The water I filtered out of the stream at the bottom of the canyon was soapy and disgusting so I decided that I would skip having a hot breakfast and instead use my non-foul Fred Meyer water for drinking as I made my way straight back to the car. I did take a short detour to locate something the map referred to as Frenchman Spring. It was sad but it was producing a trickle of water. Afterwards I ascended the rib from the Echo Basin side and worked my way east towards the car. As I did so a storm rolled in, driving rain eastward with 25mph gusts (just shy of the 30mph required to push you off course). By the time I reached the car the back of my pants was completely soaked but the front was dry.
Gear
LighterPack:
https://lighterpack.com/r/4p5yc3
What Worked
The 6″ Easton Nano Nail tent stakes were great! The ground was rocky with thin soil but they did just fine. Even without pull loops (which they don’t come with but have holes for) they easily slid right out of the ground and without a lot of grime on them. It’s silly but one of the reasons I had wanted to try them out was because I’d read that they don’t tend to pull out with a ton of dirt stuck to them unlike your typical Y or V stake. Turns out the rumors are true!
My brand-new Oboz Aretes were a dream. I put a solid 25 miles on them, several of which were pure basalt scrambling.The large amount of mesh did let in a noticeable amount of sand while crossing the dune but that’s to be expected. They were light, breathed well, and the rock plate meant that the bottoms of my feet never got sore. They also dried out! My previous Oboz Sawtooths were notorious for never drying out once they got wet due to all the heavy leather. After stumbling and putting the shoes down in ankle-deep mud they were soaked but by morning they were only a tiny bit damp on the tongue. Big improvement.
My previous adventure on the Babcock Bench was partially cut short because in my Gaia GPS app I had forgotten to download the satellite layer (which showed all the various trails clearly) and instead only had the Gaia Topo layer (which had gaps in the trails). This time around I made sure to download them both (on Android you can click a little layer icon on the download screen to control which layers are included) and it worked fantastically. I could also see including other layers (slope angle shading for routefinding, etc.) in the future.
Winter excursions in my Stoic synthetic baselayer have re-awakened me to the against-the-skin comfort of shirts that aren’t paper-thin woven button-downs. However for 3-season use I wanted something lighter and cooler and the Columbia PFG Zero Rules long-sleeve shirt checks all the right boxes. It’s breathable and soft against the skin with a flattering look (not skin tight but not baggy), it’s inexpensive, it doesn’t chafe, and it offers decent sun protection (SPF 30). However, it also include’s Columbia’s Omni-Freeze Zero technology which embeds little blue rings in the fabric. Allegedly these rings will hold onto moisture (sweat) which aids in conductive cooling. Not what you want in winter but I have high hopes that this will keep me cool in the summer. In any case I was pleasantly surprised by the wind resistance of the shirt – although the fabric is breathable I didn’t feel the lighter gusts cutting through the fabric and hitting my skin. When temperatures were around 60F I felt good in the shirt while moving, not hot and stuffy. I’ll need to do more testing but so far I think I’ve found this year’s hiking shirt.
DexShell waterproof socks were awesome and multi-use. I brought them solely with the intention of wearing them in the water during a water crossing but when I stumbled across the sand dune I also had an opportunity to see how they did at keeping sand off of my feet (they were flawless). On the other hand sand still got into my shoes but I didn’t feel that this was cause for concern. In the morning I wasn’t looking forward to putting my feet into my cold and still slightly-damp shoes so I threw on the DexShells instead of my regular socks before putting my shoes on. I ended up hiking just over 9 miles back to the car in them because they were so comfortable I didn’t feel that it was worth it to stop and change over to my regular socks. I think I’ll be bringing these on every trip since they replace bread bags as more durable camp shoes, keep your feet insulated and dry during water crossings, keep sand off your feet, and work great as insulation for cold starts. Oh, and when 25mph gusts were driving rain sideways and my shoes were soaked they kept my feet dry and toasty. Incredible.
The Sierra Designs Elite Cagoule is so ridiculously good in the rain that I actually enjoy hiking in lousy weather! After so many years spent in miserably stuffy rain gear it’s so refreshing to have something that vents like crazy while still keeping you bone-dry. I imagine that when coupled with the DexShells and a suitable pair of rain pants or chaps that I’d be happy hiking in rain 24/7.
I’ve been lukewarm on the Vonmahlen High-Five adapter for charging due to its tendency to disconnect when bumped. On this trip I was more careful with the placement in the tent and had no issues whatsoever. I’m promoting it from gear purgatory to the permanent collection.
What Didn’t
Phala Tape was a huge disappointment. My criticisms of Leukotape P are that it’s too adhesive and lacks stretch and padding. Phala Tape looks just like Leukotape except that it’s soft, has some stretch, and is less adhesive so it’s less of a pain to pull off. Unfortunately the lack of adhesion was its downfall: the edges of the tape curled and some of the tape even came completely dislodged just putting my socks back on – and this was done carefully via unrolling and not just shoving my feet into them. The padding also meant that they held water which made them feel spongy under my feet as they absorbed sweat – can’t say the same thing about Leukotape. After entirely re-taping my feet in the middle of the first day I still found the tape balled-up on the bottoms of my feet at night so on the second day I just gave up completely.
I picked up a pair of Glacier Glove Ascension Bay sun gloves and I found them to be incredibly stuffy, so much so that while moving above 40F I had to take them off. I can’t really see an upside over sunscreen here unless you need the protection of the synthetic leather on the palms, in which case why not just wear cheap work gloves? Sun gloves that don’t breathe super well just don’t make any sense.
I had picked up a Sawyer Select S1 filter about a year ago with the intention of being able to filter the farm runoff (pesticides) out of the water at Ancient Lakes. This in turn would enable me to reduce my water carry to my typical 1.4 liters. This trip was the first time I tried to use the S1 to filter any significant volume and it was truly awful. It’s not that the filter doesn’t work (although it did not remove the awful soapy taste from the water) but because you’re essentially squeezing water out of a giant sponge inside a bottle and then through a regular Sawyer filter the amount of work and time required to get any significant water out of the system is just astounding. I could still feel tightness in my forearms a few days later and I only had the patience to filter maybe three quarters of a liter. In fact, on the last day I decided to skip my hot breakfast and use my cooking water for drinking water so that I could make a beeline straight back to the car. These aren’t the kinds of trade-offs I want to be making on trips especially where water is involved.
Note: while cleaning the S1 at home I barely squeezed it and a ton of water shot out. Was the problem that the Squeeze was clogged? Or maybe it's just too difficult to create enough pressure to force water through given that the S1 doesn't collapse as it empties? I'm wondering if draining the S1 into the Vecto and continuing to filter using the tried-and-true gravity system would make this a feasible option. Stay tuned...
The Kuhl Kontra Air pants don’t have the same plush waistband interior that the Prana Stretch Zions do. Since this trip involved so much more mileage than my usual trips I ended up with some skin irritation as a result. I also had to pull the pants down a bit to sleep since they get a bit stuffy in the crotch which is the exact same problem I have with the Zions. Coupled with the lack of a built-in belt I’m thinking the only advantage the Kontra Airs have is their slightly lighter weight.
The large tops on the Nano Nails make them a tough fit for the tiny zipper bag I was using for stake storage. Maybe it’s time to get something dedicated that I won’t have to replace during the season?
My silicone wedding ring kept catching when I was trying to put on gloves. It’s a nice sentiment and I’m sure Person B appreciates it but functionally it’s unnecessary.
What’s Next
- Kontra Air pants are getting demoted to the unloved gear bin. Prana Stretch Zions, I’m sorry I ever doubted you.
- Phala Tape is getting the boot in favor of good ol’ Leukotape P.
- Ascension Bay sun gloves are also going into the unloved gear bin. I’ll bring them on my Utah trip but that’s probably the last you’ll ever hear from them.
- Need to invest in a dedicated stake bag.
- Wedding ring is going in the bin (unless Person B objects).
- Combine S1 with Vecto gravity filter and re-evaluate.
Route
Gaia folder:
https://www.gaiagps.com/public/ZCQWfGY9k3CzjhwRqUJmKxAr
- Distance: 23 miles
- Elevation gain: 2000 feet
A 14 mile day isn’t record-breaking but it’s respectable given the still-limited daylight hours. This time around my feet were completely happy unlike the 17-mile day on my previous trip. I think it’s time to start focusing more on elevation gain as backpacking season draws nearer.
Photography
SmugMug Gallery:
https://turigrinos.smugmug.com/Adventures/2020/Frenchman-Coulee/
The stone crib picture turned out amazing. The camera just didn’t capture the intensity of the colors in either the wood or the sky so I had to polish it up a bit to make it look like it did in person. I also had to go back and redo the HDR to include only the regular and dark exposures since the lighter exposure was really blurry and left glow around the edges of the barbed wire and timbers. When I started doing HDR for all my outdoor pictures I had found that +/-2EV was a lot better at bringing out the details in the sky versus the +/-1EV setting. On the other hand it also means that the lighter exposure is going to be a lot softer and more subject to blur since I’m doing everything hand-held.
While looking into this I actually discovered that I was using the wrong camera settings. The Fuji X-T20’s function dial has a BKT1 and BKT2 option and I had programmed them to be +/1EV and +/-2EV respectively. While using BKT2 I was aiming for the shutter speed to be 1/2000th of a second which meant that the lighter exposure would be at 1/500th (the intended +2EV) but the darker exposure would be limited to 1/4000th or only -1EV. Whoops. That might explain why the shadows always have so much detail when I do the HDR merge in Aurora. In any case this meant that the -2EV that I thought I needed for sky detail was unnecessary since I’ve been without it the whole time. So from now on I’ll still be targeting a shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second but with a single stop of bracketing which should cap the lower end of the shutter speed at 1/1000th, resulting in crisper pictures.
Embarassing, but this is how you learn.
I found this leaning pillar at the bottom of a gully leading down towards the other pillar that I’d been searching for. The trail went through the gap between the pillar and the wall. I tried to blur the background a bit with a wider aperture but the sheer size of the pillar meant I couldn’t get close enough to make the effect work while still capturing the whole thing. A touch of green saturation and brightening brought a little color to the rocks.
Finally, I tried to do a little bit of the converging lines thing with the tracks across the dune. It sort of worked but the shadows on the lines on the right were much more pronounced than those on the left. Also the sky took on a sort of polarized look even though I wasn’t using a polarizer.