Ancient Lake, March 30-31

It had been 6 months since I had been on an overnight backpack trip and I was growing anxious to say the least. Wanting to not get buried by new snow falling in the mountains, my friend Tony and I headed to the dry side of Washington and found ourselves at Ancient Lake. The area actually has 4 lakes, so I'm not so sure about the name of the lake only acknowledging one of them.....
The sky was a bit hazy but the temps were in the low 60's when we took to the trail.
A full set of photos can be found here.



This area will only see me in the spring because in the summer it gets too hot around and there are rattlesnakes, and I despise snakes!!!! Tony doesn't like them either.



Basalt brought in from many years ago paint the horizon around here in almost every direction.



The water in the lakes is not very safe to drink as it is mostly irrigation runoff from the many local farms where they grow apples, alfalfa, corn and raise cattle. It still makes for a pretty scenic oasis in the desert climate out here.





On the eastern most lake is a pretty waterfall that comes in from the fields. Due to the pesticide and fertilizer in the water, there is a lot of algae growing on the rocks in and around the falls.





He headed above the falls to find another fall and an abandoned mine shaft.









On our way back I made a new friend.



I met the sunny side of a porcupine too.



AFter our return and a short nap I explored above our camp and got a few decent shots.





And for the last shot of the trip as my battery died.