Photos from this trip can be found here.
Parking lot had only two cars parked on a sheet of ice when we arrived in late morning. Temperature reading was 47°F, 30 degrees higher than Goose Lake Plateau from last weekend. Lots of birds flying overhead today.
Road beds were covered in ice and quite slippery; microspikes came in super handy. We got off the road shortly after started hiking, and scrambled between Columbia River and the road while traveling south.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Just like the last time when we visited this basin, we found a good spot to attain top of the basalt cliffs near southwestern end of the coulee. But rather than staying near edge of the cliffs, this time we explored the area farther south while traveling east.
After making our way back to the top of the cliffs, we took a break near head of the basin overlooking Dusty Lake. Then we dropped down to the lake and walked around north shore to hike out.
The ice had mostly thawed out under the warm weather and trails became quite muddy.
Photos from this trip can be found here.
Access: Ancient & Dusty Lake Trailhead
Gear: microspikes