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View Full Version : Palouse Falls country area ranch day trip



Adondo
12-19-2011, 05:04 PM
This last Saturday, my friend Mike and I went on a day trip to a ranch in the Palouse country. Mike got permission for us from the ranch owner so we could head past the skull and crossbones KEEP OUT signs they have everywhere, and not get shot at.

We stopped and talked to a ranch hand on the first stop at the bottom of a big canyon. He was working on a tractor in a shop. He kept whacking tennis balls out into the sagebrush for his Australian Shepherd to chase after, which was neat. The dog ran miles and never got tired. He told us about an old one-room schoolhouse in another direction from what we planned, so we had to check that out first. :)

On the way, we ran across the largest mule deer herd I've ever seen. There we at least 50 in that herd. They weren't too worried about us either. I took the photo where they're crossing the road thru the windshield. The object at the bottom is my GPS.

After that, we headed to the Columbia River. We ended up in a greenery zone that's managed by the state as a wildlife habitat. We felt like we were in the show "Off Limits" just to be there, as normally you can only get there via boat.

After maybe 15 miles of ranch road explorations, we popped out and headed to Palouse Falls. As you can see, there's lots of ice.

We're being watched.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2188-1.jpg

Outside my side window.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2192-1.jpg

Deer X-ing
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2196-1.jpg

The old school house.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2200-1.jpg

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Adondo
12-19-2011, 05:10 PM
The Jeep sitting in the fog behind the school.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2203-1.jpg

Inside
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2204-1.jpg

A 2 foot tall "stalagmite" of poo. There were some seriously big nests in the rafters!
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2205-1.jpg

This posted gate is already past a couple of no trespassing gates. This road leads to the river.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2212-1.jpg

And onwards past the gate. The drop-off is the Columbia River.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2214-1.jpg

Yet another gate. We headed down a steep hill to the river itself from here.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2215-1.jpg

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Adondo
12-19-2011, 05:14 PM
Still on top, before heading down. This is looking west.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2216-1.jpg

This road is seldom used. The weeds are higher than the Jeep's grill. It took faith that there was even ground there, and not river.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2218-1.jpg

An old boat ramp in an inlet in the habitat area.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2220-1.jpg

A semi-froze Palouse Falls, after we exited the ranch land. We had to see it as it was on the way home. The falls are about 200' high.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2011/12/DSCF2223-1.jpg

Sal-XK
12-19-2011, 06:01 PM
That's pretty cool the ranch owner gave you permission to explore his land

CT-riverrat
12-19-2011, 06:07 PM
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

criket
12-19-2011, 06:47 PM
Nice looking pictures! I'd love to find old buildings like that.

cico7
12-20-2011, 05:10 AM
Great pics!

ScorpionCrawler
12-20-2011, 06:29 AM
Thanks for sharing.

Holaday07 4.7
12-20-2011, 06:49 AM
Very cool, that is awesome he let you on the land too

pjmjr508
12-20-2011, 06:55 AM
wonderful photos.

BonesWK
12-20-2011, 07:01 AM
that is some cool stuff. Thanks for the pics

strokeZ
12-20-2011, 10:17 AM
Very nice...thanks for sharing.

Adondo
12-20-2011, 10:50 AM
It was an interesting day to say the least. We headed back at 4 pm, then hit the thickest fog I've ever driven in, ever. We were crawling at 20 MPH for miles. The GPS was a god send, but even with that, I could see a road we needed to turn on, (on its screen) but outside the windows we couldn't see 20 feet. The road sign would loom out of the almost opaque stuff, and I'd turn REAL SLOW so we didn't drop off the edge. It took 2.5 hours to drive home, where normally, it's maybe 45 minutes away. The dark didn't help, and had we known it was going to settle in, we'd have headed back in the daylight. Also, we kept to back roads rather than heading back on the main highway in that stuff. (People tend to drive like fools in heavy fog)

We've explored the ranch family's land before. There are two more sets of falls above Palouse Falls, that's off limits to the public. There's also a couple of lakes we've seen. We'd never gone this direction before though.

This next weekend, (Christmas) probably on Friday, we're heading for deep snow. Don't know yet if it'll be west, east, north, or south. :) We'll look at maps while we eat B'fast and tank up on coffee in Andy's restaurant.