Exploring the Quilomene: Expedition II

[Jerry]

Exploring the Quilomene: Expedition II
August 25, 2007

What is it about the Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area that necessitates so many trips to explore such a few miles of road.
Whew, this was the fifth trip within a year and there's still more to do. More on that later.

We, us, my good friend and fellow explorer, Bill from Ellensburg and I, met at McDonald's Restaurant in Ellensburg, Washington this bright, sunny Saturday morning. Bill couldn't make the road trip, but he did keep me company during breakfast. After putting away some eggs and pancakes he showed me his attention getting, freshly painted, black and white, '65 Dodge California State Patrol car parked in the McDonald's parking lot. Bill had recently driven the cruiser to a Police Car Owners of America show in Spokane and the Dodge was as sharp and clean as a policeman's whistle. There is a distinct possibility that Bill might be having WAY too much fun!


{Photo is similar to Bill's cruiser)

As mentioned earlier, Bill couldn't make the road trip and no one else showed up so after waiting a half-hour for stragglers I pointed my little Bronco II in the direction of the freeway for a fast run to Vantage. Vantage is a small town on the shores of the Columbia River. Once the location of a ferryboat crossing the community is now a stopping place for freeway travelers and home to the Ginkgo Petrified Forest and Wanapum State Park.



It was only nine-o-clock and the interpretive center was still closed, but even without aid of the indoor displays it was interesting to see several large hunks of petrified logs outside the building. And the view of the river was great.



Being alone called for a plan revision. It is not a good idea for old, out of shape fat guys to be driving alone in the Whiskey Dick so I decided to take advantage of our permit to enter the Ginkgo and play it by ear after that. After locating the gate and opening the padlock with the combination they gave me, I drove up a bumpy, pit run base road, not unlike those in the Quilomene. The road was rough and uncomfortable and I considered airing down the tires, but time was on my side so I simply slowed the pace. The road steadily climbed as it wound through shrub-steppe sagebrush country with hunks of basalt rocks scattered everywhere.




The views were outstanding. One particular location offered a wonderful view looking south along the river to the narrows at Wanapum Dam. As the road leveled out there was an almost continual view of Wanapum Lake and the Columbia Gorge. But where was the petrified wood?

There was only one road open to public access and it ran a short four miles from the locked gate to the boundary with the Whiskey Dick Wildlife Management Area; and I had reached that point. It was decision time. Should I be completely safe and turn around or continue ahead where cell service and CB communications might fizzle out? For the time being both appliances were working well and we had driven several miles of the road in front of me on our last trip to the Quilomene so I knew the route was easily passable. I had working communication devices, retrieval gear, plenty of water, extra food and in case I needed them warm clothes and blankets. And on top of that there were still a couple of options for turning back toward civilization on the road ahead.


(Photos courtesy of Steve Bisig from last trip)

Now I don't want to make this sound real serious, heck, I was only six or seven miles from the freeway not on an African safari. But, time has taken its toll and I ain't what I used to be. And my Bronco II, mostly rebuilt and dependable by most standards, is old enough to vote and it has 189,000 miles on the clock. Of course even brand new vehicles occasionally
give up the ghost to say nothing of their drivers. That is why we travel in groups. That is the reason for Backroad Drivers Northwest. That is the reason I was concerned.

So I continued on, straddling ruts and steering around rocks as I drove west through Cyuse Canyon. At the next intersection I decided to be safe and head in the direction of civilization. Almost immediately the roadbed split with deep ruts. We had driven it downhill on the last trip, but driving uphill threw a traction problem into the equation. It worked out okay, but it took a lot of concentration and constant steering to keep from slipping into the ruts and potentially high-centering the vehicle. Wouldn't that be fun?

I passed an intersection with a road we had driven on the last trip, but rather than taking it I continued south on a two-mile long section of new-to-me road. I'm glad I did. The Columbia River came into view again and the territorial view of the surrounding hills was quite interesting. When the road went around a bend and started down a steep hill I shifted
into low gear and heard a "whooshing" sound. I wondered what in the heck was wrong with the little Bronco? Turns out it was just a gust of wind that hit the door windows at the same time I shifted gears, heh, heh.

The road passed Lone Star Springs and bottomed out in Rocky Coulee where it intersected with another road that led back to the Ginkgo. The Ginkgo road appeared to be in pretty fair shape and recently used, but there was a sign stating no public access. Perhaps it accessed private land. On the other side of the coulee floor I came to a spot where I had turned around on a previous trip.



We have made several previous trips to this area and were turned back on most of our earlier adventures because our vehicles were not sufficiently equipped for the road conditions. It wasn't until the first Quilomene Expedition with Steve in his FJ80 Land Cruiser, Rich & Jan in their lifted Jeep Grand Cherokee and me in my modified Bronco II that we rounded up people and vehicles to make the two-day tour. Anyway, I am sitting at this place in Rocky Coulee after driving a
grand total of 15 miles, 4 miles of new road in the Ginkgo and 2 miles in the Whiskey Dick, and once again I am about to leave short handed. This time because I was driving alone.

The road ended at the Old Vantage Highway only a couple of miles from the entrance to Puget Sound Energy's Wild Horse Wind Facility. We stopped by the facility last spring and were told the new interpretive center would open within a month. I stopped again today and it was still not open, but they are working on it.

It was midday, Whiskey Dick was behind me, I wanted to drive some roads near Lion Rock and now was as good a time as any. Long story short I drove my target roads, explored a few others and made it home in the late afternoon.

Conclusion: It was an interesting trip and I'd do it again, but the next time we set out to drive the Quilomene, including the Whiskey Dick, (or other similar country) we will get commitments from at least two reliable participants in advance of announcing the tour.

Jerry

[Steve]

I wish I could have tagged along, however, no more vacation for me this year.

I probably would have done the same thing, being cautious the entire way too.

Although it's not technical driving, you definitely feel like you're a hundred miles from anywhere, even though you can see civilization from just about all the ridge lines.

Steve