Spokane and the Grand Coulee Dam

[pdedse]

Park looks fantastic. And the trip sounds good. Isn't it great to see your children with the strength and the skill to fly solo?

Thanks, Cormanus, it is indeed good to see them take off!

I was finished with the morning hike by noon, and after a Subway lunch and a bit of a rest, it was still only 1:30. I checked popular Spokane hikes again and found the Iller Creek hike in the Dishman Hills Conservation Area, about 25 minutes southeast of Spokane. This map shows both: 1) the Riverside park is the Spokane River and green area NW of the city and 2) the orange indicator SW of Spokane is the Iller Creek area--to the left of the 27.


Apparently, there are two access points, and I wanted to get to the "Rocks of Sharon" as they looked impressive from on-line photos. The trailhead said 2.5 miles, and I thought I'd give it a try. Lots of this for the first mile, but not too steep:


Afterwards, the trail started to climb, but very shady so it wasn't too warm, and the trail follows a small, gurgling stream which was peaceful. Only met two hikers coming down. 1200' climb in elevation allows for some nifty views from the top.


The Rocks of Sharon





The rocks farthest from me are the ones that are split in one of the previous photos


From the highest point I reached


I took me 1:45 hours to climb up, but only 45 minutes to hike fast / partially run back. Then my right knee reminded me why I shouldn't run downhill anymore as it started acting up. But made it back to the hotel by 5:30 and my son arrived shortly after. Then HE wanted to see the Riverside park. I had packed an extra helmet, figuring we might ride 2-up and so we went back to the first hike but limited it to a mile as we were both getting hungry. Back to hotel and dinner at one the local restaurants. A nice way to end day 2.