The Grand Coulee/Dry Falls area is one of the most spectacular
geological areas on earth. The coulee was carved out of the local
basalt during the last ice age by the Missoula Floods when more
water than all the world's rivers flowed through here! Above the
Lenore Caves is a gap in the coulee wall. Hike through THE GAP to a
mysterious coulee on the other side, which I call The Land That
Time Forgot. Proceed across the coulee through the MAZE and at
the far side of this coulee you will discover the
petroglyphs.
Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of the rock
surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Petroglyphs
are found world-wide, and are often (but not always) associated
with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek words
petros meaning "stone" and glyphein meaning "to carve" (it was
originally coined in French as pétroglyphe). Most petroglyphs were
scratched into the rock with bones and antlers.
Now about the hike....
Here is a profile of the terrain from the parking area to the
cache:
Hike Statistics:
Here is a 3D topographical map of the route from the parking
area to the petroglyph
TO GET HERE:
Start at the Parking Area which is the trailhead to the Lake
Lenore Caves. After the stairs, instead of going level to the caves
climb up the highest trail level and go south looking up all along
the way for a gap in the wall. When you navigate up through the gap
(probably the only way to get through the wall) you suddenly see
that the wall yields to another parallel coulee to the Grand
Coulee. This coulee is beautiful. If you look carefully across at
the far east wall of that coulee you will see a solitudinal boulder
standing up flat against the base of the wall. Head a little left
of it at first and then in the middle head over to the boulder. You
will be led into a labyrinth of rivulets of small coulees (THE
MAZE) within the main coulee. It is like you are on another planet.
This hike may sound dangerous, but actually it is just a little
strenuous, so just take it slow. It takes about 2 hours for the
round trip.
The Goal: As seen halfway across The Maze
Additional Warnings:
1) Cougar have been spotted in this area. It
is advisable not to hike alone and always be aware.
2)This is also rattlesnake country so watch
where you step or reach your hands.
3) The land down below in the coulee is open
land for cattle grazing. Please give wide berth to any cattle you
may encounter.
4) For your safety and to coexist with another
popular sport, please refrain from going into the coulee during
hunting season which runs from September 1st until the end of
November.
5) The land between The Gap, this petroglyph
cache, and to the North as far as Mr. Gadget's Lk Land of the Lost
cache is public land. Please limit your journey to these caches
only. There is privately owned land about 1/4 mile South of the
petroglyph, and private land just to the north of Mr. Gadget's
cache. These areas are not posted, but they are known to be private
property, so please keep out of those areas.