Northrup Canyon, Steamboat Rock State Park, Washington
Go hike Northrup Canyon right now. Go! If you wait any longer, then you’ll miss this. It is vibrant and lush and overrun with countless marmots, but as the heat of summer in central Washington sets in, the green will turn brown, wildfires will smother the crystal blue skies, and rattlesnakes will be out.
I was supposed to be in South Dakota this weekend. But, as usual, the plans I’ve been developing for several months went sideways at the last minute. A camping trip to visit a few indescribably beautiful canyons with incredible people was the best consolation for crushed plans I could imagine.
You might recall that I intended to explore this trail when Barbarian Scientist and I camped and hiked at Steamboat Rock State Park a few weeks ago. You can find that adventure here. This trip turned out way better than it would have if we had done it then. I had the company of Barbarian Scientist, TrailKat, Biking Queen, and My Therapist. We first set up our camp at Spring Canyon Campground, part of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Coulee Dam, Washington. Then we spent the afternoon hiking Northrup Canyon. Barbarian Scientist actually ran it, plus some, while the rest of us explored.
It is the third hike in 100 Hikes in the Inland Northwest: This little niche of Steamboat Rock State Park is largely overlooked by the fishing and boating crowds at the main campground and recreation area on Banks Lake. But nature has flourished here for years. This day hiking jewel is a key bald eagle wintering area and a sanctuary for everything from deer and more than 65 bird species to bats, amphibians, and rattlesnakes. Northrup Creek is the only year-round stream flowing into Banks Lake, a reservoir created in the 1950s by the Columbia Bason Irrigation Project. But even this stream can disappear in drought years. Northrup Lake, at the end of the trail, is occasionally stocked with rainbow trout. The Northrup Canyon Trail starts out as an old road (notice the pile of cans dumped by crews that built Grand Coulee Dam in the 1930’s) heading up the creek. Pass under basalt cliffs that attract soaring hawks. At 2 miles, the route comes to a seasonal residence and a decaying century-old cabin. At the park residence, bear past the left side of the old chicken house and head up a single-track trail that becomes rocky with a few steep pitches. The trail leads up and down through open timber and outcroppings to Northrup Lake.
The story of the old homestead is not entirely sweet. The story, by Little Virtual Museum in the Coulee: There is a historical marker in Northrup Canyon that talks briefly about the murder that took place in 1903. The story is a bit deeper. In the mid-1890s, John W. and Caty Northrup moved into the canyon. Together through hard work, they created a wonderful orchard and irrigation system. With John W.’s health failing, the couple moved into Coulee City and leased the land, including the orchard, to another gentleman by the name of Isreal Sanford. After John W. died, Caty set up a homestead in Barker Canyon. Her relationship with Sanford was strained, and eventually Isreal believed that Caty was stealing full-grown fruit trees from him. One day after a heated debate, Isreal traveled to Almira and bought a gun; returning to the canyon, his family ran and hid when they saw him coming. Isreal encountered Caty in the washroom, where he shot and killed her. At trial, the jury acquitted Isreal Sanford as being of unsound mind due to injuries inflicted during his time on the battlefields of the Civil War. He was returned to the Sanford family, who locked him in a woodshed for several years until his sanity returned. Hiking Washington’s History expands on it a little more: Sanford had murdered his own wife in the same incident. Despite the murders, several generations of Northups lived and farmed on the land. Northrup’s son had married Joella Davisson, and when they divorced, she remained on the homestead. She raised their six children and ran the ranch. “The Canyon Lady” was a known midwife and healer who became the life force of the ranch. She took in young men who needed to be “set straight,” and they helped her manage ranch duties. Because of her, it became a popular recreation location and continued to thrive well after the Northrups moved on. It remained a cattle ranch and farm until Washington State Parks purchased the land as part of Steamboat Rock State Park in 1976.
I had consumed a microdose of psilocybin along the trail, and then more at the homestead. The remainder of this adventure was, in fact, magical. My legs felt like they were 8 feet long, and my friends were even more beautiful than usual. It was when we were sitting beside the lake that I realized I may have fucked up and that I was fucked up. I imagine if you asked them, they would say they had realized it much earlier. I remember thinking, “Why would anyone microdose when they can MACRO dose?!” The answer was in the question, though. Despite the misstep, it was an incredible place to be altered. It is inspiring to remember how much love and adoration I was able to express for these people I care so much about, as well as pure joy at being in the wilderness after such a long and difficult past month. 5 stars. 10/10 experience. I would do it again.
We returned to Spring Canyon Campground for a night of laughing, some sad stories, and more laughing. Honestly, we were also a bit annoyed by how many RV campers ran their generators late into the night. We did get to enjoy the sunset over the Grand Coulee Dam on the incredible beach, though, where there were only a couple of other people.
The campground has a small nature trail with a short but fairly aggressive climb to provide more views.
After we packed up our camp, TrailKat took us to a spot she had learned of through her trail work parties with the Washington Trails Association. It was a little weird because you park in a residential neighborhood and have to walk through someone’s yard to get to the trailhead. It was a great way to end our adventure.
The climb through the canyon is incredible. It began by meeting a large herd of friendly deer.
As soon as you leave their little grove, you begin climbing hundreds of granite steps that were cut and placed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s. I am sure it is impossible to imagine how difficult of a project it was, but I am grateful. The stairs climb close to the canyon wall to break away into a fork a couple of hundred feet from the top. Taking the left fork makes you complete Candy Point Trail.
We turned right to hike the Crown Point Vista Trail. The Coulee newspaper, The Star, calls Crown Point Vista “a forgotten dream.” Bert Smith wrote: In 1946, a state park at Crown Point was proposed to attract tourists to the Northwest and Grand Coulee Dam. That initial park design showed a 320- by 220-foot state relief model and exhibition building, along with a 500-foot aluminum tower equipped with an elevator and topped with a rotating searchlight; estimated to cost $2 million. Work to build a road to Crown Point began in 1950 and the park property obtained from the government shortly thereafter. That initial design would subsequently be scrapped for a smaller and cheaper version. The existing Vista was designed in 1952 by Donn Sibold, an architect with the Washington State Parks Commission. In March 1953, park construction began and was completed in June of that year, costing $14,000. That design consisted of a circular concrete open-air building with concrete roof supported by pillars, with an oculus in the center. Although described as a viewpoint and picnic area, some have suggested it’s a sundial, while others suggest it represents a generator or astronomical observatory. A bronze plaque, dated 1952, is embedded in the concrete near the entrance with names of project dignitaries. Can you imagine or dream what that location would look like today if that original vision had come to fruition?
This was an incredible trip. I only hope that whoever Sarah is, she deserves this message. If not, then Sarah, wherever you are, just know that we are all crazy in somebodies story, and you are not alone.
