The beautiful canyons and bluffs of the Katy Lake area are a favorite of ours ~ exceptionally good hiking and exploring. We've managed to camp here every summer, and without exception there has always been an event that is memorable. This time, it was the drama of an upcoming storm, with intense wind that almost flattened our tent, and a pummeling rain with thunder and lightning.In fact, the storm was so frightening (to me) that I grabbed my bedding and ran to the car! I didn't want to be in a tent on the prairie when lightning was flashing all around us. Fortunately, we'd set up camp, had dinner, and were just enjoying the marvelous drama of vista and sky before this storm started brewing.
When we first arrived, George grilled some steaks and I pulled out some prepared salads, a chorizo-bean-veggie soup and some home-made naan. Our camp was in order, with all our kitchen items stored in a little tent behind our sleeping tent. We decided to store our stuff this way as we had to haul it down a hill to the camp. No sooner than 'all was done' when the sky turned purple and the wind started to blow. The tent almost flattened, and rain was pummeling the prairie. When lightning and thunder erupted all around us I ran to the car with my bedroll, with George dragging behind. He was not pleased I chickened out, planning to spend the night in the van if this storm prevailed!
My mistake was not to have enjoyed it, as within a half hour the clouds and wind abated, and the sun came out. A beautiful double rainbow glistened in the sky and the sagebrush smelled so fresh and pungent, so heavenly. It was as if Mother Nature had forgotten we were coming, and at the last moment decided to sweep her doorway and tidy up a bit. When that storm was done it was simply beautiful out. We got out of the car, I hauled my bedroll back down to the tent, and we laughed at the drama of it. Fortunately, our bedding and clothes remained safe and dry in the tent.
We decided to go for a hike completely around one of the bluffs. Although it was late day (we had our dinner at 4:00, so this hike was about 5:30) we knew the hike wouldn't take that long, and it was a perfect end to the day. Along the way we watched a great owl swoop from his perch up on the bluff and glide down the valley. He'd been watching us, and in the middle of the night I heard his wings flapping in 5 or 6 rushes of wind over our camp. He'd set a spell nearby, and the pulsing wind sound was when he flew away.
Before bedtime I sliced up some strawberries and bananas, piled some home-made yogurt on top, and we had a bedtime snack. The next day we went for a long hike throughout the lower valley through the canyons. We saw a coyote watching us from the top of a bluff, but as we got closer to him he ran off. That was a truly magnificent silhouette for eastern Washington.
We hiked all around Katy Lake and I collected cow dung for my garden. I've done this before, as cattle frequent this area. 
I take it home, pummel it with my digging fork, and work it into my vegetables. We brought home 4 black garbage bags full, quite a lot. Some of it I will soak in my wheel barrow, so it soaks up more moisture and won't soak up the water in my garden. I've since worked some of it into my corn and green beans.We canoed one of the nearby lakes in the afternoon, a place with cliff swallows nesting in the huge basalt columns that line one end of the lake. Yellow-breasted blackbirds watched us from their perch in the cattails and we saw a group of vultures circling in the sky.
As you can see from our Flickr account, I haven't done much with my camera ~ George has been taking all the photographs on many of our recent outings. So, my readers can now see more images of me!
