Find gem at Fort Spokane

Thick fog hovered low over us as our car climbed the highway out of the little town of Grand Coulee.

It was the second day of our monthly winter business trip to check on water probes along the Columbia River in northeastern Washington. We passed through desert to wheat and pasture as we drove to Wilbur and then toward Davenport in the midday gray. The season’s short days and cold air caused us to hurry along to get fed and settled (with TV remote in hand) into our hotel.

We stopped off at one of our regular leg-stretching spots: Fort Spokane, on Highway 25 just before the road crosses the mouth of the Spokane River to the Spokane Indian Reservation.

We’ve stopped at Fort Spokane many times. On sunny, spring days, we’ve walked portions of the Sentinel Interpretive Trail, marked around the historic site’s grounds. We’ve read some of the interpretive boards and studied the locations of existing buildings and foundations of buildings that once were. We’ve hiked down to the campground and beach below on hot summer afternoons.

But it was here at Fort Spokane, on what I thought was familiar ground, that we found a nice winter surprise when we followed the fort’s Bluff Trail to panoramic views of meadows and distant, snow-covered mountains.

A huge flock of turkeys ran from an open field to the low brush of the Ponderosa pine forest as we emerged from the car. A group of three deer followed them. Our dog Kah-less bounded out of the back seat and pounced on some snow, oblivious to the wildlife around him. Snow was more interesting and felt good against his fur after being cooped up in the car with people who keep the heat on too high, as far as he’s concerned.

Fort Spokane was silent except for a few passing cars on the highway. Its visitor center, housed in one of the few buildings still standing, is closed for the season, scheduled to reopen in mid-June.

The fort was well-known throughout the area as last of the Pacific Northwest’s army posts. After 1898, it was used as an Indian boarding school and tuberculosis hospital. (The “Education” page at www.nps.gov/laro/fortspokane.htm, on the National Park Service Web site, leads to two interesting historical points of view: one from a young soldier and one from a young Native American student entering the boarding school.)

We took the Sentinel Trail beginning at the parking lot and followed it as it outlined the east side of the fort’s main grounds. Most of the snow that had fallen days earlier had now soaked into the soil. The snow that remained was protected by winter shadows of trees and hills.

We immediately noticed various footprints in the snow and in the soft dirt of the path. Deer prints filled the trail. A few turkey prints crisscrossed them. A couple of human prints, including ours, added to the mix of traffic. We would find a large elk print higher along the Bluff Trail, which cuts upward through a pine forest.

We stumbled onto the Bluff Trail’s beginning by an interpretive sign at its base. The short trail would take about 45 minutes round trip and the sign warned that it was steep. But it seemed pretty short to us and a good, fast workout. Plus, we love new trails, especially if there’s the chance of a good view or a new perspective on a familiar place. The Bluff Trail leads up to the fort’s historic reservoir and then on to panoramic views at the top.

On one section, I walked swiftly on tip-toe to the top of a steep hill. This portion has been asphalted to keep the trail in place. On one side of me were moss-covered rocks; the other, a sloping cliff descending to a tiny forest canyon. Husband John warned me from above to be careful not to slip on snow patches.

Our courageous canine ran up a sturdy metal staircase found halfway up the trail. He’s learning to be brave about grates and bridges. They may lead to better things, he’s discovered.

On an interpretive board at the reservoir, an old photo shows a pump house with snow all around it. A man with a long mustache leans on his hands against the light-colored building. According to the sign, a steam pump and boiler were set up on the river bank in 1889 to supplement a spring-fed reservoir that proved inadequate in drier seasons.

The new system pumped water 450 vertical feet from the Spokane River below to the reservoir where we stood. This extra capacity provided water for bath and washrooms (something I’m sure the officer’s wives appreciated), hydrants, sewers and irrigation. But water from the old spring-fed reservoir, which is located further up the hill, still was used for drinking and cooking. Both reservoirs are used today, but the spring is supplemented by a well.

Higher on the trail, we found more snow in open spots where the forest thinned. Here the major vegetation is sagebrush.

At the top a small sign read “end of trail,” letting us know we were at the turn-back point. A walking stick rested against the sign for anyone who cared to take it.

We took a moment to rest and take in the landscape. Through the trees, we could see some of Fort Spokane’s buildings below. Farther on we saw the light green bridge that crosses the mouth of the Spokane River. Boats, still and quiet, were lined up neatly in the marina.

The Two Rivers Resort & Casino sits on a bluff above the marina. The tribal-operated gaming facility is located on the Spokane Indian Reservation on a point at the confluence of the Columbia and Spokane River. Even farther in the distance are snow-covered mountains surrounding the river valley of the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.

We paused for some photos before starting back down the hill. I felt satisfied as we left. I’d learned something about a place I thought I already knew and got a refresher on an old lesson: You don’t know what’s there till you look around some.