To Wonder & Wander

If climbing basalt columns in a desert landscape shaped by volcanic fire and ice-age floods is your idea of a long weekend spent well, then Frenchman Coulee in Central Washington would not disappoint.

I found myself there over the Easter weekend, as part of a BCMC climbing trip organized by Whitney.

Trip Stats

• Location: Frenchman Coulee, Central Washington
• Driving Time (door to door) from Vancouver: 5-6 hours
• Crags we climbed at: The Feathers, Sunshine Wall, Zigzag Wall
• Type of climbing: Sport and Trad (we stuck to sport on this trip)
• Things to note: Beware of an active bee nest in the rock directly beside the trail just past Shattered Columns on the way to Riverview crag

Getting In

Nikita, Mai, and I left Vancouver at 5:30am on Friday and pulled into the primitive campground around 11 am. The transition from the typical PNW scenery of the Snoqualmie pass, to the open skies and high desert landscape after Ellensburg felt refreshing. The sunshine and the pleasant temperatures were a welcome change from rainy Vancouver.

Being one of the earlier parties on the scene, we could snag a nice spot for two cars and two tents in the middle of the campground. While waiting for the rest of the group, we enjoyed a peaceful lunch while admiring the view of the Feathers climbing area and the sage bush-filled land around us. An hour or so later, it was time to rack up. A little later, the rest of our group would meet us directly at the crag.

Day 1 of Climbing – The Feathers

A two-minute walk took us to the south side of The Feathers. This is the easiest crag in the Coulee and with its short approach, a good area to get familiarized with climbing on basalt. The line of freestanding pillars, although not very tall, looked striking and was in the shade in the afternoon. Most routes seemed to have a high first bolt, so a stick clip would be very beneficial here.

All three of us were getting back to outdoor cragging after a while, so we started with really easy routes in the 5.fun range to get comfortable with the grooves, jugs, and crimpy features of the rock. We eventually moved on to 5.8/5.9 routes on faces and aretes. Nikita was the default rope gun for our group while Mai and I sometimes led and other times top roped. The routes felt a bit pumpy for their grades, or maybe it was just the lack of recent practice and the newness of the rock texture that made them feel that way.

Halfway through the session, we were joined by the remaining party that consisted of Whitney, Dustin, and Alex. We made our way to the sunny north side at some point and ended the day with a couple of 5.10a routes.

We made our way back to the campground by around 5pm. While most of us spent the evening lounging around in our camping chairs, sipping beer, and going for a short walk to watch the sunset, Whitney and Dustin set off on an adventurous traverse of The Feathers columns. Rated 5.6R, the traverse starts at the road and involves climbing across all the boulders and pillars from left to right. We had a great time watching our friends make their way across boulders and pillars, protecting themselves as much as they could (which apparently, wasn’t much). After the first half of the traverse was done, they decided to bail as daylight was running out and joined us in time for dinner under the shining stars.

By late that night, the campground was full of cars, climbers, and a few campfires. I made myself cozy in my car camping setup and dozed off while looking at Orion through the window.

Day 2 Climbing – Sunshine Wall

After dusting off the cobwebs at The Feathers, it was time to do some real climbing at the Sunshine Wall (Echo Basin) – the most popular, the most beautiful, and the quintessential Frenchman Coulee crag. The popularity is not without its reasons.

The roughly 30-min hike to the crag had us walking up a well-defined hiking trail to the top of a mesa. The longleaf flox flowers were in full bloom and the plateau was dotted with them. We walked a bit further until arriving at a rock slot/crevice that ultimately deposited us at the base of the columns. From this point on, we took the skier’s right on the trail to get to the Sunshine Wall. The trail hugs tall basalt pillars on the right while a wide basin spreads out a few hundred feet below you to the left. The area is incredibly beautiful, and I couldn’t stop myself from snapping multiple pictures.

Sunshine Wall is a large crag with solid routes for every level. It is also one of the busiest. It took us a while to get our bearing and find routes that were available. The routes here are long, and one can’t help but admire the seemingly endless row of wavy columns stacked next to each other. Between the textured faces and the cracks between adjacent columns, there’s no dearth of sport and trad routes for climbers of all levels.

Across from the crag, you can see the wide expanse of the Echo basin extending all the way into the Columbia river. The sky was an azure blue with a hawk soaring on thermals, and pigeons watching the climbers from the tops of the columns.

We had a great session of climbing in this sunkissed landscape and eventually moved our base to some shaded alcoves in the Shattered Columns area. By afternoon, the sun had become too harsh and we were grateful for shaded climbing for the rest of the day. Our day ended at Corn Wall, part of the lower cliffs of the Sunshine wall.

Throughout the day, the climbing was varied and more enjoyable than the previous day. Some routes demanded a lot of forearm endurance, while others required careful route finding and balancing.

We climbed until almost sunset and returned to the campsite around 8 p.m., not before clicking a beautiful group photo at the top of the Sunshine Gully. Even more people had arrived that day, and the campground was bustling with campfires and the croaking of hundreds of frogs.

Day 3 of Climbing – Zigzag Wall

This was going to be a shorter day of climbing as we had to start our drive back to Vancouver that afternoon. So we chose the Zigzag Wall for its proximity to the campground and its good mix of routes within our comfort range.

The climbing today went faster than the previous day. We were one of the first groups at the crag , and by this time, had gotten quite comfortable with the rock. For me personally, this was the best day as I had finally found my lead head and was getting into a good rhythm.

We wrapped up around 3 p.m. and, saying goodbye to the crag, returned to the campground to prepare for the drive home.

It had been a fantastic trip in a beautiful setting with an awesome crew, and I hope it is a portent of a good climbing season in 2026.