Fields Spring State Park

Fields Spring State Park is four miles south of Anatone, Washington (pop. 38). The Park’s vistas, pleasant walking trails, and clean rest rooms ensure our return visits at least once a year.

Red vine maple, an attractive accent along the trail. . .

 Fields Spring vista

Craig Mountain Panorama

A fallen fence provides scenic entropy.

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Our July 4th on Soldiers Meadow Lake

Soldiers Meadow Lake, elevation 4,500 feet, is about 12 miles past Waha Lake, where we fished Saturday. Soldiers Meadow Lake has Kokanee salmon, Rainbow trout, and Smallmouth bass. We encountered no crowds–a kayak and a skiff were the only other boats on the water in our nearly three hours there in Pisca-Dory. We caught no fish, but a few chased Vic’s lures a few times. It was a beautiful day, notwithstanding the 11 miles of rugged, dusty road, arriving and departing.

 

Soldiers Meadow Lake

Water Smartweed, a riparian native of the northwest plains

Wild roses at the shoreline

 

Vic recently installed a shade over my chair!

Vic hitches Pisca-Dory to her trailer and the trailer to the truck. . .”Gosh, Vic–you couldn’t do this back home on Krypton!”

(My husband Vic took all the photos in this post, except the final one, which I took.)

20th Anniversary Road Trip, Part 2

For the second installment of our 20th anniversary road trip, my husband and I decided to revisit Lower Granite Dam because of its varied scenery and proximity, and the fact that the slow-healing bone bruise on my spine did not cry out for hiking. The dam is in a beautiful area between Clarkston and Pullman, along the Snake River. Heading home, we were entertained by a troupe of pelicans flocking on the Snake River near the Port of Clarkston.

It was a lovely, warm, sunny day, full but not taxing, and there was even time to divert to the Co-Op in Moscow, where I bought a couple of ounces of licorice tea before heading home.

Please click photo for larger image.

Kirby Mayview

Our picnic spot below Lower Granite Dam

Fish ladder at Lower Granite Dam

Fish ladder

Boyer Park

Syringa

Pelicans on Snake River near the Port of Clarkston

Back to Boggan’s

My husband and I decided to take our anniversary road trip this year in two consecutive Saturday installments. Today, we enjoyed the scenery along the Grande Ronde River, stopped briefly at Boggan’s Oasis, and ate our packed lunch next to the footbridge at Troy, Oregon.

The only exotic wildlife we saw were some wild turkeys, and I was not camera ready for their sprint across the highway. Next Saturday, weather and other variables permitting, we aspire to take in some hiking at Lyon’s Ferry.

Asotin, from the road to Anatone and on to the Oregon border

Basalt outcroppings and meadows profuse with blooming balsam are everywhere.

One of the many streams in the Grande Ronde River’s brood

A favorite stop in southeastern  Washington,  just before the Oregon border

The old foot bridge at Troy, Oregon. The dark trees on the hill are casualties of last summer’s forest fires.

The Snake River and its ponds

My husband and I count as a blessing our proximity to the Evans Pond area and the Chief Timothy Game Management Unit. The 10-minute drive from our home is as pleasant as the destination, taking us past farms and cattle ranches from which we can see Idaho’s Craig Mountain scenery in the distance, and along the Snake River and its canyon. Hunting season is not till October and ends in January, so we have nine quiet months a year to appreciate coots and other riparian life.

Wawawai in winter

Winter in Eastern Washington is not always readily discernible without a calendar. Today was such a day, and I found the sunshine at Wawawai County Park notably brisk, having left my gloves in the car so they would not hinder my handling of my camera. My husband and I always enjoy walking at Wawawai; every season has its distinctives, and I find them all beautiful. The trove of the day was probably worth the frozen hands it took to shoot these photos.

Heller Bar’s Two Rivers

Today was a court holiday, and my husband took an unusual day off from meeting with clients, as well. He worked in the morning on the dory he’s building, and made good progress toward attaching the boat’s bottom, while I completed my usual routine of Monday homekeeping tasks.

By mid-afternoon, my husband was eager to visit a beautiful stretch of the Snake River south of Asotin, at its confluence with the Grande Ronde River, which has its source in Northeastern Oregon’s Blue Mountains. The general area is called Heller’s Bar. We have visited the area several times, and I was totally up for the excursion. I love the area, and it seemed good to preview what might well be the site of the new dory’s maiden launch.

Confluence of the Grande Ronde and Snake Rivers

Another view of the Confluence

The Grande Ronde

The Grande Ronde

The tree seems to direct the way of the River’s flow.

We saw elk up the canyon, about two miles away. My husband took this photo with his camera’s superior-being telephoto.

And Effie, the girl waiting back home.

Road Trip in the Blue Mountains

Vic and I decided to see the Blue Mountains in Autumn today, and it was a perfect day to see them, as hunting season hasn’t yet opened. I photographed a few samples of the fall scenery from Lickfork Road to Elk Point. Gazeteer jocks will see that our route forms a triangle between Asotin, Washington; Pomeroy, Washington; and the Oregon border.

Every good road trip begins with a good car.

Headgate Park

Closer-up of Headgate falls

Vic prepares to photograph the falls.

Asotin Creek

Reed Canary Grass

Red Sumac

Larch, or Tamarack, are evergreens that turn yellow in autumn.