Adventure Travel Photography Blog
Today I headed inland along the Columbia River on the Washington-Oregon border. I spent my time on the Washington State side and stopped to enjoy the panorama of Oregon’s wooded hills and of the powerful river that lay at the foot vertical cliffs from Cape Horn Viewpoint.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I found a campsite last night at Fort Stevens State Park which didn’t make my scenic drives book. The campgrounds were enormous: 550 sites. It was like a small city. Before I left the park this morning, I enjoyed some of the sites; the first being the wreck of the Peter Iredale.
There is nothing special about the wreck of the Peter Iredale. It was simply a ship that had sailed 28 days from Mexico that was bound for Portland to pick up some cargo. Strong winds and rough seas forced it onto the shore where a portion of the ship remains today and has become a popular tourist attraction and hence its fame.
Just inland from the beach is Coffenbury Lake. The tranquil lake, nestled in the trees, is stocked with trout and a popular fishing location for campers. Petey and I took a short walk along its shore before turning north to Astoria.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I had planned the morning to visit Hoquiam’s Castle and Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge before heading to Portland to visit some friends from my horseback riding days. Both attempts turned out to be a bust. Hoquiam’s Castle was built in 1897 by a timber tycoon named Robert Lytle. It is a twenty room mansion, turned Bed & Breakfast. I suppose I could have wandered into the lobby and looked around, but oddly I felt like taking a full-blown house tour to change things up on this dreary day.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!Well, my first day on the Olympic Loop Tour was a memorable one, though not in a very good way. VANilla carted us several miles down a gravel road to the Staircase Rapids Nature Trail, a four mile path that follows a cascading Skokomish River. It turns out, the hike was in the Olympic National Park, where dogs are not allowed on the trails, and this morning I really wanted to include Petey on a walk. Therefore, we turned around and stopped at Lake Cushman State Park for a trek to the summit of Mount Rose.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I’m sitting here writing my post on Sunday, September 11. I generally write them the day of or the day after despite it sometimes takes even longer to get them posted to the Internet. My regular readers have probably noticed that I always write the post as if I am writing it the “day of”. Today, I have to say that I just noticed I
mistakenly deleted all of yesterday’s photos this morning off my SD card. The card was full and for some reason as I started my hike this morning, I thought I downloaded yesterday’s photos. This event capped off a remarkably crappy September 11 which I will post tomorrow.
Today ended up being a lot of driving and a lot of road construction. I tried visiting Bonanza and Custer, two ghost towns from the mining days, but the road to the towns was closed for two hours at a time. When the flagger heard me say, “Ok, I’ll skip it then”, he let out a sigh of relief! Instead, I snapped a quick photo of a dam that was erected in 1910 and blown up in 1934 as it was prohibiting salmon from swimming upstream to spawn.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
On my way out of Ketchum and Sun Valley, I stopped at the local cemetery to pay respects to Ernest Hemingway. He penned portions of For Whom the Bell Tolls while he stayed at the Sun Valley Lodge. His grave stone is like a wishing well…covered in coins. Surrounding it are various empty bottles of wine and champagne.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
After morning coffee with Sandy, I headed south to meet my friend, Kathryn. An ex-colleague out of the Houston office turned doctor, that now lives in Boise. We went for lunch at a local brewery and walked along the Boise River to the Boise Zoo. The giraffes were hiding. I’m sad because I had my camera with me the whole time and forgot to take a picture!
After lunch I continued south to Shoshone Falls which were absolutely spectacular. I was on information overload. Each time I turned to look at a different portion, I noticed something new. The Snake River tumbles 210 feet over numerous rock outcroppings. I just loved it!
From the falls, I turned north up Highway 75 to end in Sun Valley for the night. I got a great chicken stir fry at the Sun Valley Brewery which almost reminded me of Chef Wang’s at home. An amber beer on tap and a little preseason football added to a relaxing evening. ETB
Learn more about my road trip across the USA, or click the link below for the interactive map.
From Dworshak State Park, we followed the Clearwater River through the Nez Perce Indian Reservation and made a roadside stop at the Ant and the Yellow Jacket. According to an Indian Legend, the stone arch was once two insects. Ant and Yellow Jacket fought over who had the right to eat dried salmon in the area. The Coyote, the all-powerful animal spirit, ordered them to stop. They failed to heed his warning, thus he turned them into stone while their backs were arched and their jaws locked together during combat.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
Well, I don’t know where the time went today. By the time I reached Glacier National Park, about 150 miles away from my starting point, it was nearly 4 pm, and I can’t say I have much to show for it.
My first stop was at Choteau, the home of novelist A.B. Guthrie, Jr. who is the author of The Big Sky. Choteau is known for its abundant wheat and barley harvests evidenced by the rolling fields of yellow and black (grain and fallow soil). The town’s courthouse, on the south end of town, required a $40,000 bond issue which
was very controversial, though it passed by about 50 votes. All I can think is…inflation!
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