After the Utah woodturning Symposium Gigi, John Wessels and I toured with Andi Wolfe up through Ketchum, Idaho and then across westwards, spending nights in Baker City and the Dalles before reaching Portland for the national AAW Symposium
We dropped off Paul Fennell and Don MacDougal, returned John's rental car and headed northwards to Ketchum, Idaho
Driving north from Provo and Salt Lake City I was taken by a number of wind generators
The landscape here is pretty dry, just like parts of the Karoo in South Africa
The mountains of Idaho loom in the distance
I was taken by the number of large mobile homes on the road, each seemingly towing what another friend of mine refers to as an Urban Assault Vehicle.
The USA is such a large and safe country to roam such rigs make eminent sense
And another one ...
And yet another
Approaching the mountains in Idaho with a little snow still visible even at the hight of summer
Andi preparing to give the keynote address for the American Penstemon Society meeting. Andi presented talks about her work on
Penstemon and also a short one on her South African fieldwork on
Hyobanche
This is the hotel we stayed in in Ketchum
The next day we drove the
circular route through Stanley, Chalis, Arco, Haley and Fairfield
Wonderful scenery
Great travel companions
John Wessels, Andi Wolfe and Gigi Laidler
And John took a picture of the three of us together
Gigi Laidler, Andi Wolfe and yours truly Dennis Laidler
This was an area where wolves had been spotted recently. Unfortunately we did not spot any on that day
Nice clear vegetation zones at different altitudes
John admiring the view
Western Cape Woodturners Association visits Idaho
Galena Lodge
Galena Lodge where we stopped for a walk and to do some birding
I loved the wooden construction and furnishings of this lodge
The horse trail guide's 'cottage'
One thing I really admired was the information signage wherever one traveled in the USA
Also the wonderfully constructed and maintained trails such as the Harriman Trail illustrated here which we walked along a short way
The bridge at Galena where we spotted an American dipper
The biodiversity can't match the Western Cape's fynbos but there is still plenty to admire
A view across the sun valley road
A lot of the trees are suffering from a disease caused by the Mountain Pine Beetle
And here is the full explanation on a signboard up at Galena Overlook
The sun deck outside Galena lodge where we had coffee
On the Sun Valley road gaining altitude through the conifer forest zone
The view from Galena Pass looking back down Sun Valley
The Sun Valley road climbing up to Galena Pass
A Wood Central sighting on the top of Galena Pass
Beautiful scenery
Signage up at Galena Overlook
Galena Overlook
And the view of the Sawtooth mountains down the other side
What a stunning view
Really stunning
Overlook residents
Sawtooth National Recreation Area
And now we are driving along the bottom of that valley ...
... looking up at the mountains
On the road to Chalis
To quote from Andi's blog,
"Idaho sits atop the edge of a hotspot - the same one that formed Yellowstone National Park. The North American tectonic plate is moving to the west, so the hotspot that forms Yellowstone was once under Idaho and, before that, eastern Oregon. That means that there are a lot of hotsprings all over Idaho and eastern Oregon. The smell of sulfur is thick in the air and the water coming out of the spring is near the boiling point"
Here is the outflow of the pipe that directs the hot water under the road
And here is where the hot water flows into the cold river
Rocks have been arranged to form a nice warm bathing pool
A group of students, fresh from the local hiking trail, enjoying the warm pool
The boiling fountain
The view down river below the hot spring
I climbed up the slope to investigate the source of the hot water
And here is the source
Further along a lone trout fisherman had this stretch of river all to himself
Can you see him standing just beyond the rock causing the patch of white water
Such a tranquil scene looking downstream
I was very impressed by all the adopt a highway liter control schemes and how private individuals, businesses and state organisations get involved
We traveled the Salmon River Scenic Byway to Boise the following day but for now we continued on th Chalis
Driving between Chalis and Arco if I recall correctly
This was the first time I had ever seen geographical features largely caused by glaciation
And then we came across this wonderful earthquake caused scarp
Living in a the very geologically stable area of Southern Africa I found this feature particularly interesting
You can see the scarp running for miles along the base of the mountains
Here it is in close-up
Click on the two pictures to read all about the feature
Really interesting to see the theory in practice
And here the scarp can be seen far into the distance
Click on the picture to see more detail
Before the day ended we stopped at
Craters of the MoonRead all about this interesting place on the link
A dual Wood Central sighting at Craters of the Moon
What a desolate landscape
It was cooling down by late afternoon and the wind was howling
John Wessels, Andi Wolfe and yours truly Dennis Laidler hanging on to our hats and trying to remain upright
A close up of the volcanic rock
Still trying to stay upright for a last look at the unique landscape
On the 26th of June we set off from Ketchum to Portland via the
Sawtooth Scenic BywayWe stopped for coffee here at Stanley
This is one of my favourite pictures and memories of the trip and is my current desktop
Stanley is apparently one of the coldest places in the USA but we visited there at the height of summer - beautiful
We were really not missing the Western Cape's cold wet winter at this stage!
Now we are off to Boise via the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway
We stopped at some isolated camp sites along this river
The next four pictures of the river are among my favourite of the trip
This is the scenery of postcards
One has to pinch ones self to believe that it's real
Thanks Andi for bringing us along this route instead of along the freeway
I hope that you enjoyed the trip as much as Gigi, John and I did
This is the stuff that real memories are made of!
and real pretty biodiversity 'nogal'
Lucky Peak Reservoir just north of Boise
This place brought back many memories for Andi - see her blog post - I'll place a link to it at the end of this post
We drove through Boise and down the freeway to Baker City where we checked in at the Super 8 Motel
Threw our bags into the room and drove off to do some bird and game spotting
Gigi and John enjoying the tranquil evening
Chimping!
It was wonderful walking along the river not worrying if the vehicle was still going to be there when one got back and not looking over one's shoulder - such an unSouth African experience
Sitting on the rock in the river was where I spotted my first real beaver
June 27 and we left Baker City early in the morning
Near a dam we spotted an Osprey nesting in the top of the tree seemingly unphased by the big trucks passing by
Andi and John checking out the Osprey nest
And further along another Osprey nesting in an artifiacial nest box at the top of a pole
Nature needs a helping hand especially where forests, their natural nesting areas, are removed
One did not have to go far to see why it was necessary to provide the Ospreys with artificial 'trees' to nest in
Many of the trees on these trucks are Douglas Fir
What we South Africans refer to as Oregon Pine
During this day Andi was trying to find us an example of really old growth (unlogged) forest
No success however
A monument to the Oregon Trail opened by the early pioneers
And the USA even had its 'Voortrekkers'
These were called
Conestoga WagonsThis was the only place I noticed bullet holes in the wayside signage about this monument.
I guess that is not entirely limited to South Africa!
Andi took us to visit the
John Day Fossil BedsMost interesting
Read all about the National Park at the link above
The lookout point had lots of good information
And the view from the lookout point was quite spectacular
And there was another very informative information centre
Here is information about the solar power used by the centre
Working in Climate Change I was very interested in that the centre was a partner in the EPA's Green Power Partnership
Information about the other green power alternative used by the centre
There was a spectacular display of local fossils in the centre
I actually need to insert more photos here
Watch this space
Leaving the John Day Fossil Beds there was some spectacular geology that clearly illustrates the series of volcanic flows that repeated covered this landscape in the Northwest USA
The earth clearly tells its own history to those who take the trouble to learn its language and read the storybook of time
The Service Creek Stage Stop at the John Day Resort
Where we had a meal and Andi chatted up the very laid back locals
Another place one could happily retire to!
Then there in the distance is my first real volcano
I believe it is Mt Jefferson
And we traveled northwards towards the Columbia River George
With Mt Jefferson receding behind us
We came across this huge wind farm
Great to see so much green energy
Sad to think about the Western Cape's paltry three or four wind turbines
Click on the picture to see just how many wind turbines just in this one shot
There were many many more than I could capture in these couple of photographs
Another big volcano, Mount Hood I believe, in the Cascades Mountain Range
Click on the picture to get a much better view
Reached the Columbia River and turned left to The Dalles where we were scheduled to spend the night
More of the Columbia River Gorge story
Getting closer to Mount Hood approaching The Dalles where we spent the night
Further westwards along the Columbia River George the following day
Typically of such situations the road and rail running close together alongside the river
Until this point 'Union Pacific' was just something of books and movies
June 28 was our last day traveling between Provo and Portland
First stop of the day was Bonneville Dam on the Columbia river
One off the old turbines
and their story
Click on the pictures to read the interesting information
There was a very interesting Visitor Centre
Great staff and most informative
One could have spent much longer here
It is very important for the river ecosystem to have fish ladders at every barrier so that the fish can move up and down stream for breeding
All the fish are counted by volunteers as they move through the fish ladder
This window is in the public viewing area
The swirls and eddies give the fish a place to rest and oxygenate the water
John watching the fish
Andi took us along a very scenic route into Portland
John just getting the right angle
I loved the beautiful old bridges along this route
Horsetail Falls
The scenery and waterfalls were just too beautiful
Multnomah Falls was one of the key stops
Another beautiful visitor centre at the falls
The Multnomah falls
The busy railway line passed by the edge of the car park
The lovely old sign on the railway bridge tells you exactly where you are
as yet another train passes by
The wonderful old bridge over the Multnomah Creek below the falls
Click on the picture to read about life in the creek
Friends and a beautiful environment - what more does one need
We strolled up to the bridge
On the bridge
Wahkeena Falls
One could not help stopping at more beautiful streams that crossed the route
Gigi chilling out
Andi Wolfe, yours truly Dennis Laidler and Gigi Laidler
I loved the drive through the forest
This is the view eastwards from Crown Point at the Western entrance to the Columbia Gorge
and the view westwards
I was taken by the words on the pillars inside the Vista House
Oh so scenic!
Inside Vista House
Vista House itself
Memorial plaque for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Vista House standing on Crown Point above the Columbia River
I loved the American's appreciation of their natural environments and the efforts they made to inform the public about them and appreciate their value
See Andi's posts of this wonderful trip:
Day 1,
Day 2,
Day 3,
Day 4,
