Arrival of Winter

 Yesterday, I hiked with one of the local walking groups and we came across steady snow just above the Wardner bench.  I was surprised at how much snow the snow deepened as we ascended.  Very nice though because we had

our first "bright" day since the beginning of November.  A welcome relief!  As well, at our place, the temperature went below zero last night so I guess the bedding plants are finished for the year.  Nov. 27th - not bad!  Here's the view from the clearcut at the top of the Wardner trail - that's Kootenay Lake visible,  with lots of snow and interesting clouds.  

Fall Gardening

 It's been a long fall and I can actually still garden, I notice.  We did get snow on Wednesday and it covered the ground but I have geraniums still blooming and I have yet to bring  my potted dahlias indoors.  These capers were harvested on November 6th.  I cannot  ever remember picking seeds on the 6th of November.  

                       

 

Meanwhile, in the mountains of the Rossland Range there is plenty of snow and I have already been skiing 4 times.  Last year, we did not have this much snow until January. The strange behaviour of the weather is all part of climate change, I guess!  

eanwhile, up in the mountains of the Rossland Range, there is plenty of snow.  I've already been up to ski 4 times this year.  I think we can attribute all these strange weather behaviours to climate change!  

Travels in America: Palisades Cove State Park, OR

 After making the decision to avoid the last piece of the John Day Fossil Beds, we rerouted ourselves further west in central OR.  Originally, our plan had been to visit Crater Lake, but with more smoke further south, we opted to stay "north" and happened upon the Palisades Cove State Park.  What a stunningly beautiful area!

  The National Forest campgrounds were all closed, as well as many other campgrounds in the area.  We opted to stay in the open one and it was nice.  We didn't realize that we were high on a plateau above the Crooked and Deschutes Rivers.  After our arrival, we immediately took our bikes out for a ride and realized what sort of a plateau we were on.  The sunset was gorgeous that night and we opted to spend the next day at the park.  That day we hiked and biked and unfortunately the clouds moved in and we didn't get a second amazing sunset.  But we did see great views of Mt. Jefferson, a place that I had never heard of.  It is pictured above.   I'm sure that this place is VERY crowded in the "high season", but visiting it in October was perfect.  About a dozen other campers shared the campground with us and the fall colours were just past peak, but still hanging on.  Here is a view from a plateau top showing the 2 rivers and their reservoir.  I'd highly recommend a visit if you can get there when it is not busy.  

Travels in America: John Day Fossil Beds, Painted Hills Division

 Our second day in the John Day area had us visit the Painted Hills Division.  I expected there to be a lot more trails to hike and less driving,

but it is certainly worth a visit.  The longest hike we did was about 1 km and had a good view over the area.  See photo to the right.  We pretty much had to drive from site to site and they are unique in their own way.  We were both a little underwhelmed with the experience and made a quick decision to skip out of going to the last area, which contained a picnic site and a sign from what we could glean.  Death Valley is a much better place to visit for a similar experience of "painted hills".  That change in plans led us to a new area in Oregon that we very much enjoyed.  Wait for the next post!

More scenery from the Painted Hills to the left.   The smoke had entirely disappeared by that day.  

Weddings

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a same sex marriage.  I rarely attend weddings - I've been at fewer than 10 in my entire life.  This will probably be my only same-sex wedding.  The wedding was held in Vancouver and included 50 - 60 guests.  It was held at a condo building with the action occurring in the "common rooms" of the establishment.  It was a joyful occasion!  One of the wives had her nephew stand up for her; the other wife had her daughter.  The Marriage Commissioner was very open about the tax advantages and government subsidies involved in "being married."  I suspect that this was at the request of the two wives.  One of the reasons for the marriage was tax advantage.    But the two women do love each other, too!  

The ceremony was followed by an afternoon of board games and karaoke.  The karaoke was definitely the most popular.  Everyone seemed to have a very good time and we ended the celebration with a dinner of pizza and salad, followed by cake and fruit.  Wedding, indeed!

 

John Day Fossil Beds: Sheep Rock Divison

 

   One of our destinations in the US was the John Day Fossil Beds which we had "flown by" via car on our way to Death Valley many years ago.  We had the opportunity to visit the town of John Day, and the museum,  which is centered on the lives of 2 Chinese,  settlers is worth a visit:  the Kam Wah Chung Museum and the building is a National Historic Landmark.  Failing to achieve a campsite in the National Forest near the town (fires had closed roads) we stayed at a state park and the next day went to the Sheep Rock division of the Fossil Beds.  Everything is totally "free" in this area even though it is part of the National Parks.  I guess this is because it is a National Monument and not a park.  We had a lovely hike through the fossil beds - this picture does not do it justice.  The hazy skies from the area smoke is visible.  The hike had a lot of variety and a side route leads you to the popular part of the site - some actual fossils on display.  At the headquarters, there is a large display of the entire area and the fossils found in it - I was impressed with all of the dioramas and the amount of work that has gone into the displays. 

 

Travels in America:  Rattlesnake Pass

We made the decision to leave Clarkston and take WA 129 into Oregon.  When you look on the map, it's pretty straight forward and I offered to drive.  One hairpin turn appears on the 50 states atlas.  Little did I know that I would encounter Rattlesnake Pass.  We got to the top of the pass pretty quickly and saw the summit sign.  Then the descent began.  I have never felt vertigo when I've been the driver but I did notice it here.  We did not  pull over to take a picture or change drivers - there were rare opportunities.  This photo appears care of a friend, Annette, who travelled north over the pass a couple of weeks later.  It's an amazing road in a very sparse area for population.  I wonder how often it closes in winter??  At the bottom, we crossed the Grande Rondo River before it travels further east and joins the Snake River.  This is an extraordinary road and very scenic - not recommended if you don't like exposure!  We arrived in OR and had more stunning viewpoints and as we made our way to Enterprise, OR.  

 Travels in America:  Lewiston/Clarkston

Our original intention was to spend a day in Moscow and we did enjoy visiting the University of Idaho's arboretum in that town.  We did not find satisfactory places for camping.  We headed south and decided to stay in Lewiston or Clarkston.  It worked out well for us because we were introduced to a long, winding road off the newer highway into Lewiston, ID.  Here's the Lewiston version of the highway into Bella Coola (only this one isn't nearly as long.)  

The Snake River divides the states of WA and ID and Lewiston is location on the ID side, while Clarkston is on the WA side.  We thought this road looked pretty impressive.  Little did we know what we were in for on the other side when we travelled over Rattlesnake Pass.  Here's the view of the Snake at Lewiston/Clarkston: