Dry Falls

Dry Falls State Park is in eastern Washington about two hours drive west of Spokane. Geologists speculate that the area was formed by what are called the Missoula Floods, caused by the periodic rupture of an ice dam on a glacial lake in western Montana. The long line of cliffs on the other side of these lakes was believed to have been one gigantic waterfall at that time.

This was our first stop on our trip which is now nearly over. We stopped here June 10th to do some orchid and wildflower photography and to see a place that my wife had not seen. We saw there an orchid which is rare in Washington but grows here by the thousands and saw and photographed several other wildflowers, as well as doing some hiking, though the mosquitoes were bad.

Yesterday we drove up from the area of Bend, Oregon, to Blewett Pass south of Leavenworth, Washington. We drove up a forestry road, did some hiking and gem hunting (thunder eggs and agates) in the area of Red Top, an old fire lookout in Blewett Pass. The wildflowers there were spectacular, but the gem hunting a bit of a bust. We found only some small inclusions.

Today we head further north to our son and daughter-in-law and will be staying with them over the weekend and attending a wedding, returning home Monday or Tuesday - Tuesday if we decide to go fruit picking (strawberries, raspberries and blueberrries). We usually get berries there for canning and freezing, for pies and other such delicacies and as jams and syrups.