Eastern Washington

This is the railroad bridge at Lyon's Ferry, Washington. It is here that the Union Pacific Railroad crosses the Snake River. Originally 264 feet above the river the construction of a dam downstream raised the level of the river and the bridge is not only 190 feet above the water.

Lyon's Ferry is at the juncture of the Palouse and Snake Rivers and the site of an old ferry crossing, now replaced with a modern bridge. We visited the state park there with my daughter and her children. The inset photos show one of the old abandoned ferries and the railroad bridge, along with some of the Black Locust trees we found growing there.

This is one of the old ferry boats now abandoned at Lyon's Ferry State Park in Washington. I could find no information on the boat either at the park or on line.

Turtle Rock was our destination when a grandson and I went snowshoeing recently. It lies on the shore of Newman Lake in the Mackenzie Conservation Area east of Spokane, Washington.

This was the view to the south from near the summit of Mount Spokane. The city of Spokane is just visible behind the trees. We had picked a good day to go snowshoeing there and are off to do some snowshoeing again today.

Several weeks ago my son-in-law and I snowshoed to the top of Mount Spokane. It was a beautiful, though very cold day, but well-worth the trip, though we will not be snowshoeing there again. We discovered to our dismay that our state parks pass ($30 annually) had to be supplemented with another day pass for using the so-called "snow park" there in the winter ($20 per visit). Mount Spokane is one of the highest peaks in the inland northwest, 5,883 feet (1,793 m) in elevation, and lies northeast of the city of Spokane. The peak is visible from much of the surrounding area. Most of the area is a state park and in the summer is a popular hiking spot. In the winter it is used for skiing, snowmobiling and other snow sports.

My lack of posts has been due to the need to get some work done on our house. Our son, a contractor, was out for several days and we managed to get some important projects finished. We also managed to get out snowshoeing on Saturday for a few hours at Mount Spokane. It was a foggy day, but very quiet and very beautiful.

In contrast to the previous photo, this was taken on a foggy day as my son and I snowshoed Mount Spokane. Mount Spokane is the highest peak in Spokane County and is northeast of the city of Spokane, Washington.

The photo was taken on a recent snowshoeing excursion to Mount Spokane State Park with one of our sons. The quote is from "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," a poem of Robert Frost. The rest of the poem is: Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.