RHH's photos with the keyword: dusty lake

We hiked today in the Columbia River Basin in the area of Ancient Lakes. We hiked two coulees, and visited not only the three lakes known as Ancient Lakes, but another named Dusty Lake where this photo was taken. The area is very dry and is sagebrush country, but we had a good day which, though sunny, was not unbearably hot. We saw some unusual wildflowers though it is still early in the season, the geology of the area is fantastic, and we even visited several waterfalls. I haven't had a chance to review my photos but this looked good enough to post and even though we are still on the road I wanted to get a picture posted. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/04/ancient-lak...

I am not very happy with this picture, but perched as we were on the side of the mesa, it was impossible to get a better perspective. For whatever reason the perspective seems awkward and unattractive. I wanted to post the picture, however, because it shows one of the coulees we hiked and the mesas on both sides of the coulee with Dusty Lake in the foreground. Below the coulee is the Columbia River and its gorge. The white on the shores of the lake was typical of the lakes in these coulees and must be some kind of mineral deposit from the water, though I have no idea what it actually is. I'll post a close-up of these deposits later today. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/04/ancient-lak...

I do not know if these white deposits are the origin of the lake's name, but the other lakes had these same deposits on the rock around them. Someone has suggested it is calcium from the hard water, but I could find no information about them. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2013/04/ancient-lak...