Landscapes

Fall in the Chugach Mountains
Taken in 2006.
Taken in 2006.
Taken in 2006.

Let’s be clear. I will say that fall in Alaska is as good as it gets for autumn colors. I still cannot believe the colors of red blueberry bushes on the hillsides, birch trees firing up the forest canopy, and the orange and red underbrush. I took all of these pictures in Fort Richardson and Chugach State Park, both just outside of Anchorage. (Chugach State Park is more spectacular than most National Parks in this country by a country mile, if you ask me.) I do not miss the winter at this stage of my life, as of today, but I do miss the fall, all days of my life. See more of my photos of Alaska on my Alaska photo gallery. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Odd and scenic sights on the Forest Park Running Trail

I grew up in the St. Louis area. One of my favorite places remains Forest Park, perhaps one of the nation’s top tier public parks. It is both historic and beautiful as a natural place in an urban setting. There is a six-mile running trail that circles the outer edge of the park that takes one by a bird sanctuary, a golf course, the Jefferson Memorial Building dating from the 1904 World’s Fair, some artificial ponds where urban fisherman really do fish, and the St. Louis Science Center. The latter has a life-size diaroma model of a tyrannosaurus rex battling a triceratops, which were among my favorite critters growing up.

One of the oddest attractions is a monument to the Civil War veterans from the Confederacy, highlighting the city’s legacy as both a Southern and Northern community–a racial and sometimes divisive legacy that remains today, as seen recently in protests in Ferguson. There is also a competing statue nearby of German-American veterans of the Union Army from the Civil War. These are all visible from the running trail. I decided to photograph these sights today using my GoPro Camera to capture the scenes with a fish-eye view.

Runners, put on you shoes and do a lap or two when you visit. You will love it. (Click on each photo to see larger pictures on separate picture pages.)

Seattle’s South Park neighborhood

South Park is located in south Seattle, surrounded by industrial activities, the Duwamish River, and some major arterials. It is, by Seattle standards, lower income, given the physical and built environment. Still, it is home to many families and others who live here, in single family homes, subsidized housing, and apartments. More Latinos call it home than any other racial or ethnic group. A number of Latino-owned businesses can be found in the main intersection at Cloverdale and South Fourteenth Avenue. The South Park Bridge, which has been under repair for four years, cutting off a lot of potential business for the area, finally reopened this summer. The bridge now includes a lot of steel artwork, which I like. I also spied some developments along the industrial Duwamish, on land claimed by the Port of Seattle. I have no idea what is happening there. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Steptoe Butte, the power mountain

 

Wheat fields surround the highest point in the Palouse, Steptoe Butte.

Steptoe Butte is the tallest natural feature in the Palouse region of southeast Washington. Today it is a state park that provides a spectacular view of the wheat and other fields of this mostly agricultural area north of Pullman. According to some sources, this more than 3,,612-foot-tall peak, was sacred to indigenous groups, going by the name Eomoshtoss. Native residents reportedly visited the location to engage in vision quests. It is well worth a visit. And all that crop you see? That is wheat-miles and miles of wheat, just before harvest. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Grain Silos in the Palouse

 

Silos like the one seen here just of Highway 195, dot the landscape between Spokane and Pullman, Wash.

Washington’s wheat, barley, and lentil country is dotted with silos that hold the crops til they find their buyers on the national and international markets. Some of that grain eventually arrives where I live, in Seattle, and is moved onto ships that sail off to faraway ports, in China, Japan, and wherever the market dictates. In many ways these silos serve as landmarks to the global trade upon which nearly all of these farmers and this state are dependent. (Click on the photography to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Washington wheat, the golden grain

 

The sun was setting in Lincoln County, Washington, one of the state’s main wheat growing areas, when I snapped this photo near Wilbur.
Wheat fields are a golden yellow, stiff, and dry when they are harvested for the global commodities market, in this case from a farm in Lincoln County.

Washington state is famous for many crops. We produce about 80 percent of all beer hops in the nation (yes, bow before our hops growers, please). We produce fruit of all kinds, from wine grapes to cherries. We grow many grain crops too, including wheat, particularly in the middle and eastern half of the state. Right now, harvesters are running night and day, grain is filling silos, and farmers are calculating their earnings. You can learn about the different varieties of wheat grown in the state, including durum for pasta and hard red wheat for Asian noodles and general flour, from the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. This is the fourth most productive wheat-growing state in the country, and yes, the golden wheat definitely does have golden rewards, relative to other crops on the global markets. As for me, I think I would be miserable without my pasta, bread, and cookies. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Fort Spokane, a mixed legacy

 

The stables is one of the few remaining buildings from the old military fort dating from 1880.
The powder magazine and stable are captured in the morning light at Fort Spokane.

This month I visited Fort Spokane, a former U.S. military base that is located where the Columbia and Spokane rivers join. Today those waters are dammed in what is now the Lake Roosevelt National Scenic Area. The fort was built in 1880 to keep “the peace” between white settlers and Indian residents on the Colville Reservation. (Click on each photo to see larger pictures on separate picture pages.)

The National Park Service notes, “In many ways, the Indian experience at Fort Spokane is a microcosm of the Indian experience across the United States.” In 1900 the fort become an Indian boarding school, one of the most controversial legacies of the treatment of American Indians. Children were forcibly moved here from their families from the Colville and Spokane reservations, leading to major protests by Indian leaders, including Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. The school was then closed in 1908.  (See the display from the visitor center below.)

Click on the picture of a display at the Fort Spokane Visitors Center entrance to read the description about the Indian boarding school controversy surrounding the boarding of more than 200 American Indian children here at the start of the 20th century.

Spokane Historical, published by Eastern Washington University, describes this controversial era, which was followed by having the fort become a tuberculosis sanitarium after 1909: “The idea behind Indian Boarding Schools was that the children would benefit from learning skills that would help them integrate into the white population. It was the general consensus among the white government agencies, at the time that this was far superior to the education that they would have received at home. As Capt. Richard H. Pratt said on the education of Native Americans, the cruel philosophy was, ‘Kill the Indian, and Save the Man.'”

After much of the fort was removed prior to 1930, a few remaining buildings were saved, such as those captured in my photographs and incorporated into a cultural site to be administered in the area surrounding the newly created reservoir that filled the river canyon after the Columbia River was dammed in Coulee City. I highly recommend anyone traveling to eastern Washington visit to the fort and lake and enjoy the beautiful scenery (I heard coyotes when I camped there). Also take the time to learn about the area’s history. This location truly is a microcosm of the state’s development in the last two centuries.

Colville Confederated Tribes’ pride

 

The Omak Stampede held in August every year is one of the main gatherings of the Colville Confederated Tribes of Washington.
The Colville Reservation covers nearly 1.4 million acres in Washington’s Okanogan and Ferry counties, in the middle of the state.

The Omak Stampede, in Omak, Wash., is both an official rodeo and a gathering of members of the Colville Confederated Tribes, in central Washington. The event takes place the second weekend of August every year. This year I didn’t stay for the event, and instead shot a few pictures of the tepees set up every year new the pow wow performance area. I then took my first drive through the reservation ever, stopping in Nespelem and eventually at the Coulee Dam on the reservation’s border. It was great to finally see this place, as it covers 2,100 square miles and has a key role in the state’s and region’s history.

The rolling hills of the Palouse
I took this photo from Steptoe Butte, which overlooks the Palouse region north of Pullman, Wash. It is wheat harvesting time now in Washington, and farmers are feverishly working in all directions harvesting the valuable crop.

 

Southeast Washington extending into northwest Idaho is home to the region known as the Palouse. Rolling hills that extend for miles in all directions host some of the nation’s most productive farmland. Farmers grow wheat and lentils, and the region hosts the annual and world-famous National Lentil Fest. (Click on the photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

The barns of Lincoln County, Washington
This beautiful barn is located near Fort Spokane, a major spot for history buffs and those wanting to splash in Lake Roosevelt. I love this part of the state.
Coming southeast from Coulee Dam on Highway 174, this large barn and old farmhouse sit on a prominent point overlooking the Columbia River valley. This was one of those perfect photographic moments.

I recently completed a wonderful tour of central and eastern Washington. One of my trip’s highlights was passing through rural Lincoln County, which is west of Spokane. This is wheat country. There are fields upon fields of wheat in all directions. Given the price of wheat, this is also a very profitable business too. Right now harvesters are running night and day cutting down the golden grain in the hot summer sun. The landscape is dotted with grain elevators and some of the most beautiful barns. These barns remind me of the ones I used to see on jigsaw puzzles that I connected growing up. I still do not why red is the preferred color, but the effect is stunning, particularly against an evening sky and rolling hills of wheat ready to harvest. This is definitely a place worth a visit. Be sure to slow down and stop and savor the scenery. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on separate picture pages.)