[polarbear]

Dale, Yosh, and I met in Issaquah at 7:30 and headed east. Our goal was to hike a trail down to the Columbia River that Dale had seen on a prior trip to the area. As to where it is, I'll leave it to the reader to figure out, but it's not that difficult We were on the trail at 10:15 and it was a nice descending hike through sage brush and small gullies. Interesting rocks were everywhere and a few small flowers to boot. We reached the Columbia and got involved in a rock skipping contest which I lost hands down. The record was about 14 or 15 good skips. We explored a fainter trail along the edge of the river for maybe 1/2 mile. There were several springs that we crossed and one with more water than the others that came right out of the hillside and flowed down to the river. Beware of the stinging nettles that can go right through thin nylon pants and of poison ivy down by the river . We followed the main trail down river and back to our car. A nice day on the east side and some great and different scenery. For some reason I had the song Roll On Columbia going through my mind so here is an excerpt from our state page: In the early 1940s, the federal Bonneville Power Administration produced a movie encouraging rural residents in the Pacific Northwest to electrify their homes and farms with the power being generated by the newly-built Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams on the Columbia River. As part of the project, BPA hired folksinger Woody Guthrie at $270 for 30 days to write songs for the movie. Guthrie wrote 26 songs, the most popular of which was "Roll On, Columbia, Roll On", an ode to the harnessing of Washington's mightiest river. It was approved as the official Washington state folk song by the Legislature in 1987. The lyrics are as follow: Roll on, Columbia, roll on Roll on, Columbia, roll on Your power is turning our darkness to dawn So roll on, Columbia, roll on. Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew Canadian Northwest to the oceans so blue Roll on Columbia, roll on Other great rivers add power to you Yakima, Snake, and the Klickitat, too Sandy Willamette and Hood River too So roll on, Columbia, roll on Tom Jefferson's vision would not let him rest An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest Sent Lewis and Clark and they did the rest So roll on, Columbia, roll on It's there on your banks that we fought many a fight Sheridan's boys in the blockhouse that night They saw us in death but never in flight So roll on Columbia, roll on At Bonneville now there are ships in the locks The waters have risen and cleared all the rocks Shiploads of plenty will steam past the docks So roll on, Columbia, roll on And on up the river is Grand Coulee Dam The mightiest thing ever built by a man To run the great factories and water the land So roll on, Columbia, roll on These mighty men labored by day and by night Matching their strength 'gainst the river's wild flight Through rapids and falls, they won the hard fight So roll on, Columbia, roll on

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[Quark]

Nice pics, polarbear. It's always nice to meet someone who is enthusiastic about central Washington and the Columbia River. Was this in the Quilomene or Shakke WLR, or Gingko Petrified Forest area or around Wanapum Dam or, or.....? I feel dumb and it's not 'cause I'm blonde and all, not this time, at least, - this time its 'cause you said it's not that hard to guess ( ), and if I'm wrong, Everybody, I'm sure, after they finish laughing at me, will never, ever take me seriously again the way they do now. And I couldn't bear that, I truly couldn't. From the overlook across from the Horsey sculpture off I-90, look down (waaay down), and you can see the faint wagon road from the Olden Days (but I think the overlook is closed, don't know why - hopefully only temporarily). But hold onto your glasses at that overlook, it's always very windy.

[Larry]

Quark: Oh gosh...not to worry. I still take you seriously.

[polarbear-]

Well well well, I said the place is secret and people are already trying to conive it out of me now. Well, I won't be so bold as to reveal any clues whatsoever. But if someone wants to email me, perhaps I will tell them. Assuming my keyboard starts working right again. But the place was not Ginko to my knowledge. And as far as I'm concerned there is nothing wrong with being dumb or blonde because the desert judges people by their ability to survive k? By the way, the wagon road goes down into the river. I bet that was a rude awakening for alot of unsuspecting travelers. My keyboard is really messing up this post. Is there a section on this 4um for problem keyboards?

[Quark]

[polarbear-]