In life it's not where you go but who you are with……Charles Shultz
Vagabond Tales- Welcome to the Smokies! …. Not
September 10, 2022 Athol, Idaho Farragut State Park. Site 382
Today was a travel day so I will give you a bit of potpourri pictures tonight. Picture below is from a few steps away from our camper last might.
Day before the Harvest Moon over The Columbia RiverIf you visit here, the interpretive center is well worth the stop but I would say…take a big pass on the hike. They have put the Petrified trees in jail on this hike and it is difficult to see them as it is with all prisoners.This trail-head was very promising, other than the beware of rattlesnake signs.
The story behind this site was that in 1927, they were building a road through this called the Vantage Highway and during construction petrified wood began to become exposed. Not long after the road was completed a geology Professor George Beck was driving through and noticed a man carrying huge petrified log down a hill. Within a week he was back with a group of students to investigate. He got to researching and got some state officials interested. He was amazed by the diversity of the tree specimens he found. It wasn’t until 1935 that this area was designated a state park. Sounds a bit similar to our local Gray Fossil Site and how it was discovered.
We still hadn’t come upon our first prisoner.Only going to show you the best of these. Some were so overgrown with prairie grasses you couldn’t see anything in the cell. Isn’t it a shame they have to do this to keep them from being stollen?Meanwhile, back at the interpretive center we could get a nice look at some of these specimens. These were petrified, not by the more common sediment route but by being totally encased in lava. The Ranger called them lava pillows. I don’t know if it is just his opinion or not, but he stated petrification by lava gives a much more detailed fossil.The two on the bottom are ginkgo. These are two specimen of the ginkgo tree that are no longer in existence.Finn and I spent part of our morning waiting for Harry.Harry’s ear infection, evidently had not healed so off to Urgent Care we went. Last doc thought it was an inner ear infection…this doc thinks it is mid ear. Totally different meds for each! I pray, this will work.Not all of the state of Washington is mountains, beautiful trees and lakes.We are here tonight and tomorrow! Great pull-through site with lots of privacy and full hook-ups. When Harry signed in, the volunteer said, “ Welcome to the Smokies!” The smoke has followed us!
hkdorr 
Harvest Moon over Columbia River is a photo worth the time I’ve spent following your blog. Thanks!
Love those pictures. The sun one is beautiful.
Hugs