Johnson Hollow Wheat Harvest

On Friday August 12 we took a ride around parts of Walla Walla Country. The wheat harvest is mostly finished in the western portion of the county but over toward the eastern side and in the higher elevations it is still ongoing. We decided to go have a look. The map shows our route with most of the images being taken in the upper right side of the map.

This is a picture of the upper end of Johnson Hollow Road. It pases by Covello which we had posted about earlier. The road is paved closer to highway 12 then as it wanders up the hollow it turns into a decent gravel road and a short ways past Covello it becomes an increasingly narrow gravel track. At one point in the upper end we came to a fork in the road and took the road least traveled, always the most interesting route.

Not far past Covello there were a few trees and amongst the trees was a large flock of Common Ravens. There were at least 34 Ravens that we counted and probably more that we missed. We could not see any reason for the gathering. By the way, a large group or flock of Ravens is sometimes called an “Unkindness”. Who makes these things up anyway?

This is a field of Chickpeas or Garbanzo Beans. They are the same plant but with two different names. As you will see they are planted, allowed to grow during the year, then allowed to dry and finally harvested in the late fall. Chickpeas are used to make hummus. In the distance you can see the wheat being harvested, we will get to that in a moment.

The above image showed a wider view of the chickpea field and here we are looking a little closer.

Closer still we can see the individual plants and the beans. Chickpeas are in the Fabaceae (legume) family, related to soybeans, snap beans, peas, peanuts and many others. They are the third most widely grown legume in the world, after soybeans and beans.

In this image we see the dried husk of the chickpea and a couple of the actual chickpeas. There is generally one chickpea in each husk.

We are up in a higher elevation where the windmills spin. We saw this Red-Tail Hawk riding the currents looking for lunch. This Red-tail could use a little work on feather management, it seems to be missing some feathers.

This is a large wheat harvesting operation. There are several harvesters and associated bank out wagons that take the grain from the harvester and transfer it to a large truck for transport to the grain silos. We are probably viewing a commercial harvesting operation where you pay a company to harvest your wheat field. Each of the harvesters costs approximately $750,000 to $1,000,000 new. That price would include the leveling system enabling the harvester to tilt to follow the contour of the steep ground and the header, the wide part that cuts the wheat.

We are looking closer at the harvesters cutting the wheat. The long lines you see behind the harvester in the wheat chaf and it will most likely be baled and used for various purposes.

Here we see the wheat being transferred from the harvester to the bank out wagon. Oftentimes the transfer will occur as the harvester is moving along and cutting the wheat. One of the large harvesters will hold about 300 bushels of wheat and if the wheat is cutting at 75 bushels an acre you need to empty the harvester fairly often. Additionally some of the wheat fields in this part of the country are fairly steep so you must be conscious of the weight in the harvester lest it starts sliding on the steep hillside.

This is just an interesting image showing the wheat harvester against the backdrop of the windmills.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at the wheat harvest and the Chickpeas getting ready for your next batch of hummus. We rather enjoyed the outing along Johnson Hollow and other parts of the country and seeing all the activity.

Let us know if you have any questions.
All the best - Be Well - George and Deanna

Many Wildflowers, Some Butterflies, Lots of Birds, and Bunches of Fun

We took a ride with some friends, Rodger and Ginger, up into the mountains to look for some wildflowers and a few birds. On the map above we are showing the start in Dayon, Washington, Moose Creek Cafe identified on the map is in Dayton. We headed south out of Dayton down South Fourth Street towards Bluewood Ski Area. We turned east on Hatley Gulch Road way before reaching the ski area and wandered toward Godman Springs Campground. We mostly traveled along Skyline Road. It was largely slow travel along a very dusy road, sometimes through an old burn and sometimes through heavier forest. There were lots of wildflowers and many other things to see which slowed our travels even more.

Actually we had seen this sign earlier, on a road we were traveling, it is not along Skyline Road. There was a logging operation where they were chipping a bunch of wood and the chips were flying all over. You certainly had to be cautious and watch for flying material. At least they were off on a side road when we traversed the area. It is a fun sign.

Having that side note out of the way we turned on Hatley Gulch Road and immediately found this Western Kingbird. They are a very common flycatcher. This is most likely a juvenile or young bird, note the very light coloraation, an adult Kingbird is quite a bit darker in color.. We found about eight of these birds just after turning onto Hatley Gulch. Most likley there were a couple of nests there and the kids were getting kicked out and forced to move around.

Here are some other juveniles, in this case juvenile Brewers Blackbirds. They were a bit further up Hatley Gulch in a flock of about 7 of them. They were foraging among some small cedar trees along the side of the road and adjacent to a wheatfield. Often times juvenile birds are difficult to identify because they don't have many of the adult markings.

You go up Hatley Gulch by climbing through a canyon. The road was in great condition, not dusty and rather smooth. It appeared to have been sprayed with a dust retardent or sealer. It was in great shape and there were lots of birds in the canyon. After you get up on top you are on a plateau and can see for some distance. This shows some of the many windmills we have chatted about in a previous blog.

Here is an image from along Skyline Road, lots of wildflowers. The redish colored flowers are Indian Paint Brush and the tall row of flowers in the background are Fireweed.

This is a better look at the Fireweed. Years ago when we were volunteering in Homer Alaska there was an ice cream shop that had some interesting flavors beyond strawberry and rocky road. They had a flavor called Fireweed and it was fabulous. They would not divulge their trade secrets so we don't know what it was made from, it was delicious so we just ate it.

We are certainly not the foremost of wildflower identification people so we do a bit of research and make a guess at the species of flowers. We believe this is a Sulphur flower Buckwheat and if some one knows a different and more accurate name please let us know and we can learn something. It is a pretty little flower nonetheless.

The yellow flowers dominating the front of the image appear to be St Johns-wort while the row in the background is more Fireweed. The St Johns-wort was incredibly abundant along the road. There were patches of it where it was very thick and lined the road on both sides.

We had mentioned Indian Paintbrush earlier. This is a close-up of the flower.

We had during our various travels seen various amounts of Indian Paintbrush. We had never seen it in the volume that we found along Skyline Road. There were major extensive patches of Indian Paintbrush along both sides of the road. The flowers were quite colorful.

We saw many different butterflies working the various flowers. This is a Painted lady. A fairly common butterfly. We also saw many Swallowtail and Pale Yellow Swallowtail. It was great watching the butterflies.

We think this is a Mountain Aster. We were definitely in the Mountains about 5,300 feet in elevation and this certainly appears to be an Aster so the name fits.

We stopped as we were leaving Godman Springs for a look around. This shows the mountains off in the distance. It is great country.

You not only see large displays in fields of wildflowers but you can find hidden gems as you look around more closely. This appears to be a Canterberry Bell, a beautiful bell shaped blue flower. Again if we have mis-identified some flowers please let us know through the comments capability of this blog.

Starting down the road from Godman Springs we looked back and saw these trees on the horizon. They look like ghost trees to me, mere silhouettes of their former selves. At this elevation the winters can be harsh and the exposed trees take the brunt of the winter winds.

We are now heading back and so just like this bluebird, we are out of here leaving behind lots of beautiful wildflowers, wonderful things to see, and great times.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at the wildflowers and other sights along Skyline Road and around Godman Springs. It was a rather enjoyable adventure.

Let us know if you have any questions.
All the best - Be Well - George and Deanna

Lewis & Clark Patit Creek Campsite

The Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery passed through this area of Washingon going both West to the Pacific in 1805 and returning east in 1806. This map gives you a general view of their travels through this area,

On May 2, 1806, the Corps of Discovery passed through what is now downtown Dayton. Having traveled 19 miles on that particular day, the group encamped near Patit Creek. This marker indicates the possible site of their encampment. This marker and associated silhouettes is located along Patit Creek Road about 2 miles east of Dayton.

Here is the verbiage from that marker:
"The Corps of Discovery camped near this spot with fair weather and a southwest wind on their return to St. Louis. They recorded seeing deer, sandhill cranes, beaver, and otter. There was camas in bloom along the Patit Creek when Lewis & Clark both compared this land to the rich fertile bottomlands along the Missouri and Ohio Rivers. To the north of this camp was the trail on which they proceeded on the morning of May 3rd. Today it is the Ronan Road that retraces part of the old trail."

As part of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, a group of Dayton residents created a full-scale restoration of the campsite with life-size metal silhouette sculptures. Using the journals as reference, all members—human and animal—of the expedition are represented. The camp is located just two miles east of Dayton on Patit Road.

There is a legend that identifies the silhouettes. It is a liitle difficult to read from the image but indicates what is happening in the collection of silhouettes.

The above two images present close ups of the encampment. There is a lot of detail and action depicted in the various silhouettes scattered about in the field

For further information you can check the Dayton Chamber of Commerce Web site by clicking here as well as search on the internet for additional information if you are interested.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at the Lewis and Clark Patit Creek Campsite out of Dayton, WA. It is a fun little stop and provides a brief glimpse into some local history.

Let us know if you have any questions.
All the best - Be Well - George & Deanna

Covello

Covello Washington and Wheat and Windmills

On Saturday July 1st we decided to take a ride around and see some country. We took some back roads looking at the wheat fields and farming areas. Our route started along the blue line on the left of the map and continued north and east. We ended up going to Covello, WA as seen on the right hand side of the above map. Covello consists of one farmstead with a house and several outbuildings located down a gravel road east of Dayton.

Here is the sign at the junction of a couple of roads indicating the township of Covello. The Quail on the left hand side of the sign was very interesting. Note the drop off in population as indicated on the map from 1900 to present, quite decline.

This is Bruce road heading south out of Covello. We are getting up into the higher ridges where there are lots of windmills, rather large windmills.

We are also up in wheat country, lots of wheat. This particular image shows how green some of the wheat is. Covello is about 2434 feet above sea level and we have climbed a little above Covello. Down in the lower elevations west of Walla Walla they are starting to harvest the wheat but here a little higher it will be a while.

Here is a different field of wheat, further west that is closer to harvest. Dramatic difference in appearance.

Here we see the windmills above the wheat fields. This is an area known as Hopkins Ridge, we think. There are several large wind farms in the area and only limited signage indicating the name of the wind farms.

Here is a field of peas. They grow lots of peas in this area. If you look close at the image you will see the vines are really loaded with peas. Some of these fields of peas will be picked green for fresh pea processing while others will be harvested dry.

Here is a rather large field of peas with the windmills in the background.

This image shows a number of windmills on the ridge. They were spinning on Saturday generating a lot of electricity.

Did we say lots of windmills? This image was taken on a different day and partially shows the extent of the wind farms in this area. This view shows more than just Hopkins Ridge. Here is some statistical information regarding the wind turbines.

The wind towers on Hopkins Ridge in WA state are 221 feet tall, excluding the blades. With the blades, the total height of the towers is 351 feet. The towers are made of steel and weigh about 77 tons. Each blade is 129 feet long and weighs over 7 tons. The diameter of the rotor is 264 feet, which is larger than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. The wind farm has 87 turbines, which can generate up to 156.6 megawatts of electricity. This was a brief look at the Windmills and the wheat and pea fields. There are a lot of backroads to travel and fascinating sights to see.

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at the wheat and windmills.

Let us know if you have any questions.
All the best - Be Well - George & Deanna