Category Archives: photo essay

Vancouver, USA Summer Spots (Walk #8)

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At the halfway point of the Visit Vancouver USA challenge (an app designed to encourage participants to get outdoors and explore the area), my eighth walk took me to the banks of the Columbia River and the Waterfront Renaissance Trail.

Chules and I went early in day to avoid the “heat dome” high temperatures, so we managed to catch a bit of the sunrise pink sky.

We’ve visited this area many times, so we strolled the familiar walkway for about a mile. I always enjoy seeing the art installations, including this sculpture of Ilchee, by artist Eric Jensen.

The sign next to the sculpture tells us that:

 “Ilchee, or ‘Moon Woman,’ was the daughter of Chinook Chief Comcomly. Ilchee arrived in the Fort Vancouver area in 1813, where she met and married her father’s successor, Chief Casino. She is depicted gazing west down the Columbia River, toward her family’s ancestral home at Chinook Point on the Washington coast.”

Farther east on the trail is another public art piece titled “Wendy Rose,” by the artists Women Who Weld (Sharon Agnor, Wendy Armstrong, Sumi Wu, Jennifer Corio & Kathy Wilson).

The plaque there states:

“Wendy celebrates the legacy of the women who entered the workforce at the Kaiser Shipyards during World War II. Wearing a bright red polka dot scarf made of glass, Wendy strides across the Bonneville Dam and is surrounded by other local symbols of the era.”

An interesting contrast between Ilchee and Wendy Rose, historically (and artistically) speaking.

So that’s eight site check-ins; seven to go!

Also an entry for the Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC) hosted by Marsha and Cee.

Vancouver, USA Summer Spots (Walk #7)

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Photo: Salmon Creek, Vancouver WA

The 7th outing for the Summer Challenge walks took us to Klineline Pond. Fortunately we could do our gps check-in from the parking lot because – after paying the parking fee – we discovered that my fur buddy Chules was not welcome at the pond.

So we took a photo from afar. The pond area appears to be very lush and green.

See that dried brown area in the forefront of the pic? Yeah, that’s where Chules and I were delegated to be. Nonetheless, there is a path that parallels Salmon Creek, the stream that feeds into Klineline Pond, so we took that and got in a nice little scenic walk.

I think Chules took this next pic. I did my best to straighten it. He thinks it looks great.

The next photo is straight. It’s the tree that’s crooked.

Seven site check-ins down; eight to go!

Vancouver, USA Summer Spots (Walks #5 and #6)

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The next two checkpoints on my Summer Challenge site visits were Vancouver Lake Park and Frenchman’s Bar Park.

I went to Vancouver Lake first. I have to admit I wasn’t super impressed with the park. It’s got picnic tables and volleyball nets set up on the sandy beaches, and I saw folks headed to the water with kayaks and picnic baskets. But unless I missed something, there’s really not much in the way of “communing with nature” potential.

Chules and I walked down the beach a ways and found a gaggle of geese and a murder of crows. (The murder scene is in the photo at top.) Beyond that, we didn’t see much to crow about. But we were able to check off another location for the challenge!

Frenchman’s Bar Park is a mile to the west of Vancouver Lake (as the proverbial crow flies), on the shore of the Columbia River. We went early in the morning to avoid the +100F degree heat expected later that day, but the place was already busy with paragliders trying to launch from the beach, a wedding (we assumed based on the white-gowned woman and the nervous looking man at her side), and a multi-generational family wandering around at the behest of a photographer conducting a frenzied photoshoot.

Chules and I tried to bypass all of that, and ended up following a gravel/dirt trail north to the river bank. We passed through a sizeable section of woods that had been burned recently, likely the result of an uncontrolled (and illegal) campfire.

Then we circled back where the photographer was encouraging a couple of reluctant kids to snuggle in next to grandma, the wedding party was making its way to tables laden with food, and the deflated paragliders were packing up their deflated gliders. We never saw any of them successfully launch. (Paragliders, that is… hopefully the wedding couple’s launch into married life will fare better.)

We will likely go back to Frenchman’s Bar, but unless Chules develops a penchant for beach volleyball, we won’t be rushing back to Vancouver Lake.

Six site check-ins down, nine to go!

Vancouver, USA Summer Spots (Walks #3 and #4)

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Continuing with my Summer Challenge walks, my third and fourth outings were practically at the same location, so I’ll cover them both here.

Fort Vancouver was established in 1824 as a fur trading post by the Hudson’s Bay Company. The company abandoned the fort in 1860 and moved their operations north into British Columbia. The fort was destroyed in a fire in 1866. In 1948, the site was designated as a national monument, and in the mid 1960s, the National Park Service began building the full-size replica structures that stand on the site now.

The day Chules and I visited, the Fort was closed to the public, so we “checked in” via gps, and then walked the paths through the adjacent fields of tall grass and wildflowers.

The following day, we returned and took another path which is part of the Discovery Historic Loop, and leads to the Vancouver Land Bridge which crosses over Hwy 14 and leads to the Old Apple Tree Park.

Photo: Installation at the top of the land bridge, directly over Hwy 14.

The Old Apple Tree, planted in 1826, was – until its recent demise – the oldest apple tree in the Pacific Northwest. If I remember correctly it toppled in a storm, and there is an old stump and a young apple tree there now.

I thought the land bridge was the gps checkpoint, but I wasn’t able to check in until I reached the apple tree, er – stump. The entire Discovery Historic Loop is 2.3 miles, and actually encompasses two other checkpoints that I will cover later.

I will likely return to Ft. Vancouver some other time to tour the actual fort. Chules might have to stay home for that trip. No dogs allowed inside the fort.

Four sites down, 11 to go!

Vancouver, USA Summer Spots (Walk #2)

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As stated in my last post, I am participating in a local summer “challenge” that aims to get folks out and about to nearby parks, nature trails and other fun outdoor locations. I described my first outing of the challenge here.

My second walking adventure took me to:

Evergreen Trail at Columbia Springs

The Evergreen Trail starts at the Columbia Springs Environmental Education Center in Vancouver, WA. The center is a nonprofit that teaches folks about stewardship and environmental science. There is also an active fish hatchery on site that raises steelhead, rainbow trout and chum salmon.

Chules and I made our way along trails flanked by native and nonnative flora. It all smelled wonderful to Chules.

There are a number of paths to choose from, all of them relatively short and easy to walk.

We met some very friendly ducks who apparently thought we’d be easy marks for snagging a snack. They lost interest and swam away as soon as they realized we were snackless.

All in all, Columbia Springs made for a nice morning adventure, and I got another location checked off my list.

Two down, 13 to go!

Vancouver, USA Summer Spots (Walk #1)

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I came across a local “summer challenge” run through an app that is designed to encourage participants to get outdoors and explore the area. There are 20 sites listed, and if I verify (through the app’s gps) that I have visited 15 of the 20 locations by August 31st, I get entered into a drawing for prizes.   

My walking companion Chules and I have visited and “checked in” at five of the locations so far. I’m going to share with you some of the beauty of my area through a series of posts and photos of our outings.  My first destination, in Ridgefield, Washington:

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Oh, I forgot… Chules didn’t get to come on this walk. No dogs allowed in the refuge. But I had the good company of one daughter and three grandkids.

The Oaks-to-Wetland trail winds through large native Oregon white oak trees and other lush foliage (including some carefully marked poison oak), and along a lake with excellent opportunities for bird spotting.

Photo: poison oak

Then the trail opens up into tall grass and climbs away from the wetlands.

We didn’t make it all the way around the loop. Hot weather and a two-year-old who was due for a nap prevailed. Maybe next time.

One down, 14 more to go.

Weekend Wildcard: deck update

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I was looking back on previous posts on this site, and came across the horrendous photos I’d shared a few years ago of my rotting deck. Well, the photos weren’t really horrendous, I guess; the deck was.

I had written about how I could drive a pitchfork through the deck boards, how I wanted to coax another season out of the rotting boards by removing the most dangerous ones, and repainting the remainder with the decade-old sealer that I had stored from the last time I had done any work on the deck. And then the sealer had mostly washed away in an unexpected rain squall that came through just minutes after completing the paint job.

Well, I’m happy to report that this past summer, I actually replaced the deck!

Ripping up the old deck was every bit as fulfilling as I had expected. Demolition is fun when it’s intentional! The deck boards had been nailed to humongous creosote-soaked beams 12 feet long and with a diameter of 36 inches.  Seven of them. Six and a half, actually, since I had already removed half of one beam that had rotted clear through.

The hardest part was moving those beams out of the way, which I managed a few tedious inches at a time with a shovel and some boards to slide them on. Then I set about constructing my new deck.

The new deck is half the size of the old one. I built it using a plan I found online. It’s nothing fancy, just a 12’ x 12’ square. This spring or summer I will seal it (with new sealer, not something that’s been sitting around for years – gotta protect my investment).  

I can’t wait to spend time on my new deck once the weather moderates. And I can’t describe how immensely satisfying it is to look out my window and see my own handiwork rather than the dilapidated structure it replaces. Simple pleasures, I guess.

I’m still working out what to do with the old beams. I might use them to replace other creosote-laden railroad ties that were used around the property as retaining walls. My next big project, perhaps. A few inches at a time.

The Grand Scheme

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This week’s Daily Post photo challenge asks “Where do you belong?” and the challenge is to “show us your Place in the World  … give us a glimpse of who you are in the grand scheme of things.”

In the grand scheme of things… hmm.

To begin with, my place in the world is under the sun.

place1

That’s the grand scheme part. But where do I belong?

I belong in the space where the currant bush that was given to me by my sister grows.

place2

I belong where I can watch the changing of the seasons on an ivy-covered wall.

place4

I belong where wildlife visitors are welcome to drop in (with some notable exceptions, i.e. rodents and wasps).

place3

I belong where I can share a red table, a blue chair and a quasi-green lawn with a white dog.

shadow3

The place where I feel most at home is — well, at home.

But in the grander scheme, my thoughts and energy, and even these words I’m typing right now reach far beyond the expanse of greenery that surrounds my home. So for a glimpse of who I am, get a glimpse of who you are, and there you will find me, too.

place5

Unless you’re a rodent. Or a wasp.