Tuesday, July 30, 2013, Hike Along the Columbia River, Hermiston, OR

Hermiston, OR, is only a few miles from the Columbia River, so that seemed like a good place for our first hike. We started at McNary Beach. It is very close to McNary Dam which created Lake Wallula. At first, it seemed a bit bleak, but as we walked it grew on us and we were able to see the beauty in the area. The trail was named the "Lewis & Clark Trail," but I didn't get the feeling their travels covered this exact trail. We only hiked about halfway to Hat Rock SP (Sam lets us know when he's had enough, it was pretty warm.)

We didn't make it all the way to Hat Rock State Park.

Maybe we'll drive there tomorrow. 

The first thing we noticed was the rock walls on each side of the lake. It looked like huge flat rocks were dug in to form canyon walls. The north facing walls were covered with lichens giving them a strange coloring.

 It doesn't show up well, but these rocks look like they have been splashed with paint. 

 Lichen is natures Grumbacher (or do you prefer Winsor & Newton?)

 Looking across the Columbia River (picture is very zoomed) we could just barely see the little engine that could.

 The high desert is colorful in its own way (sans flowers).

 (Micro shot)

I heard some cracking and turned just in time to see a large deer who was frightened by our presence. He headed towards the fence, which was at least five feet high, where I thought he would be stopped. Instead, he jumped over it with what I can only describe as an easy floating hop. He seemed to hang in the air as he folded up his legs and sailed over the fence. Clearly, the fence was meant for me, not the wildlife.

This fellow was huge.

 Can you see the sun halo?

The high desert has some very rich and, maybe, unusual color.

Does anyone know what kind of tree this is?

We have seen them since South Dakota.  Dusty gray, no more than 20 feet high, a bit scrubby, and now we see a tiny half-inch fruit of some kind.

 Pelicans in Oregon!  Who knew?  He was huge.

I kept seeing colorful rocks and found myself picking up several. When my pocket starting getting heavy, I realized it was crazy to keep them, so I thought a little arrangement along the side of the road might be fitting. I know you can't see it, but there really was something unique about each of these rocks.

Can you see the Cliff Swallow nests?  I didn't, until I zoomed in.