Friday, July 30, 2010

Yakima, Washington

Tuesday 27 July
Yakima's a pop 70,000 city in mid-south Washington state, steppe climate in the shadow of the Cascade range
agriculture in the form of fruit and vegetables is the economic mainstay, and there's a burgeoning wine industry
which some of our group were keen to get to town to sample.
Also note the military have a presence, and the Japanese forces train here to take advantage of live ground-fire opportunities they dont have at home
speaking of, the Yakama Indian War took place in 1855 and they were toddled off to the reservation the following year
allowing settlement to continue apace.

So it was a minor shock to arrive in 7pm 84F temps after most of the day getting across the forested range.
We left Astoria in another cold damp fog, crossing the Columbia River on the Astoria bridge which is several km long and has 2 arches for shipping.

Not quite so prominent here as in Canada, but significant nevertheless, is the humble salmon
  Hatchery home for salmon
first as a food source for the early Indian, then as a foundation for later industry and recreation.

We visited a hatchery further up the river
females are diverted off the annual run and harvested for roe
fingerlings are raised and released after an 18 month process.
They swim out into the Pacific, stay there 3 years, then come back home to spawn and die.
The fingerlings amused us with their jumping antics trying to leap up the mini cascade of water fed into their living quarters
Rona said her cat would be quite interested, having once fallen into their goldfish bowl in pursuit of quarry.

In a damp valley we stopped off for a look at an old covered bridge
not done for ghosts to live in, it was to keep moisture and ice off the decking so animals and wagons could cross without mishap.

Then on to Mt St Helens national park, and a look at and in a lava cave, mile and a half long full of holidaying parties of children and families
Lava cave
and the volcano itself and its lahar valley, looked a km wide
on through the park past Mt Rainier, over White Pass
and here we are.

Meant to mention, some of the group bought new helmets in SanFran
mark the make, Shark, a french product
nice style, sound-proof, drop down sun shield
and the chin piece folds over to neatly clip behind so the unit converts readily between full and open face
between $200-400 US depending on model.

Mt Ranier

From todays paper.....
doomsday shelters are booming, manufacturers claim doubling of business each year for the last 5 years
$400,000 gets you the family model, up to $4m for the corporate
power and air filtering for 3 years
ones even supplied with a countdown clock set for 12 Dec 2012.




Lahar bed, Mt St Helens
Shark helmet

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