March 2018April 2018 May 2018

04/28 - Trilliums on the Lake Angeles Trail

Between winter conditions and road repairs, we haven't been hiking the Lake Angeles Trail lately. We finally made our way back, and were pleasantly rewarded. The trail is as beautiful as ever, the trilliums were starting to bloom, and aside from some gravel stretches, the road wasn't much of a problem.

The little stream, one view

A trillium

Another trillium, just getting ready to bloom

Yet another trillium

Another view of the little stream

Keywords: lake angeles, trillium, spring


04/26 - Spring Comes to the West Elwha

We took a walk west of the Elwha River and saw definite signs of springs. There were trilliums in bloom and columbines in profusion. Spring is here.

One of the many trilliums

Water crossing the trail

More trilliums

Old forest, signs of moisture

Another trillium

A columbine

More columbines

The boardwalk

More flowers

The Elwha River coming ...

... and going

Keywords: elwha, spring, trillium


04/10 - X.O. Alambic in Dayton

We took a side trip up to Dayton, a bit northeast of Walla Walla. Our goal wasn't a winery, but a distillery. Like many towns, Dayton has an agricultural business incubator, basically big open spaces with concrete floors, big doors, loading docks, good plumbing and good wiring. There was a Jolly Green Giant on the hillside behind it. This area is frozen vegetable country.

One never knows what one will find inside one of these spaces. They are intentionally generic, so businesses can make what they want of them. A step into the X.O.Alambic space was a trip into steam punk. We were suddenly back in the 19th century or early 20th with pipes, valves, shining metal boilers and condensers, pressure sealed windows and an air of organized clutter that would not have been out of place aboard Jules Verne's Nautilus.

There was methanol dripping from the recently charged still. Neurotoxic, we were informed. Our host carefully isolated the bucket and set up a new one. Soon, proper ethanol would start condensing. We stood and marveled. The drivers of modern industry are so dull in comparison. Compare the uniform matte racks of a modern server farm with the gleaming stainless still and rich copper of the alambic stills.

We tasted firewater prepared using the cognac process. It had been aged, and was quite good. We tasted a variety of whiskeys. We had passed grain farms and granaries on our drive to Dayton, and here a variety of grains were being fermented, then distilled and the product aged in oak barrels. We aren't whiskey people, but it was fun tasting. We'll stick with wine for now, but it's good to see people thinking and experimenting like this.


The Jolly Green Giant

Welcome to Captain Nemo's laboratory

A view towards the rear

Stills and barrels

Copper can be beautiful

The bottling area

Aging barrels

What it takes to keep things running

The tools

Another telephone; perhaps for calling one's broker when the silver standard returns

Our host preparing for sea trials

Keywords: farms, walla walla


04/09 - Bennington Lake in Walla Walla

It's that time of year again, the Cayuse spring release. It wasn't very spring-like, but we headed out to Walla Walla anyway. Usually, all the fruit trees en route are full of blossoms, but this time only a handful were. It has been a slow spring on both sides of the Cascades.

In Walla Walla, we made a point of walking around Bennington Lake. It is very different country from where we live. There were dry grasses and old seed pods and wide open agricultural land with mountains only in the distance. The Army Corps of Engineers had closed the sluices, so the lake was low and the side stream was dry. We assume they know what they are doing.


Dry grasses

Distant mountains

Very different from the Olympic Peninsula

This is where one fords the feeder stream for Bennington Lake. It was just about dry.

The closed gates

A view with some water

Agricultural land

Dried berries

Dried seed pods

Bare trees

Lovely country

Keywords: spring, walla walla


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