Rafting The Yakima, August 30, 2001

 

With John and Jeannie, on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains about a hundred miles east of Seattle...

 

 

Foggy Lake Sammamish in the early morning... in Bellevue, on my way to the work place...

 

 

 

 

Leaving Issaquah, approaching the western edge of the Cascades...

 

 

 

 

 

In the Cascades...  a strange looking dry reservoir bed...

 

   

 

 

 

On the eastern edge of the Cascades, facing northward...

 

 

 

 

On the Puget Sound side of the Cascades, the land is lush and green..  northern Pacific rain forest.  The climate, and landscape, changes dramatically on the eastern side of the Cascades, becoming arid and barren...  and in the summer months, quite hot...

 

 

In Ellensburg...  The Palace Cafe...

     

 

 

 

Entering Yakima Canyon...

       

 

 

 

 

 

We drove through the canyon, to Yakima, where the hot dry wind forced us to take temporary refuge in a local tavern...

       

 

 

 

Heading back into the canyon...

 

     

 

 

 

Red's Fly shop, where we rented a pontoon raft...  Red towed us 10 miles upstream, and put us into the Yakima River, which was running high and fast...

 

       

 

   

 

 

 

On the Yakima...

       

 

       

 

       

 

       

 

 

 

 

Driving back out of the canyon...  a strong, dry wind was blowing through the canyon...

 

 

 

 

 

We came upon some bighorn sheep as we drove out of the canyon...

 

       

 

 

 

And so ended our day on the Yakima...