Just Follow the Water

Eastern Washington is often stereotyped as a desert, and for much of its acreage, this is true. The ecosystems can get very interesting, however, as you approach more consistent water sources - be they creeks, lakes, wetlands, or even a depression or north-facing slope that retains more water.

The Asotin Creek canyon is one such area. Between the steep basalt canyon walls, on which grow mostly sagebrush and grasses, is a lush riparian environment, full of cottonwood, alder, Ponderosa pine, and plenty of shrubs. I visited this area both to get a chance to see this environment and to get out in a wildlife refuge before hunting season really gets underway.

This morning's adventure also continued my ongoing saga of lonely trailheads in Asotin County: I only saw one other party all day. The area does see more use, though: There were horse prints and droppings along the trail, and plenty of garbage around the trailhead parking lot. And nothing makes you feel safe and at home like some of that garbage consisting of spent shells...

Anyway.

The first image comes to you courtesy of Headgate County Park, which is right along Asotin Creek Road. There are no trails, bathrooms, or established campsites; the park consists of a gravel road, with signs marking the places where you can camp and drive and the places you can't. That's it. As far as walking, you can stomp your way through the grass on some very overgrown vehicle tracks. So, although the setting is pretty, it's not necessarily a place I'll be chomping at the bit to make a million return trips to.

I liked the way the early morning sunlight was falling on the cottonwoods, and wanted to include some of the desert cliffs in the background to tell the story of this interesting environment. In retrospect, it would have been nice to have the cliffs be a bit more prominent, but this does pretty well. F/22.

The rest of the images come from the Asotin Creek Wildlife Area, along the North Fork Asotin Trail. It's a similar concept to the one above, with red rosehips in the foreground. This one is looking up the canyon a bit more diagonally, which makes for a slightly more interesting perspective. F/29.

Below is Asotin Creek itself, surrounded by lush growth and overshadowed by the dry canyon walls. F/22.The shutter speed was 1/3 of a second, which blurred the water a bit. I wouldn't have minded more blur, but it was actually quite bright, and that was the best I could do.

The next three images feature aster flowers in various stages of blooming. All of them used fairly wide apertures to blur the background and isolate the flower/bud.