Scott needed to be in Moses Lake today to pick up a car, so I was elected to drive him there. ?This provided a perfect opportunity to get in a little bit of photography and rockhounding, provided the snow level was minimal.

Hooray for bare ground!!!

I noticed that the ground was covered in snow most of the way over, but the area around Vantage near the Columbia River was bare.

This provided a perfect opportunity to stop and explore. ?I parked the truck next to the road and started climbing the steep hillside.

No traffic means less worry.

This hilllside looked really promising, but turned out to be a mixed experience. ?I was able to find a few pieces of jasper, which gave promise of more, but the pieces were all small.

Not very big, but showing the possibilities for the area.

The largest piece was pure white, which is not easy to find in nature, and will make some nice borders for intarsia pieces. ?I hope to go back and see if I can find some larger pieces.

I next headed up to the top of the hill and started walking around. ?I did find a couple of very small pieces of petrified wood. ?So the exercise was worth it.

Really small, but showing potential.

I also spent some time photographing the ice on a couple of waterfalls. ?This filled in the time before I had to head home.

I also met Fred, from Ellensburg, ?who was out hauling a 10 to 15 pound piece of what could have been carbonized wood home. ?It was nice to meet him and we had a good conversation on the area.

I headed home at 4:30pm, and managed to make it over the pass in a snow storm without trouble.

Thanks for joining me.

chasfire