Yakima River Canyon
Early morning sun highlighted the hills and their reflection on the river. I needed about another half hour before the tress on the rivers edge would be highlighted. I did not have the patience and drove further up the river. That was a mistake!
Yakima River Canyon
The Yakima River Canyon is always a great photographic opportunity. During the fall it is especially so. The bright oranges pop out from the brown surrounding hills. They accent the blues in the river and sky. The canyon displays different scenes throughout the day. The morning sun highlights the western bank. The afternoon sun highlights the eastern bank. A great day is to drive north through the canyon in the morning, enjoy the shops and galleries and have lunch in Ellensburg, then drive back south through the canyon in late afternoon,. (A Yakima valley perspective.)
Basalt, Yaklma River Canyon
These pieces of basalt (approximately 18 inches in length) caught my as I was exploring road cuts in the Yakima River Canyon. They seemed to be accented by an artists brush. Different patterns and different colors abounded in adjacent rocks. Since the rocks were adjacent and seem to be part of the same basalt flow, why are they so different in surface color and pattern. I need to do a little research on what factors determine the color and patterns.
Vertical Basalt Columns – Yakima River Canyon
A couple of miles up the road from my last post, I saw these basalt columns protruding vertically upward. They were located on a different ridge. The forces driving the uplift were different than the ones from the first ridge. I ask why, what caused the difference? Did this ridge lift at a different time or were the forces just different from the ridge in the first post. My curiosity kills me. I think I need to do more research on how these “Yakima Folds” evolved.
Yakima River Canyon, Washington
How did a river cut such a gorge through a basalt mountain. Maybe it didn’t. The Yakima River originates high in the Cascade Mountains. The upper end of the river was not part of the great Missoula floods that covered Eastern Washington. The Yakima meanders through several Basalt Ridges. The nature of a meandering steam is that it flows through a relatively flat plain. If the mountains were there first, the river would have flowed around them. So how did the Yakima get through the mountains. Maybe the river was there first, As the ridges slowly developed as part of the Yakima fold formations, the river could have gradually cut a channel through its original riverbed route.
I spent a day slowly driving through the Yakima River Canyon. I stopped and photographed several interesting rocks and formations. During the next week or so, I will post several of my images.