In an earlier post, I detailed the process of prospecting for garnets at the Emerald Creek Garnet Area in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Now I would like to share some pictures of the area.
The forest of evergreens covers the hills and mountains in every direction for miles. If you live in an urban area, you cannot possibly fathom the emptiness that lies just beyond the forest service roads. This parking lot along a gravel road with a porta-potty outhouse at one end is the closest thing to infrastructure here.
The forest floor is covered with fallen trees, including this trough-like log that I saw along the path to the prospecting site. There were seedlings, ferns, and other underbrush sprouting up everywhere amidst the bones of the fallen forest giants.
The creek that runs down the mountain here (no prizes for guessing its name, sorry) is shallow and clear, with steep banks and overhanging bushes. I did not go wading depite the inviting coolness on such a hot day, but this pool with its fallen log was very tempting.
The national forest area is strange in many ways. This retired yarder is a piece of logging equipment used to haul logs on a high cable across otherwise-impassible terrain. Its warning signs seem to refer to the area's cattle pastures though, since this is open range, and there were cattle roaming everywhere from this grassland area all the way up to near the parking lot in the mountains. For all I know, some may have been further up the road, too.
Back in St. Maries, I snapped a shot of this odd little steamboat that welcomes people to town. I'm no expert on nautical matters, but I am not entirely sure it's seaworthy, or that it ever was for that matter.
And lastly for today, here is a picture of an establishment with a name that seems more appropriate for exotic dancers and overpriced cocktails than for a feed and farm store.
That's it for this tour of the Idaho wilderness for now. If you want more, please visit @generikat and @scribblingramma for their own tales from this trip. Keep an eye out for pictures of my garnets, coming soon to Steemit feeds everywhere! At least, if you followed my account, that is.
Awesome! That's one thing we haven't done with the kids yet. But then again, I don't imagine I'd have much luck myself. I'd be too busy chasing the 2 & 5 yr olds! Lol! Perhaps my husband and daughters would, though! We used to gold-pan back in California. Is it a similar process?
It's not really like.gold panning. Check out this post for a description of the process with photos.
I look forward to seeing what you find! Garnets are my wife's favorite stone.
:)@generikat got a couple nice large gems this year. Mine are mostly small fragments. I plan to run some through a tumbler with some sand to see what happens. It should clean the mica and dirt out of the crevasses in the raw gemstones.
Good fun! Garnet is hard enough to do well in a tumbler. I keep thinking I might like to facet some of these. I have a couple of pounds of sunstones to practice on, but I need to make a mechanism to index the rough properly.
:)Makes me kinda miss ID, TwinFalls, but not the spiders or snakes. Nope.
I'll keep to the panhandle, thanks!
I don’t blame you. 10 yrs ago it was going down hill when my dad moved. Plus it gets 115° in the summer.
There is something about that yarder, isn't there? It seems to tell a story. A piece of accidental art for sure. I definitely would have gone into that stream. Been a very long time since I have swam in fresh water ... mostly chlorinated or salt water these days for me.
Some really beautiful shots, Jacob:)
Alright, alright ... bring on the garnets:)
wonderful nature View.nice place photography
See, this is the kind of comment that tells me nothing. I don't even know if you read my post or just name-dropped the tags I used. Try responding with something specific about the post, or asking a question. That lets me know you actually read it and are engaging with what I wrote. That is the kind of comment that is likely to get a reply and an upvote. Such conversations draw people to follow your account and support your own content, too.
Beautiful pictures. Keep sharing. Loved them.