Rockhounding Adventures, Continued

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.