Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park - 3.27.2011
Drive ~25 miles east of Ellensburg on I-90 and take Exit 136... drive thru the small town of Vantage and turn right on Recreation Road... then .3 miles to the trailhead (700').
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I started on the dirt road... then decided to head cross country to get views of the Columbia River... then out to Point Sternberg and back to the car on a trail... ~5 miles roundtrip, gaining ~900 feet of elevation.
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Not the most friendly starting point I've ever seen... I assumed that a permit was only needed if I was going to drive... so I started walking uphill on this road.
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Gaining elevation on the road gives a view of the Columbia River.
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Looking up Hells Kitchen.
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Penstemon... not a lot of flowers yet... wait another month for the best show.
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Phlox
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Looking south to Vantage... and the bridge.
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Looking across the river to the basalt cliffs.
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My high point (~1500')... the dirt road comes to this spot, but views of the river are delayed if you stay on the road.
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Looking north from my high point... I think that I'll head over to Point Sternberg in the center of the photo.
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The marker at Point Sternberg was placed in 1957.
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Petrified wood at Point Sternberg.
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Looking north from Point Sternberg... looks like a small town up river... perhaps a suburb of Quincy?
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Looking south from Point Sternberg... I think I'll stay just above the cliffs on my return to the car.
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Looking down on the basalt cliffs.
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I can see a trail leading over to the cliff tops.
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Heading back to the car now... looking back to the north... Point Sternberg on the left.
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Looking south.
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Looking straight down... looks like a shoreline... but it is just a shelf... a few hundred feet above the river.
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Looking north.
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Looking south.
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Looking north.
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Looking south.
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I can see Vantage now... getting close to Recreation Road now.
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I will use this abandoned road to get back down to the main road.
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Almost down to the main road now... looking across to the park museum.
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I decided to take the short drive over to the park museum.
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A history lesson at the park museum.
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From the park museum I'm looking at the route I took on my return to the car.
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