Tuesday, September 7, 2010

This Weekend I..., grouse hunting and the High Steel Bridge

And
Joining Susan for...


Please visit A Southern Daydreamer for
more Outdoor Wednesday posts.
~*~




  • Did lots of sewing


  • picked blackberries


  • made a wild blackberry buckle


  • had an awesome dinner at friends


  • ate the blackberry buckle with friends


  • sewed some more


  • heard one of the best sermons ever, delivered by our Youth Pastor


  • marked logs for Gentleman Farmer to cut for firewood


  • went grocery shopping


  • picked up a ready- to -bake pizza


  • baked ready- to- bake pizza and ate it


  • listed items I sewed in my Etsy store


  • went grouse hunting with Gentleman Farmer
    (story follows)

Thanks Becky, for hosting This Weekend I...


Why not stop over and see what others did this weekend?


~*~*~*~*~


Gentleman Farmer asked if I would join him


for a morning of grouse hunting. Of course


I couldn't refuse. We drove up into the hills


near where I grew up. We didn't see one grouse,


but enjoyed the scenery just the same!


I've traveled these hills for nearly 50 years


hunting, camping, Christmas tree hunting, and


snow sledding and tubing with friends and


family. I thought perhaps you might enjoy


what we saw, too!


Acre upon acre, mile upon mile of gorgeous


evergreen forests!



Who needs grouse when you can feast your


eyes on such spectacular beauty!


A road less traveled



Early Autumn splendor

Pearly everlasting
(blogger has turned my pic again!)

Golden ferns in their seasonal finery


An old 'burn' that reminded me of the tundra
in Alaska


A splash of sunshiny yellow provided by wild tansy.


~*~


And then we came here!

The High Steel Bridge over the Skokomish River.

I haven't been here in a few years, but I used to come

here lots of times as a child when hunting with my Grandpa

and boy cousins (we were all raised by my grandparents

so I call them my brothers.)

I must preface this part of the story

with a little history (mine).

Once when I was around 7 years old, I went

hunting with said brothers and we crossed

this bridge. It looked different then, it had not

yet been rebuilt. The railings were shorter, and made of

wood. It was great fun to stand in the middle of this bridge

and peer down into the canyon to the river below.


(This bridge is over 600 feet above the river below

and many people hiking to the bottom have fallen

and been killed. Hiking is now forbidden but many

continue to do it. Just last week, a 16 year old, hiking

with friends, fell and had to be rescued. She is now in

critical condition in a hospital. )


Boys being boys, my eldest cousin/brother picked me up

and held me over the edge and laughingly said he

was going to drop me!!!

(Please understand, this guy is very strong and NEVER would

have hurt me in any way. He is just a big tease!)

BUT....

I have never been the same since!

I am now afraid of heights!

I don't enjoy flying!

I used to have very vivid nightmares about

falling off this bridge.

I haven't had those dreams for over 20 years

so I thought I would be okay

going out on the bridge this day.


Here I am about one third of the way across

I even came to the edge and held the camera over to snap this photo!
(though I couldn't look!)



More shots just holding the camera over ~

I'm kind of amazed that they turned out so well!

(I looked at them when I got home!)




and this one on the other side of the bridge...




and even this one...

(I'm still not looking!)



and this one!


Then it happened!

I started to feel sick, dizzy and nearly in tears,

panicking, I handed the camera to Gentleman Farmer

and he finished taking photos

while I quickly got off the bridge!















UGH!

I feel dizzy just looking at these pics!



But I didn't have any dreams of falling!

:~D

~*~

~Epilogue~

We came home and one of GF's hunting buddies

called and said he got a few grouse while hunting

that day!

He brought us some and we did have

it for dinner.

Thanks, friend!

~*~

Please follow the link highlighted above, for some

info and more photos on

The High Steel Bridge.

~*~

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is His loving kindness toward those who fear Him."

Psalm 103:11







18 comments:

Anna Olivia said...

Sounds like a fun weekend! And my oh my, what an incredible bridge!!! and beautiful scenery. =)

Farmgirl Cyn said...

I'm right with you on the heights thing. I could barely look at the beautiful photos you and your hubby took! Makes me dizzy just thinkin' about it!
The evergreen forests are spectacular!

Rebecca said...

What a fine weekend you had! And I'm with you on the height/bridge thing, too!

Our scenery was mainly four of our grandchildren, including one we'd never seen before -- a 7 month old boy our daughter & SIL are adopting.

Mrs. M said...

Well, grouse hunting certainly involves some gorgeous scenery. Just amazing.

Heather said...

wow amazing pictures it is all such beauty to take in ~thanks for sharing ~Love Heather

Nadine said...

Looks like a lovely outing!
The bridge reminds me of the one up at Deception Pass, I don't enjoy walking that one! :0

Blessings!
~Nadine

Mrs. E said...

Dearest Lady Farmer,
It sounds and looks like you had a delightful weekend.
Oh... those pictures are simply breathtaking!!

*hugs* dear!

Love & Blessings~ Miss Jen

a calm spirit said...

That is quite a drop!

The scenery on the first photos were just beautiful...you have been blessed to live in a state where beauty surrounds you dear friend.

be blessed!

maria

Cindy said...

Dearest LF,
Boys will be boys and whether they realise it or not what they do is sometimes very cruel. I am so sorry that that happened to you. Good thing you had GF with you on that bridge. That bridge is VERY high! I couldn't have looked over it to take photos either, but then I don't like heights either!
Hugs, Cindy

Kathy Walker said...

What a packed weekend with beautiful scenery!

Linda said...

It sounds like you had a great weekend....and oh my goodness....just looking at those photos from the bridge made my knees shake! The photos are spectacular!

Jennifer said...

Oh those pictures over the side of the bridge. Oh my. Goodness, you do take nice photos...I hope I can get just a few such great shots while on vacation!

Such a pretty new background, too!

HollyC said...

What a wonderful weekend! I love all of your photos, but that bridge must be some kinda high...because I felt dizzy just looking at the pics! Whew!

I'm stopping by from Outdoor Wednesday. Thanks for sharing.
~Holly

Camille said...

What a lovely post Raeann! How beautiful the area you live in is! SUCH gorgeous photos of the evergreen forests. SO lovely!

Oh. Dear. Me! That bridge scares me too and I sit here at the computer! I loved the commentary of how you were NOT looking...cute!

Blessings to you my friend!
In Him,
Camille

Jonathan said...

Wow! Beautiful photos of God's creation. Interesting story too!

magnoliasntea said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous pictures! I've enjoyed perusing them. Thank you for posting such wonderful sites.

Carl Gray said...

I always get dizzy on that bridge and I don't dare look all the way over like you did!

It sounds like you had a great time. I love the area up around there where my dad used to work and still spends plenty of time cutting wood and hunting and fishing. He got a nice big grouse the other day, but they are few and far between this year.

It was sure fun seeing you last weekend. That was just a real great little visit, and great pizza too.

Anonymous said...

This is such an amazing post. I never ever grow weary of natures paintbrush BUT, i'm with you. I'd be hurling off that bridge... not a pretty sight i'm sure. Then, I would've gotten back up from stomach toss and resumed pictures just because. Gorgeous. thanks for having me. Tammy