Sunday, July 21, 2024: … Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator, ZMM Route Travelers Can Stop & Study The Second Of Two Local History Signs.
…Which Tells Of Much Mining Or Rich Veins Of Copper, And Even Silver, As Mentioned The Previous Photo.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: … Seven Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…ZMM Route Travelers Can Stop & Study The Idaho Power Company’s Electric Power Generating Equipment, At This Major Snake River Dam.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Five Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…The ZMM Route Traveler Can Stop & Study This Major Snake River Dam, From Its Down-River Side.
…From The Size Of The Electrical Switch Yard & Abundance Of Electrical High Tension Wires, Obviously Lots Of Electrical Power Is Generated Here!!
…Also, Scrolling To The Right From The Dam, A View Down River, Shows That The Snake River Then Flows Into A Narrow Deep Canyon.

The ZMM Narrator Says =>
….“ Farther on we cross a dam and leave the canyon into some high semidesert country.”…

NOTE: Henry Gurr’s Photos Taken 2002, Shows A Roadway Over The Dam, With Full Discussion. …. It Is Very Likely What Author Robert Pirsig used To Cross The Snake River Into Oregon, in 1968. Click Here.
…However, since that time, the traveler can no longer travel on top of the dam, and must cross the river using a special road bridge, that was later constructed further downstream. The view from the center of this bridge is seen in the NEXT Panorama Photo.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Five Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…The ZMM Route Traveler Can Stop & From The Center Of The Bridge, Study This Major Snake River Dam, And River & Canyon, On Either Side Of The Bridge.

NOTE: At the base of the dam, the river’s water is seen to be wide and calm. Why this happens here is not clear, because this is not at all typical of the narrow Snake River & Canyon hereabouts.

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WELCOME TO OREGON!!

Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Three Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
...A Bicycle Traveler Stops To Rest, In The Heat!
….And Takes A Photo Of The Sign!
…… Taking A Photo, is Just As Henry Gurr Has Done!!

..The Narrow Strip Of Pavement, Edged With A Line Of Rocks, Is A Traveler Rest Pull Off, About Which The Second Sign Tells The Rules.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Sixteen Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…A Panorama Showing The Snake River, And Its Canyon Walls.
…Interesting Dryland Vegetation Is Seen, At Left End, Especially The Larger Dryland Shrub, By The Water.
… As You Saw In The Previous Panorama Photo, The ZMM Route Has Just Crossed Over The Snake River, And We Are Now On The West Side Of The River.
…The Road Will SoonTrend West, And Will Continue Along The South Side Of The Snake River, And Soon Will Become Rt-86.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …One Minute After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…Even More Interesting Vegetation By The River.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …One Minute After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…Even More Interesting Vegetation By The River. The Vertical Red Pods Look Like The Sumac Trees That Grow Back In Our South Carolina.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Three Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…Seen In The Upper Part Of This Photo =>
…..The Darker Old Horizontal Volcanic Lava Formations:
…….In Creating This Snake River Canyon, The River Has Cut Down Thru These Old Volcanic Lava Formations.
…This /\Above/\ Seen Formation, Is Especially Interesting, Because The Once Molten Lava, As It Cooled, Made (As You Can See) Vertical Columns, Which Are Called “Devil’s Post Piles”.
******************

These So-Called “Devil’s Post Piles”, Are Most Noteworthy, And May Be Seen At =>
…A) The Dry Stone Garden WebPage Has Explanation And 12 Good Photos. Click Here.
…B) The Devils Postpile National Monument, a U.S. National Monument located near Mammoth Mountain in Eastern California. To See Wikipedia Article, Map, And 4 Photos, Click Here.

“Devil’s Post Piles” Are Formed In Ancient Lava Formations: These Formations Occur In Idaho, Oregon, And Washington, And Are Called The Columbia River Basalts,
…A) For A Short Beginner’s Introduction, A Map, And 2 Good Photos, Click Here.
…B) The Columbia River Basalts, were deposited between 17.5 and 6 million years ago and cover an area of approximately 210,000 km2. Five main episodes of volcanism occurred in western Idaho, central and southern Washington, and northern Oregon. For A Longer & More Technical Discussion Of These Basalts, With A Time Diagram Showing Historical Millions Of Years Ago Times Of Occurrence, And 7 Maps Including Oregon, Part Of Idaho, And Southern Washington. Click Here.
…C) For A Brief Discussion About The Columbia River Flood Basalts, And 7 Good Photos, Click Here.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Same Camera Location As Previous Photo.
…Interesting Dryland Vegetation Is Seen Along The Snake River, Especially The Larger Shrub, By The Water.
… A Close-Up Of What Was Mentioned In The Previous Panorama Photo.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Two Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…Even More Interesting Vegetation By The Snake River.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Two Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…Along The ZMM Route, A Panorama View Of The Snake River Valley, Here Now Following Rt-86 Trending NorthWest.
…At The Left End Of This Panorama, You See Buildings, Which Even Though Here Is A Mile Into Oregon, Are Said To Belong To The Idaho Fish & Game Department’s, Oxbow Fish Hatchery.
…Looking A Bit Further Right, And At The Right End Of The Longest Building, You Can Just Barely See The Water Of The Snake River, And Study Its Valley.
…Previous Photos Showed Scenes At The Edge Of The Snake River, But, To Arrive At The /\Above/\ Panorama Photo Location => Rt-86-Has A Mile Previously, Departed The Snake River Valley, And Traveled NorthWest, Gone Over A Hump (Seen Behind The Toyota Prius), And Has Come Back Down Again =>
…To Be At The South Edge Of The Snake River Canyon, Which You Can See At Medium Distance /\Above/\. ALL THIS IS FURTHER EXPLAINED Below.
…The Large Shrub, Seen At Right Edge Of Panorama, You Will See A Better View NEXT Photo.

Along Rt-86, At Ifs Furthest North, Snake River Canyon, Small Town Of Oxbow, Oregon.

EXPLANATION:
…Travelers should be aware that The ZMM Route here now following Rt-86, has a mile previously, departed The Snake River Valley, And has traveled NorthWest.
…This Omits Seeing => The Very Famous Oxbow Of The Snake River AND Omits Seeing => The Idaho Power Oxbow Dam. … For Wikipedia Article & 2 Photos, Click Here.

NOTE: AFTER the Blue Link below comes up, please see the following =>
…A) Mid Height Right Of Center > The Oregon town name “Oxbow”..
…B) Next down see “Hells Canyon Scenic Byway”.
…C) Next down see “Pacific Time Zone Edge”.
…D) Next right see “Idaho Fish Hatchery”.
…E) Botton Center see Red PinPoint, and 3 inches up & to right >
…….See “Scorpion Creek:, where you see the Idaho Power Oxbow Dam. .

NOW: TO STUDY WHY
… . Rt-86 Departs Snake River Valley, And Study The Famous Snake River Oxbow Curve & Subsequent Twists, AND See Where The Idaho Power Oxbow Dam Is Located . Click Here.
…
File = DSC 0359 PanoSnakeRvAftOxbowOrangeApricot Has Resize2873x400

Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Two Minutes After The Previous Photo, And Also Unmentioned By The ZMM Narrator
…Looking North, A View Of The Snake River Valley, And At Lower Center, You Can See The Gray Straight Of A Bridge, And Below It You Can Imagine Water. This Is The Snake River.
…AND, And At Bottom, Look Closely In The Tree. …. What Is Those Orange Colored Spheres In The Tree?
… Is that Due To Blossoms? Wonderment Is So Much So, That David & Henry Start Watching For More.
…This Is Shown And Explained NEXT Photo.

Along Rt-86, At Ifs Furthest North, Snake River Canyon, Small Town Of Oxbow, Oregon.

NOTE: Travelers should be additionally aware that the Photos For The Above-Mentioned Panorama, were taken at where Rt-86 goes furthest North, and, AFTER the small town of Oxbow, Oregon, Rt-86 departs again the Snake River Valley, AND trends Southwest, in the Pine Creek Valley.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …Even More Interesting Vegetation => What Is That Orange Color In The Tree?
…Is that Due To Blossoms? Wonderment So Much So, That David & Henry Stop To Investigate.
…And A Wonderous Find!! => The Orange Is Ripe Delicious Fruit!! … Which At First We Thought Were Plums, Even Though Orange Colored!

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …A Wonderous Find!! => The Orange Is Ripe Delicious Fruit, Which At First We Thought Were Orange Colored Plums, But After About 10 Minutes, Belatedly Realized That Plums Are Never Orange, And These Were Apricots!!!
…We Just Had To Get Into Mind, That Plums Are NEVER Orange!

NOTE1: Since a Wild Turkey was seen under this tree, we decided the turkey must be eating these fallen Orange Fruit, and from this, it must be safe for us.
…From closely studying the seed shape & slight ridges that are around the edge of the seed ….we finally realized … 10 Minutes later … “Apricot” !!!

NOTE2: We collected into a box about a quarter cubic foot of Apricots, picked from the tree, and ground. Ang, despite no cooling, other than put box on top of Toyota Prius at night, we were enjoying these wonderful fruits six days later!

NOTE3: This Apricot Tree was growing along a depressed lower stretch of the highway, and in a shallow ditch, such that rainwater, off the highway, would provide extra moisture to this apricot tree!


… Wikipedia Has Full Apricot Details And Five Photos. Click Here.

… Prunus Armeniaca, Is The Most Commonly Cultivated Apricot Species. Wikipedia Has Full Details And Ten Photos. Click Here.

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Sunday, July 21, 2024: …As The Road Nears The Top Of An Incline, We See A Good Overview Of Central Origan’s Arid Landscape.

Along Rt 86, Estimated To Be About 2 Miles Southwest Of Pine, Oregon.
….GPS 44.8439656000773, -117.10779991419895

File = DSC 0379 PanoGenOriganLandscapeResize3320x400

Here the Green Irrigated Valley Floors Are Surrounded By Hills Of Baked, Dry Brown,
….Pretty Much Fits The Narrator’s Passage Below.

….[ “Farther on we cross a dam and leave the canyon into some high semidesert country.” ]
…. “This is Oregon now. The road winds through a landscape that reminds me of northern Rajasthan, in India, where it’s not quite desert, much piñon, junipers and grass, but not agricultural either, except where a draw or valley provides a little extra water.
.... Those crazy Rubàiyat Quatrains keep rumbling through my head.

.something, something along some Strip of .. Herbage strown,
….That just divides the desert from the sown,
Where name of Slave and Sultan scarce is known,
And pity Sultan Mahmud on his Throne . . .
….That conjures up a glimpse of the ruins of an ancient Mogul palace near the desert where out of the corner of his eye he saw a wild rosebush . . .
…. And this first summer Month that brings the Rose . . . “(Cont.Next)

~Fifteen Miles WestSouthWest of Ox Bow Dam, Which Is At => ID & Oregon Border. The “not quite desert“,is seen in the /\ Above /\ Photo, and seen in many of my photos forthcoming, which were taken along this road.
….Also seen is green & agriculture where “draw or valley provides a little extra water”, This is usually seen in low flat valley floors of my photos, like /\ Above /\ Photo on BOTH sides of the road.
..****************..
NEW TOPIC: These Narrator Inserted Interludes of => “The Rubàiyat of Omar Khayyàm “ Seem To Have No Purpose.
….So, Why Does The Narrator Keep Coming Back To “Those crazy Rubàiyat Quatrains“?
….By now you should have noticed, throughout ZMM that => The Narrator only introduces an idea (or an observation) when it has an illustrative or poetic support, connecting with the Chautauqua at hand.
….So Please Start Pondering This Question (Bold Above), And Send Me Your Ideas.
….The Entire Poem And A Bit Of Its History Are At =>: Right Click & Open In A New Browser Frame, For The Page => “The Rubàiyat of Omar Khayyàm” , posted by the Iranian Cultural Organization (ICO). At The University Of California San Francisco.

..****************..
The ZMM Narrator Says They “Cross A Dam“, And The Next Sentence Says They Are In Oregon.
….But This Leaves Out Much ZMM Route Travel Distance, & Some Fantastic Travel Scenery, You Should Be Aware Of =>
,,Looking at your Road Atlas, or Use Satellite View Blue Link Below. Please see =>
…A) Zoom out, and watch upper left till, you see the Water of the Snake River or The Brownlee Dam Reservoir Lake, Then =>
…B) Follow Rt-71 North along the water, till you see it End at a Bridge, which crosses over to Oregon. Continue on over the bridge =>
…C) Now in Oregon, continue following the Brownlee Oxbow Highway, Northeast: The road runs along the water of the Snake River, which here is the notorious Hell’s Canyon. This water will get wider and wider, because it’s now the Reservoir Lake of the Oxbow Dam.
…D) Continuing Northeast, you will see a secondary road loop, from which the traveler can see the Oxbow Dam.
…E) North of the Oxbow Dam< you see the River Do a Tight-U Turn. This is the “Oxbow”~
…F) The Brownlee Oxbow Highway, continues into town of Oxbow, OR, and soon thereafter junctions with Rt-86 to Richland, OR, and then Baker City, OR. “
AFTER This Satellite Vu Comes Up, You Can See The Roads A) thru E Discussed Above.

..****************..
Excerpt Wikipedia Oxbow Word Origin Etymology.( Has Photo of the Ox Yoke with two Oxbows Inserted.).
…. An oxbow is a U-shaped metal [or wood] pole … that fits [around] the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or bullock. A bow pin holds it in place, [into a larger formed wooden ~beam].
….The term "oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meander in a river, sometimes cut off from the modern course of the river that formed it. [[The word (and idea) of “Oxbow” goes back to the 1400’s, before most people could read (or know the alphabet). This is because people who know the alphabet would originally call this shape a “U-Shape”!! ]]
..****************..
THE NEXT PHOTO PRESENTS =>
…. What The ZMM Reader Should Know & Understand About the Snake River, Before AND After It Passes Through Hell’s Canyon.
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(Photo = 111-1178 ...... ZMM Page = 271 ...... WayPt = 299x 2534ft)

This Is What Northeastern Oregon Looks Like In Places Where There Is No Available Water for Irrigation.
..The ZMM Narrator’s Mind Continues to Ruminate On
….A) “The Rubàiyat of Omar Khayyàm“ AND
….B) “These Fragments …Of Memory…“

….“How did that go? I don’t know. I don’t even like the poem. I’ve noticed since this trip has started and particularly since Bozeman that these fragments seem less and less a part of his memory and more and more a part of mine. I’m not sure what that means . . . I think . . . I just don’t know.
....I think there’s a name for this kind of semidesert, but I can’t think of what it is. No one can be seen anywhere on the road but us.
.... Chris hollers that he has diarrhea again.“(Cont.Next)

~23 Miles WestSouthWest of Ox Bow Dam, Which Is At => ID & Oregon Border.
..****************.

What The ZMM Reader Should Know & Understand About the Snake River, Before AND After It Passes Through Hell’s Canyon.
…. Excerpt From Wikipedia, Which Has 24 Good Photos, & Three Maps. (Both the Photos & Maps, Right Click Open In New Tab, THEN Can Click On To Make Nicely Larger.)
…. The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At 1,078 miles (1,735 km) long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake River rises in western Wyoming [South of Yellowstone National Park], then flows through the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, the rugged Hells Canyon on the Oregon–Idaho border and the rolling Palouse Hills of Washington, emptying into the Columbia River at the Tri-Cities, Washington.
….The Snake River drainage basin encompasses parts of six U.S. states (Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming) and is known for its varied geologic history [such as =>] The Snake River Plain was created by a volcanic hotspot which now lies underneath the Snake River headwaters in Yellowstone National Park. Gigantic glacial-retreat flooding episodes that occurred during the previous Ice Age carved out canyons, cliffs and waterfalls along the middle and lower Snake River. Two of these catastrophic flooding events, the Missoula Floods and Bonneville Flood, significantly affected the river and its surroundings.
….By the middle 19th century, the Oregon Trail had become well established, bringing numerous settlers to the Snake River region.
….[For the Emigrant Settlers traveling The Oregon Trail, the above mentioned Snake River Plain, had good water & fodder, and was comparatively level expeditious travel for ~300 miles. ]

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(Photo = 111-1184a ...... ZMM Page = 271 ...... WayPt = 299i ~2534ft (Photo At = WayPt = 301w 2970ft)