New Year's Day 2016

From my morning scripture reading:

The Lord bless you and keep you!  The Lord let His face shine upon you and be gracious to you!

The grace of the Lord shone brightly on our valley this morning.....beautiful sunshine despite the 20 degree temperatures.  My friend, Jody Howell, took this picture from her front yard this morning and posted it to her Facebook page. 

Hells Gate State Park Celebrates the New Year with First Day Hikes 

Friday, January 1, 2016 - 10:00am - 3:00pm

Residents of the Lewis Clark Valley are invited to join Hells Gate State Park for the fourth annual First Day Hikes event. This year’s hike will take place from 10 a.m-3 p.m. at Hells Gate State Park on New Year’s Day, beginning and ending at the Lewis and Clark Discovery Center. Hells Gate State Park lies on river bottom left over from the Great Ice Age Floods about 15,000 years ago. At the south end of the park are basaltic columns from the Pomona flows 14 million years ago.

“During this guided hike, visitors will be able to see these basaltic columns that we refer to as the Devils Slide.” said Chris Thomas, Park Ranger at Hells Gate State Park. “Even if visitors do not want to hike the Devils Slide trail we encourage you to come out and hike as much or as little as you would like” added Thomas.

Park Staff will be on hand to answer questions and pets are always welcome, but please keep them controlled by a leash at all times. After the hike free soup, coffee, and hot cocoa will be served at the Lewis & Clark Discovery Center.

Delighted to see the sunshine I bundled up and headed for Hells Gate State Park.  Nationwide, our state parks plan a First Day Hiking Event to offer an invigorating start to the new year.   The rangers led the hikers out to see the basalt columns.  I quickly recognized Jim Uhlman, one of the organizers of the hikes sponsored by the City of Lewiston Parks and Recreation Department.  We hiked together and I always enjoy his stories - growing up in Wallace, coaching, teaching, banking, and traveling all over the country.  He and his wife, Lorraine, are avid hikers and always quick to welcome newcomers and promote hiking activities.  We laughed about the time our group got lost doing the Big White Pine Hike and when Mary Jo fell into Asotin Creek!

The amazing rock formations as a result of lava flow maybe millions of years ago!

Karen Stubbs and I traveled all the way to Ireland, to the Giant's Causeway, to see basalt columns, and then discovered we had the same formations in Idaho!

I had a brief discussion about hiking and sculpting with a woman I later learned is Bonnie Wilfong's sister-in-law.  She and her husband have homes in Lewiston and Las Vegas, and she's hiked thousands of miles and told Jim about a lake that has the best drinking water in the world.  I think he'd been there, too.  

I came home feeling grateful for the opportunity to be in the sunshine and breathe in fresh air on this first day of 2016!  Better than watching football games or putting away my Christmas decorations.  I have gotten out of the habit of taking pictures and need to make it a priority if I want to continue writing periodically in this blog.  Feeling blessed!