Idaho scenes

please enjoy these random photos from a trip I took to Idaho, USA in 2008

fog--Blanchard, Idaho

scene from the road

Huff Lake, Idaho--peat bog

not solid ground!  a floating mat on the edge of Huff Lake.  It is made of sphagnum moss and sedges resting on water. More inland, the mats are thicker and are on top of deep muck soils.  Miniature islands of peat called hummocks grow around the base of trees on the thicker mats.

picnic lunch on a beautiful lake

thimbleberry--Rubus parviflorus

A young hiker introduced us to the luscious thimbleberries.  YUM!  Careful!  Bears like them, too!  Thimbleberries are larger than raspberries and taste like raspberries, but milder and sweeter and softer.  They grow in sunny patches in mixed deciduous forests. The plants are thornless with woody stems that are two to three feet tall.

pearly everlasting--Anaphalis margaritacea

Beautiful flowers abound in the higher elevations!

shoe tree--Nordman, Idaho

I wrote about this shoe tree HERE.  I asked the question, "What is one strange thing you've seen in your travels?"  There are a few links on this blog post.

Alphabe-Thursday is a favorite meme! Come and join in the fun! You will be charmed and perhaps even enlightened! See more entries HERE. This week our letter is "I." 

photos by me ©2008

What is one strange thing...

...you have seen in your travels?

for me it is this Shoe Tree in Nordman, Idaho, USA.

It is an old growth cedar festooned with cast-off shoes. This glorious tree is located in the National Forest area of Priest Lake near Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars/Granite Falls and the Tillicum Creek trail. I came across this tree unexpectedly last September, and, of course, was enchanted. In researching for this post, I discovered that other shoe trees exist. Go visit a tree or start one of your own! 

Check out the following links:

Priest Lake shoe tree  

other shoe trees:

Middle Gate, Nevada shoe tree 
more shoe trees from Roadside America

Addendum: April 16, while traveling in the Salt River Canyon area of Arizona along a dirt road, I saw the very beginning of another shoe tree--just one pair. And here's the photo!

In general, it is old, worn-out shoes that people are throwing into trees.

OTHER STRANGE SIGHTINGS: 
my friend,Beaded Tail saw Carhenge in Alliance Nebraska-- HERE!  Check this out!

photos by me ©2008