Summited Mt. Whiskey Dick near Vantage yesterday!  The high desert, just west of the Columbia River, surprises the hiker with dozens of different kinds of spring flowers – from phlox to balsam, from cactus blossoms to lupines, all popping up among the sage brush.  And look at all those beautiful clean-energy wind turbines!  The weather was spectacular, and it was thrilling to get out and tromp across the hills and up to a majestic outcropping of lichen-encrusted basalt.

•