As Laura Haffner and her crew started the northern trek to the expansive dryland fields of my home state of Montana, this custom writer and photographer packed her cameras and headed further west over the mountains to catch the harvest rumbling to a start in the Palouse region of eastern Washington.
The Palouse is a vision on the brink of harvest. Dramatic rolling hills resemble giant swells in a vast ocean. Instead of dark stormy, churning water, the crests and deep troughs of the waves are swathed in hues of gold. The odd field of green, seeded to rotational crops of garbanzo beans or winter canola, add rich contrast to the patchwork of fields.
Hills undulate in every direction with all but the steepest slopes and narrowest valleys covered in crop.
At first glance they may not seem all that daunting, but much like a black diamond ski slope, the angle is significantly more severe once you teeter on the edge.
Read Martha’s full guest post and see more photos about wheat harvest in Washington on the All Aboard Wheat Harvest blog here.
