Lizard on the DL

In previous posts, the Lizard has developed a hardy image. He's seen crawling on a rock in the desert, hanging out in a cactus, slogging through the snow. In an effort to showcase his capacity for esthetic appreciation, he went up into Shawn's cherry tree to admire the blossoms, but fell out and broke both of his arms! The Lizard thus achieved the feat of breaking his arms in opposite corners of the country...Georgia and Oregon...in less than five months. Eventually some Super Glue was found and the Lizard has been mended.

Pony Tail Falls

Last week Shawn and I took a hike in the Columbia Gorge...again. This time we went up from Horsetail Falls, a few miles E of Multnomah, to Pony Tail falls, less than half a mile from the old highway. I remember taking my mom up here about 30 years ago...had to push her up the trail in spots. But it's a beautiful spot, and she enjoyed it...as did Shawn. Look closely on this pic and you can see where the trail goes.

Yep, behind the falls! Gives a different perspective to the cascade. Always neat to hike behind a waterfall.

Shasta Vista

Just wanted to throw in a pic of Mount Shasta. Not perfect conditions today...high clouds washed out the light to some extent...but the mountain is always stunning from US 97 between Weed and the Oregon border. Notice the stacked lenticular clouds over Shastina, the right hand summit. The cloud configurations were changing constantly.

Return to the 'Hood

The Old Sloat went back to the neighborhood where he was raised as a pup, many moons ago. Kennedy School was the next school up from the Old Sloat's alma mater, Faubion, 8th grade class of '65. At the time, Kennedy was a rather rickety building that had been in service for 50 years. Ten years later, it was closed. It lay empty for a while, then in the 90s McMenamins rescued it from the wrecking ball and did a remarkable renovation, adding modcons where absolutely necessary but keeping all the other ancient accoutrements-the grilled lights and bank of radiators in the gym; the blackboards in the classrooms converted to hotel rooms; the old floors and walls. The result is an amazing museum piece that's very comfy. A live band plays in the gym almost every night; the cafeteria is now a fine restaurant; the auditorium is a theater that plays nightly movies. There are three bars, and photos and memorabilia everywhere. I recognized a couple names from my childhood days; I played baseball and basketball with some kids from Kennedy. It's just really neat, especially to an old sloat who grew up in the neighborhood. Did I mention there's a brewery on the premises?

I couldn't hope to match the blackboard art left by previous occupants of my room. I especially liked this one.

I walked a lot as a pup...didn't learn to ride a bike til I was 12. I noticed that in Portland, almost every old sidewalk was tagged by the contractors who built them, especially in the first quarter of the twentieth century. This sidewalk is right in front of Kennedy, built a year before construction on the school began. I first noticed the Bechill Bros logo back around 1960. At the time, 1913 wasn't that far in the past. Now it's ancient by American standards. If you look closely, you can find rings embedded in some of the sidewalks of this era...used to tie up horses. Parking aids of another era. My time in Portland on this trip was very nostalgic.

Now that I'm getting old, for some reason old PDX is more interesting to me than it used to be. I reckon that's a natural reaction toward ones hometown as one ages. I had only spent one day in Portland in the past ten years, and this time I was amazed to see the changes...for the better. Many neighborhoods that had been nondescript or just plain bad 20-40 years ago have been rejuvenated and are now thriving...not necessarily upscale, but neat. In the parts of town in North, near Northeast, and near Southeast Portland maybe three fourths of the homes have been spiffied up and renovated since the 1970s. When I was a kid this Victorian on Mississippi and Skidmore was ramshackle...don't remember if it was empty but it could have been at times. You could see that it had been a classic at one time, but 40 years ago it was deteriorating in a bad neighborhood. Now it has been gloriously reborn, reflecting the blocks around it. It's bloody uplifting!

Port Angeles

In Port Angeles I landed a cool room on a bluff overlooking the downtown area and the harbor. From there I could look out over the strait of Juan de Fuca, and watch the ferry arrive from and depart for Victoria, on Vancouver Island across the strait. At night the lights of Victoria glimmered on the horizon. Overlooking the water like this, the view never gets boring. Ships come and go, weather moves in and retreats, traffic moves around. It's endlessly cool.

In the previous picture if you look closely you can see a couple of murals, painted on the side of downtown buildings. The one of the ferry is done in Trompe l'oeil style and it's really neat. The ferry appears to be well in front of the Olympics in the background, and well behind the kids and the dog lounging on the curb in the foreground. There are three of these murals in close proximity in downtown Port Angeles. Like many other PacNW cities and towns, Port Angeles is fairly old but is undergoing a renaissance, at least in civic pride and central city refurbishment. It's nice to see.

Brooding Beauty

Lake Crescent is in Olympic NP about 15 miles west of Port Angeles. I have been here several times on days like this...calm, gray, brooding. The perfect kind of day to hole up in a cozy place and write, create music, or be alone with someone you love. I suppose that, despite my many years in California, I still have a PacNw mentality on this issue. I don't like this weather on a long term basis, but every now and then it's very nice.

In a beautiful spot like this, I can take it for quite a while.

Sol Duc Wonderland

A couple of days ago I took the road up to Sol Duc Hot Springs in Olympic NP. The resort was not open yet...opens today, two days later...but the trail up the river was passable. A dusting of snow had added to the rainforest with a dash of white upon the green. The snow upon the carpet of ferns added a new dimension to the scene.

I hiked up to Sol Duc Falls, less than a mile from the trailhead. Though no rain or snow was falling, it was a soggy trek as clumps of half-frozen snow were falling continuously from the trees above. A few managed to fall between the collar of my parka and my neck. But the reward was superlative...a roaring three pronged torrent, fed by rain and snowmelt, cascading over a cliff into a narrow gorge. Exhilarating!

Olympic Peninsula Wanderings

This pic shows the Quinault River, with clouds glowering above the landscape. The snow level was low...only 1500-2000 feet. The combo of the river, clouds, and bare trees spoke of a soggy bleakness. But it's beautiful.

A sodden land

I remember driving around Lake Quinault one gray, damp winter day when I was in college; I day tripped from Seattle. I got the impression that it was a sodden land, beautiful and peaceful but overwhelmed by moisture. Perhaps a visit on a sunny summer day will give one a different impression, but on about 250 days a year the sodden idea works. Here's a shot of Lake Quinault through the trees; backlit mossy branches are always neat to photograph.

Driftwood as art

The farther north you go up the U.S. Pacific coast, the more driftwood you see on the beach. It's almost nonexistent in Southern California; sparse in Monterey; more abundant in Sonoma county; and profuse from about Cape Mendocino north into Canada. Here on the Washington coast huge logs pile up at the high tide line, rounded and sculpted by weeks, months, maybe years in the ocean. They form an infinite array of shapes and shades, dropped into innumerable patterns.

I like the bottom picture as it hints at the forces that batter this coast. Notice the trees on the bluff, gnarled and devoid of branches on the windward (west) side. Imagine a roaring storm with massive surf washing huge logs up against the bluff, while the wind howls through the stunted trees above with tremendous strength. It would be very cool to ride out a ferocious storm at Kalaloch Lodge.

The Moss Jungle!

You can find lots of moss in all the coastal forests from the Golden Gate north into Canada. But nowhere does the moss simply overwhelm the landscape like it does in the Olympic rainforest. Here, almost every plant, living or dead, and almost every building is covered with a fuzzy green cloak. The moss doesn't seem to hurt the trees; thriving evergreens and deciduous trees are cloaked with massive amounts of moss. The effect is ethereal. Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand, parts of which have a climate similar to that of the Olympic rainforest; the movies could have been filmed here as well. If you're wondering about Mordor, just hop over to the lava fields in Central Oregon and you're there.

The moss is so thick that ferns thrive in it. Many places, like this branch of a tree, harbor both mosses and ferns. These shots were taken in the Quinault River drainage, in the southwestern part of Olympic NP.

Here, just about every tree and bush visible is totally cloaked in moss. I've never seen anything like it! It's like being in another world. To think that three weeks before I was in a barren desert within three days' drive of here. Actually, you can find sagebrush galore just one days' drive from here, in Eastern Washington.

The Olympic Coast

I traveled north to Olympic National Park. This is a diverse place with beaches, alpine wilderness, and lush temperate rain forest. The common denominator is wildness. This is an isolated, cool, damp northern place, subject to winter gales, summer fogs, and downpours year round except in midsummer. Massive logs wash up on the beach after being torn out of the forest by swollen rivers, huge surf, or hurricane force winds. It's untamed, elemental, and very beautiful.

The Hoh rain forest receives 140 inches of rain a year...on average. The temperature is almost always between 30 and 80 degrees. Everything grows...and grows...and grows. Any structure left unattended is rapidly swallowed by vegetation. Blow up the pic of this shed, still in good condition, and you'll notice a tree growing out of the thick carpet of moss on the roof.

I stayed in a cabin at Kalaloch Lodge, a resort at the confluence of the creek of the same name and the ocean. I had wanted to stay here since I drove by while in college, over 30 years ago. It proved to be as good as anticipated. From my cozy cabin I watched the surf, followed the tides, rode out hailstorms and squalls, and immersed myself in the seascape. The lodge had a gourmet restaurant and friendly service...highly recommended! This is a sunset pic taken from right in front of my cabin.

Columbia Gorge

I've been on the road for the past two weeks but have been away from the internet most of that time. But, I've seen a huge number of beautiful, fascinating landscape. Most of it I've seen before, but not in a long time and not since I've been blogging. This is an old favorite, Multnomah Falls in the Columbia Gorge in Oregon. I've been coming here since I was an ankle biter. It's always nice, though on this day...a sunny Saturday...literally everyone and their dog was there, though that doesn't show up in this shot.

This pic is from the top of the falls; 620 feet above the bottom, where the previous shot was taken. The trail up to the top is heavily traveled and paved, but not a cakewalk; it makes the ascent...plus a few feet...in just a mile. In the upper right of the pic you can see the parking lot...60-odd stories straight down.

Really Big Trees

Earlier this week I ventured to the far north coast of California. And dis, bruddahs and seestas, is where the really big Kahuna trees are. In the national and state parks are loads of redwoods over 300 feet tall and a milennium or more old. To walk in a forest of these giants

is an awesome experience. The majesty of the trees is unparalleled. The woods are pristine, cool, moist, and quiet. On a sunny day the rays shining through the canopy dapple the forest floor with light in an infinite variety of patterns. Redwood forests are fine in any case, but in the San Francisco and Monterey areas they are mostly second growth, and the few old growth trees that remain are smaller than the ones up here due to less moisture. But here in the north, in Del Norte and Humboldt counties, the trees get 60-100 inches of rain a year, and they thrive and grow huge.

Sea Ranch Sojourn

Spent a week at the Sea Ranch recently. As always, it was peaceful, beautiful, and renewing. Some friends came by and we ate well, drank well, went wine tasting, hung out in the hot tub, and generally chilled. Here's a pic of a sunset from my rental home. It was like this almost every evening. During the day you can hike along the bluffs overlooking the ocean, taking in coastal vistas, watching the waves thunder along the shoreline.

I went hiking up in Mendocino one day, in Van Damme State Park. This is a typical shot along the trail in the canyon. A fine mix of sun and shadow, towering redwoods, a gurgling stream alongside. And, on a March Monday, very few people. I never get tired of the redwoods. Their majesty and tranquillity are eternal.

Desert Contrasts

On the way home last week I came upon this scene on highway 93, about halfway between Phoenix and Kingman. I'd never seen saguaros and joshua trees growing together! Blow the pic up for a better view of the cactus. Saguaros are more sensitive to cold temperatures than the joshuas, and the yuccas don't require much summer rainfall, which is essential to the cacti. But here, on the eastern edge of the joshua tree's range and at the northwestern edge of the saguaro's, they both thrive.

Talk about a contrast! You drive for miles through empty, barren desert toward the Colorado River, then descend into the river valley, and like an apparition the towers of Laughlin appear. It's not a mirage...here in the middle of nowhere is a large resort and gambling mecca, right on the water. Forty years ago there was virtually nothing here. On this particular day it was very pleasant in Laughlin, and a bit chilly on the plateaus to the east and west; but in the summer, it's a bloody furnace here...120 degrees is common. Let's see...that's 49 degrees celsius, so the Australian beer drinking equation divides that by four...you need a 12 pack of beer to get thru the day...and a gallon or two of water on the side!