Oregon Summer

I have not lived in Oregon since 1978.  Work took me away...first to Colorado and then to California, and I'm very comfortable in Cali.  But there is no finer place to be...in summer...than Oregon.  I go back every summer and it's always great.  So are Washington and BC, for that matter.  If the weather was better in November, December, and January, I'd consider moving back to the Northwest.  But for now, I'll enjoy the summers there.  Here's a view on the Columbia River at sunset...by the I-5 bridge.

The Lizards are enjoying the scenery of the eastern Columbia Gorge, between Hood River and The Dalles.

Gooseneck curve on the old Columbia River Highway.  the road was built a century ago.  Specifications were to have no more than a 5 percent grade and no less than a 100 foot turning radius.  I think the latter spec was barely attained here.

The town of Lyle, Washington sits on a gravel bar composed of detritus from the Missoula Floods that occurred during the late Ice Age, 12-14 thousand years ago.  Check the next pic for an artists depiction of one of the floods.

Here at the Columbia Gorge Museum in The Dalles, a painting depicts what one of the Missoula Floods must have looked like.  A glacier blocked the Clark Fork of the Columbia River in today's Idaho panhandle repeatedly in the late Ice Age.  This created Glacial Lake Missoula, a vast body of water in today's Western Montana.  Eventually the lake became so deep that the ice floated and then gave way, releasing a volume of water the size of Lake Erie downstream.  The flood catastrophically inundated much of today's Eastern Washington, then constricted into the Columbia Gorge and roared seaward as a wall of water 500 feet high...or more!  The mammoths here are obviously saying, "Whoa!  WTF?? Head for high ground!"  There were over 40 of these floods...after each, the glacier would push south again and form a new lake til the ice dam broke.  The floods occurred at intervals of 40-80 years or so.

The Three Sisters from the town of...Sisters.

Central Oregon has almost everything.  It's an outdoor sports paradise...skiing, cycling, rock climbing, fishing, hiking, hunting, golf, snowmobiling, etc.  And unlike Colorado, it's only a 3-4 hour drive from the ocean!

Continuing our volcano exploration, this is the pumice desert north of Crater Lake, left by the explosion of Mount Mazama 7700 years ago.  

Here the Lizards are contemplating Crater Lake.  On successive days they visited Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens, the Columbia Gorge, and Crater Lake.  A good run!

Deep green trees, deep blue water.  The water of Crater Lake is mesmerizing.

Tranquil afternoon in the caldera of Mt Mazama.

Gnarled whitebark pines above the lake, about 7800 feet elevation.

Phantom Ship

Totally abstract pic of the lake waters.  The wake is from a departed tour boat.

Upper Klamath Lake, from the Running Y Ranch north of Klamath Falls.  Another beautiful spot.  In the far hazy distance is the remnant Mt Mazama; Crater Lake lies within.

Checkup on St Helens

The eruption of Mt St Helens on May 18, 1980 left ash on my car...in Denver!  I learned how abrasive the stuff was when I instinctively did what you always do when your car gets a dusting of stuff on it...I tried to sweep it off with my snowbrush.  The ash promptly damaged my paint job.  My mom watched the eruption from her living room in Portland!  Every few years it's interesting to go to St Helens and see how the landscape is recovering.  The Lizards enjoyed the visit too.

Well to the east of the mountain, there's still a ghost forest, 36 years after the eruption.  But a healthy boreal forest is steadily taking its place.

Closer to the volcano, eerie evidence of the blast persists.  Blow this pic up and you'll see that all the old downed timber is lying in the same direction...away from the blast, which swept a massive cloud of hot ash across the picture from left to right.

A large raft of logs still floats on Spirit Lake.  However, all the sludge that was in the water immediately following the eruption is gone, and the lake once again is full of fish, with healthy, clear water.

The crater of the volcano is slowly filling with lava domes.  In several centuries lava domes will most likely rebuild the mountain to its pre 1980 conical shape...if it doesn't blow its top big time again before then.  Large as it is, St Helens is estimated to be only about 38 thousand years old...a baby in geologic time.  It's the most frequently active volcano in the Cascade Range. 

Mount Adams.  It has not erupted in over a thousand years but is not extinct.

A good look at the crater of St Helens.  The last lava dome building activity was in 2008.

Mount Rainier 2016

Did my annual visit to Mount Rainier last week.  My old dormmate Dick and I hiked the Naches Peak trail...a bit over 3 miles, 600 feet elevation gain.  Only a moderate amount of work to see spectacular scenery!  Here the Lizards are inspecting a rapidly melting snowfield at about 5500 feet elevation on the 25th of July.

Indian paintbrush.

A mountain tarn.

Flowers and new evergreen sprouts make a nice contrast in shades and colors.

Heather blooming on the trail.

The Lizards contemplate the Mountain.  Rainier is always breathtaking...from up close, as here, or from as far away as Tacoma.

The massive mountain, with glaciers.

Don't know the name of this flower, but it's common in the meadows around Naches Peak and Tipsoo Lake just east of Rainier.

More fresh evergreen sprouts.  The beauty in the mountain environment can be gaudy or subdued...flamboyant or subtle.  It's all good.