Category: Uncategorized
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The Columbia Gorge creates all kinds of uniquely local weather by virtue of funneling mild, moist Pacific air into the cold, dry interior east of the Cascades – or vice-versa, depending on the wind direction. In winter, this can create the rare instance of sunny weather on the normally rainy west side of the mountains…
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The winter colors along this section of the lower Deschutes River (just below Rattlesnake Canyon) can seem like a return to fall at first glance. However, the ruddy hues that light up the river this time of year aren’t leaves, they’re catkins emerging from the White alder groves that line the shore. Though they favor…
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Despite the stunning beauty of Mount Hood’s northwest side, the Lolo Pass Road wasn’t built for hikers and nature photographer. Though the pass had long been a trade route for indigenous peoples, the modern road was only built in the mid-1950s, as part of constructing the transmission corridor linking the (then) new The Dalles Dam…
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As Mount Hood’s glaciers go, the White River Glacier punches above its weight in both swagger and uniqueness. Though it is now retreating in the era of climate change (like all 12 glaciers on the mountain), it nonetheless persists on the sunny southeast side. It is the only glacier on the mountain to flow into…
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This striking basalt formation watches over a popular swimming hole in the lower Molalla River canyon. Columns often form when basalt lava cools, creating the familiar hexagonal rock pillars that are iconic throughout the Pacific Northwest. As lava cools, it shrinks from the top of the flow downward, slowing creating vertical cracks that define the…
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If you didn’t happen to know this is WyEast Country, you might guess this scene is somewhere in Colorado or Wyoming, yet this desert spot is less than two hour’s drive from rainy Portland. The view is from the rim of the lower Deschutes River canyon, directly above the historic Oak Springs Hatchery. A short…
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Of the big rivers that flow from the rainy western slopes of the Oregon Cascades, the Molalla might be the most abused by a century of heavy logging, thanks to private timber holdings that span much of the watershed. Yet, in the midst of nearly continuous clearcuts and logging spur roads a ribbon of beautiful…
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Winter snow means the annual closure of Lolo Pass Road, and the beginning of a very quiet season on the rugged northwest side of Mount Hood. It’s a time of stunning beauty, when the colorful cliffs and spires familiar to summer hikers are blanketed in deep snow and ice. This image was captured in early…
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When the days get shorter each winter, and the sun is low on the southern horizon, thick mountain fog can seemingly appear out of nowhere as evening approaches on cold, clear days. Though invisible to our eye, the clear winter air is usually dense with water vapor barely held in suspension by the sun’s rays.…
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Photographers from around the world come here to capture this classic Columbia River Gorge landscape during the spectacular bloom season in April and early May, when yellow Balsamroot and blue Lupine blanket the wide, windswept meadows. Much of the Rowena Crest landscape was rescued from private development in the late 1970s and 1980s as the…
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