- 4,822
- Concord, CA
- kylehnat
I'm at it again! Those of you who read my Maui thread saw that my faithful camera started to crap out. After a proper Viking funeral for the Fujifilm FinePix, I retooled with an 8 megapixel Canon. Not content to let it sit and gather dust, I just had to get out and take some pictures with it. Unfortunately, the state of Washington is devoid of anything interesting to look at. Of course, that's only true if you keep your eyes closed.
"So, Kyle, what photo album are you going to blather about today?" Well, I'm glad you asked. Be sure to take notes, because there is a test at the end. Anywho...mountains...they've stymied man for ages. Often, they stand in our way when we're trying to get from point A to point B. Try as we might to jackhammer and dynamite them into submission, mountains tend to contain a large amount of rock. Rather than destroy them completely, we've had to settle for blasting away tiny bits of them to form "passes", icy death-roads which taunt us with blizzards, wind, and psychotic livestock.
This is generally the only way we can traverse those pesky hills. However, nature sometimes turns on itself, and this is where we take advantage. As hard and sturdy as rocks are, they are no match for paper...I mean water. Given enough time, running water makes mince meat of rock and stone. Given millions of years (Sorry Pat Robertson, I mean 6000 years), rivers can make mountains their bitch. Case in point: the Columbia River Gorge. Over time, the Columbia River was able to punch a hole through the Cascade Mountains. The result is a breathtaking gorge that separates Washington from Oregon, and provides a route from east to west that doesn't involve a 5000 foot climb.
Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, I headed for the gorge. I drove for about 3 hours to Underwood, WA on I-5 and SR14, then turned around and came back.
Early in the journey on route 14, the scenery starts to come alive (the road is also a bit fun, too
).
Since the Columbia starts way up in the mountains in British Columbia, and goes out to sea, there is a tremendous height difference from start to finish. Thus, we like to build dams on it
. The Bonneville Dam is about 30 miles east of Portland.
"Just the thought of all that raw, surging power makes me wonder why the hell I should care."
Moving along...
The Bridge of the Gods connects...well, nothing on SR 14 to nothing on I-84, but it's cool to look at.
Gorge=wind. It's one of the top windsurfing/kitesailing spots in the world.
More stuff:
Look at the trees closely, and you'll see how windy it is all the time.
Ho hum...
Dad, can we please go home yet?
I'm told the good stuff is further down the road, but that will have to wait a while until I can save up enough money for gas.
(By the way, I have 1600 X 1200 versions of all these if anyone is interested. Stupid Photobucket knocked some of them down to 800 X 600.)
"So, Kyle, what photo album are you going to blather about today?" Well, I'm glad you asked. Be sure to take notes, because there is a test at the end. Anywho...mountains...they've stymied man for ages. Often, they stand in our way when we're trying to get from point A to point B. Try as we might to jackhammer and dynamite them into submission, mountains tend to contain a large amount of rock. Rather than destroy them completely, we've had to settle for blasting away tiny bits of them to form "passes", icy death-roads which taunt us with blizzards, wind, and psychotic livestock.
This is generally the only way we can traverse those pesky hills. However, nature sometimes turns on itself, and this is where we take advantage. As hard and sturdy as rocks are, they are no match for paper...I mean water. Given enough time, running water makes mince meat of rock and stone. Given millions of years (Sorry Pat Robertson, I mean 6000 years), rivers can make mountains their bitch. Case in point: the Columbia River Gorge. Over time, the Columbia River was able to punch a hole through the Cascade Mountains. The result is a breathtaking gorge that separates Washington from Oregon, and provides a route from east to west that doesn't involve a 5000 foot climb.
Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, I headed for the gorge. I drove for about 3 hours to Underwood, WA on I-5 and SR14, then turned around and came back.
Early in the journey on route 14, the scenery starts to come alive (the road is also a bit fun, too
).
Since the Columbia starts way up in the mountains in British Columbia, and goes out to sea, there is a tremendous height difference from start to finish. Thus, we like to build dams on it
. The Bonneville Dam is about 30 miles east of Portland.
"Just the thought of all that raw, surging power makes me wonder why the hell I should care."
Moving along...
The Bridge of the Gods connects...well, nothing on SR 14 to nothing on I-84, but it's cool to look at.
Gorge=wind. It's one of the top windsurfing/kitesailing spots in the world.
More stuff:
Look at the trees closely, and you'll see how windy it is all the time.
Ho hum...
Dad, can we please go home yet?
I'm told the good stuff is further down the road, but that will have to wait a while until I can save up enough money for gas
.(By the way, I have 1600 X 1200 versions of all these if anyone is interested. Stupid Photobucket knocked some of them down to 800 X 600.)
Great pics indeed! See ya BOTH in a couple weeks 👍
.
. When I was in the Midwest in October, I was disoriented by the lack of hills 
.
