Category Archives: Outdoors

HIGHEST OF THE HIGH SIERRA

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Mt Whitney rises above the jumbled rocks of the Alabama Hills like the scene from Gladiator.

Mt Whitney is the goal of many who search out adventure and challenge in the High Sierra. It is the highest peak – 14,498 feet – in not only these mountains, but all the summits in the states south of Alaska beating out Colorado’s Mt Elbert by 65 feet and its neighbor to the south, Mt Harvard by 78 feet. Being the highest is a magnet.  A magnet means too many people and the result is the Mt Whitney lottery system.

But the crest of the High Sierra is so much beyond Whitney. There is a lifetime of peaks waiting for you here. The views are incredible and so can be the efforts to attain them.

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KARAVANKE – FORGOTTEN MOUNTAINS OF SLOVENIA

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Mountain haze shared with cows atop Dovška Baba with Visoki Kurjek ahead on the Karavanke crest

The geography of Slovenia’s greatest mountain range, the Julian Alps is a confused mess. Mapmakers are much more at home with the Karavanke.  This chain extends for about 75 miles – 120 kilometers – in a west to east fashion geographically separating the Drava and Sava river valleys.  They form a border between Slovenia and Austria. The Karawanke continue the function of the Carnic Alps separating Italy and Austria further to the west.  As a border, the Karawanke have served that purpose since at least Roman times.

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SAM HILL – NEW WORLD STONEHENGE DREAMER

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An appropriately masked guitarist makes music at the altar stone of Stonehenge

To say Samuel Hill lived a fascinating life is almost an understatement.  A frenetic Quaker, Sam’s life is magnificently on display online where you can find his excellent biography Sam Hill, The Prince of Castle Nowhere written by John Tuhy.  Among his many interests was his participation in the Good Roads movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Hill was instrumental in the development of both the Pacific Highway, a route linking the three Coastal States to each other from Canada to Mexico.  He pushed for the development of a true coastal highway paralleling the Pacific Highway – today’s US 101 – as well.  But Hill is best known for his role in the development of the Columbia River Gorge Highway, now over a hundred years old.

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SHEPPERD’S DELL – MAGIC, AWE, WONDER BUT, NO SHEEP

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Falls and bridge at Shepperd’s Dell.

Magic is a word overused in the Columbia Gorge.  Magic, awe, wonder all terms liberally employed by visitors and writers when trying to describe the majesty of the Gorge.  One of those sites spectacularly earning such accolades is Shepperd’s Dell.

Shepperd’s Dell is one of those places I never seem to have time to stop for.  There is very little parking – always full on the weekends – and only a small waterfall to be fleetingly glanced at as you cross over a bridge.  The Dell lies along one of the most scenic stretches of the Historic Columbia River Highway – HCRH – a true highlight between Multnomah Falls and Crown Point.

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APPLICATION OF FULL THROTTLE IN WATERFALL ALLEY

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multnomah falls
King of Waterfall Alley – Multnomah Falls.

Seasons change. Fall brings a return of rains seeming endless, at times. Late summer streams replenish aggressively. Waterfall Alley resumes its magical aura. Falls dwindled by summer drought flash into prominence once again. Where you once could get a photo easily at the bottom of a falls, now means getting very wet from the same spot.

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AWAY FROM THE VALLEY – A SIMPLE YOSEMITE

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Jeffrey pine growing through the granite at Olmstead Point – Cloud’s Rest is on the right horizon and Half Dome is to the left.

For most visitors to Yosemite National Park, a visit equals a trip to Yosemite Valley. I do not have any statistics but would easily say most visits are limited to a quick stay in the dale that Ansel Adams describes as “Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.”

Nevada Barr, a mystery fiction writer best known for her Ana Pigeon series involving a myriad of national parks and law enforcement, related this tale about the park, “The story is, a man came up to Yosemite and the ranger was sitting at the front gate and the man said, “I’ve only got one hour to see Yosemite. If you only had one hour to see Yosemite, what would you do?” And the ranger said, “Well, I’d go right over there, and I’d sit on that rock, and I’d cry.”

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MAGIC DEEPENS WITH FALL COLORS AT ELOWAH FALLS

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Exposure challenges from the ledge trail above Elowah Falls.

Ollie and I last visited the waterfalls on McChord Creek – Elowah Falls and Upper McChord Falls – early in the spring. We live in the shadow of the Columbia River Gorge, a region of true natural magic. Within twenty minutes, we can be deep in the woods, hiking to an overlook or behind a waterfall. Many of the trails are short – 1-2 miles – translating to the ability to discover the magic again and again.

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COLUMBIA RIVER FROM A MID-19TH CENTURY PERSPECTIVE AND TODAY

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Europeans – albeit in American-form – have only been present in the Pacific Northwest for a little over 200 years.  The main push of emigrants did not start until the mid-1840’s.  Here our focus is on the mid-19th century Columbia River area views. A lot has changed since then. Some things remain timeless, however.  The natural beauty of the landscape a prime example.  Even here dramatic change does not go unnoticed.

A restored version of James Madison Alden’s tryptich view over Fort Dalles.

Fort Dalles Museum.

View over The Dalles today to compare – 160 years later.

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GAZING UP IN AWE – RAFTING DOWN THE GRAND CANYON

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Moki Mac rafts running Unkar Rapids as the Colorado River transitions from Marble into the heart of the Grand Canyon.

The man who first led an expedition along the river responsible for one of nature’s most magnificent works offers a perfect description of the Grand Canyon –

The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail.

jOHN WESLEY POWELL

I just finished reading Kevin Fedarko’s The Emerald Mile, a book about a trio of river runners who established a speed record for rowing the entire 277 miles of the Grand Canyon.  They were helped by near catastrophic releases of water from Glen Canyon Dam – release costing the Bureau of Reclamation over $32 million to repair spillway tunnels extensively damaged due to cavitation which literally ripped apart the insides of the tunnels.

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LATOURELL FALLS – waterfall magic and a primeval canyon

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The main Latourell Falls dropping 224 feet in one long plunge over basaltic cliffs.

Latourell Falls is an easy hike.  At only 2.4 miles with a gain of 625 feet, the hike is one for the masses.  And the masses do hike.  Come early.  Come late and there will be no parking.

Here, the first of a series of waterfalls seen from the old Columbia Gorge Highway US 30 in an area known as “Waterfall Alley”.  Technically, it is not the first, but it is the first seen from the old highway heading east from Portland.

The hike being short can easily be an add to other short hikes or even longer, more technical endeavors.

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