We are finally melting our way out of about 2 feet of snow, and I'm hoping that by tomorrow I'll actually be able to get my car out of the driveway. And although it was a pain, I'm sorry to see it go, because it really was gorgeous up here.
On Christmas Day, while the ham was busy falling apart in the crockpot, we took a little drive up the Historic Columbia River Highway. We visited Chanticleer Point (the first overlook on the highway), and Multnomah Falls (the tallest Falls in Oregon, and a major tourist attraction).
This picture was taken at Chanticleer Point, looking east toward Vista House, another well-known overlook:
Another picture from Chanticleer Point, looking into the foothills:
Here's our friend Kelly's Corgi, Georgie, rolling in the snow at Chanticleer Point. This appears to be one of his favorite things to do. :)
The Lodge at Multnomah Falls, which was built around 1925.
Multnomah Falls, from top to bottom, are 620 feet tall. The Falls are fed year-round by underground springs on Larch Mountain, which is the mountain (an extinct shield volcano) we live on the the lower flanks of:
The upper Falls are 542 feet tall:
The Benson Footbridge, built in 1914 by the original landowner, 150 feet above the lower falls:
The lower falls are 69 feet tall. The two falls together don't total up to the full 620 feet; there is a gradual drop in height of 9 feet between the bottom of the upper falls and the top of the lower falls:
Detail of ice formations surrounding the the upper Falls:
More ice formations, on the west side of the chasm:
Jeffrey, me, Collin, and Georgie the Corgi at Multnomah Falls:
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Comments
You do live in the most beautiful place in the world.
Absolutely spectacular photos!!
HL, it is amazingly gorgeous up here, no matter the season. But this is fairly unusual for us, and a little more special.
Don't worry, lemur, there will be more pictures of dogs, I promise. They're much more common than snow around here. :)
L&P, snow from a distance is nice, and I enjoy the view of a snow-covered Mt Hood all winter long. But sometimes it's fun to actually go out in it and get nice and sloppy. I grew up with snow, but in a mostly-flat world; the difference of snow on mountains is significant, and so much more picturesque.
Shelle, I would say that's one of my favorites, but I like all of them. It's one of those situations where you really can't take a "bad" picture, because the scenery is just so....well....scenic. :D
thanks so much.....AWwwwww!
Heather, it was incredible. The small water falls on my daily commute freeze up at least once every winter, but to see something as enormous and rushing as Multnomah Falls be mostly frozen was a wonderful experience.
O's, I'm glad you enjoyed the virtual tour! :) The roads were something else--the highway east of Larch Mountain had only just opened up, it had been plowed but there was still a lot of ice and snow. Bit of an adventure, even in a 4x4, but I felt like I was in Narnia the entire way. I kept expecting to see Mr. Tumnus show up in his scarf. Much better him than the White Witch!
Sandra, the snow this week made me realize (again) just how unnatural flocked trees look. The real deal is so much nicer. I'm glad you got to enjoy some winter wonderland too!
By the way, why is there an ad for Personal Injury Attorneys at the bottom of your post?
They look Black and white from the stark contrast of the snow and it's surroundings. If it wasn't for the lights lit on the house and you standing in front of it, I would have sworn they were all gray scale!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much for sharing these. Awesome. :-D
Thumbed enthusiastically.
Beautiful pictures; stopping time. Thank you! (and Georgie, too!)
Cherie, Rob, and Gary, thank you. That means a lot coming from people whose artistic endeavors I admire. :)
Donna, our snow is all melted at our house except the areas where the deepest drifts were. It seems weird to me that when the snow melts, there's green grass underneath. This is not what happens in the Midwest! :)
Penrose and dd, thanks so much. It's been so long since I took pictures of snow, I'd forgotten that B&W effect. I kept checking my camera to make sure I hadn't accidentally put it in B&W mode. :)
Jane, thank you for the kind comment! I am constantly amazed that I can go out to the gorge and take a random picture and it will come out looking like a postcard, because it's just that gorgeous up here.
Misha, I guess that means we're sorta neighbors, huh? I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. :)
Connie, the falls won't be frozen, true, but they'll still be gorgeous. Every time I've been there, no matter what the season, they've taken my breath away.
Julie, I hadn't even noticed the red until you mentioned it. Sharp eye!
Lisa, I'm sure you'll get snow again soon. I mean, you're up there in the frozen north! :D
Juliet, do you have a Corgi too? Oh, you must share pictures! I love Corgis. They have such character and good humor. I have a friend who lives in Calgary, so she's been dealing with that Canadian snow, and she's getting kind of tired of it. :) Have fun at the park!
CB, Mt Hood and the Gorge were the two main reasons I moved up to Portland vs elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. They amaze me every time I see them. Everything is like a picture postcard. :)
Shiral, thank you, I'm glad you liked the pictures!
John, my chows were like that. I still remember the first time Blue was in the snow in the mountains in SoCal. She settled down on her tummy with a big sigh of contentment, and then started rooting around with her nose. Probably the first time in her life she hadn't been hot. :)
Barry--Wow, thank you so much! I consider that to be high praise, coming from someone as talented as you. And I appreciate that you are always so kind and encouraging in your comments.