I thought I'd throw up a few pictures from a couple of recent pleasure outings Ked and I have taken here in beautiful Oregon. We've had absolutely lovely weather of late, and knowing this could, and likely will, change very soon (Portland being the soggy city that it is), we have been scraping together what little spare time we can muster to indulge our enjoyment of the "local" winter landscapes, on both the hiking trails and the snow. (Anything within 60 miles or so is local, if you ask me--so to my mind, Mount Hood counts!) I won't jabber at you much. The pictures have much more worthwhile things to say than I do. :-)
Here's the view to the east from the mansion's lawn. Portland spreads out below you, with Mt. Hood gracing the background. Hood is not the only mountain viewable from this much-to-be-coveted location. If I remember correctly, you can see something like five different mountains from the top of this hill--when the weather cooperates, that is.
Here's a closer look at some of the architectural detailing of the building. There are all sorts of stonework and concrete accents, leaded glass and graceful roof-lines. It's about a six mile hike, round trip, from where my husband and I usually start out to come up to Pittock, and worth every step. No matter how many times we trudge up this hill, I never get there so tired and out of breath that this home doesn't manage to take a little more of my breath away.
Moving on to a completely different outing, last Sunday Ked and I took another snow jaunt out around to the east side of Mt. Hood. We had intended to hit one of the snow-park trails we know, but we never made it that far. As we crossed a bridge and passed by this spot, we saw this little river cutting its way through the snow and just had to stop to explore and take a picture or two. The open terrain kept calling us a little further, until finally we decided that this would be our trek for the day.
This little river was rushing madly through the snowfield. Despite the cloudy evidence to the contrary, it was a warm enough day for us to start taking off gloves and other bits of weather-protective clothing, and I suspect all that warmth was giving the water level a little added oomph, and the flow a little extra zip.
On the way back to the bridge which led us to this snow extravaganza, the path is looking pretty lonesome, isn't it? It did seem as though we should feel like the only two people in the world, but don't be fooled by this picture. Yes, it was an isolated spot, but we weren't the only Oregonians out looking to commune with nature on this day. We saw at least a couple dozen other people, and no less than five or six dogs frolicking in the snow! Most of the folks were equipped with appropriate clothing, and the sleds, snowmobiles, or snowshoes to take full advantage of the wintry scene, but there were a few exceptions. We ran into one family in jeans, sweats and tennis shoes who were having a ball, but you could tell had very little experience with the frozen white stuff (or with the English language for that matter). They had the cutest brown-eyed little girls, watching with delight as their mom tried to climb down an icy bank without resorting to sliding on her backside. I so wished I had a basket of snow gear in the back of our car, so that we could introduce them properly to the snow. The combination of little girls and snow simply cries out for boots, mittens, sleds and a great big hill. Oh well, maybe they saw everyone else at play and they'll want to come back again, but this time better prepared for winter fun.
Well, that's it for this time. Blessings on your head (wherever your head happens to be).
|