Cascadia Daily Photo

Cascadia Daily Photo test. Please ignore. Thank you.

The last time I was standing at Chanticleer Point in the Columbia River Gorge it was March. Many of the trees were bare for the Winter and the cold Easterly wind was blowing pretty good. This week’s trip was a bit more sunny and clear. The scenery was decidedly more green than the last time i was there. The greenery in the foreground contrasts with the clear, flowing river behind it. Beacon Rock is in the distance on the Washington side of the Columbia River, while the sandy beach of Rooster Rock State Park can be seen directly below. Certainly worth a look! Photo: Taken from Chanticleer Point along the Historic Columbia River Highway on 29 August 2010.

As they say, a rolling stone gathers no moss. That is fortunate, since the moss on this large rock near the cliffs around Wahkeena Falls in the Columbia River Gorge shows that this rock hasn’t moved in a while. I would have hated to be standing near that spot when the boulder originally fell onto that point. It is probably not a hazard, though. Still, you might want to view the falls from halfway up, say, while standing upon that nice stone footbridge about halfway up the falls. Photo: Taken at Wahkeena Falls in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon on 29 August 2010.

In the early part of the 20th Century, highway engineers were working on a project to get a road through the Columbia River Gorge. The technology of the day involved digging four tunnels along the length of the highway. Oneonta Tunnnel is a 125 foot bore through the rock near Oneonta Gorge, and can be seen along hte Historic Columbia River Highway (the one used before Interstate 84 was built through the Gorge). It had been filled in around 1948 and was only reopened in March 2009. More historical information can be found at this link. But beyond the dates and statistics about the tunnel, when I had the opportunity to see it, I loved the fact that I was witnessing an achievement that had been accomplished a century before, one that I cound now see and feel. I was there to see something that I had only seen before in history books (where you might see it with a “modern” Model T driving through). Photo: Taken at Oneonta Gorge in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon on 29 August 2010.

Nothing here to see. Nothing here except a man. And his castle. And his barn. And his field of cabbages. Looks like the crop out there is just about ready, too. Thde thing is, I think the more interesting thing was the colorful fields:

It seems that the “back 40″ had cabbages of a slightly different color out there, whether it be a different type of vegetable or perhaps something planted at a slightly different time. In any case, it was reminiscent of the differing colors of the waves at sea. Or something like that. Photos: Taken along the Historic Columbia River Highway near Corbett, Oregon on 29 August 2010.

No, I am not referring to those three tenors. In this case, we are looking not at three trees, but at three branches of one tree that all connect at one trunk a couple of feet off the ground. There’s actually a fourth, not so obvious one in the foreground, too. The tree is doing what trees will do: making leaves and reaching toward the sky and keeping their roots in the ground. Sounds kinda like something we should be doing, too! Photo: Taken near Wahkeena Falls in the Columbia River Gorge on 29 August 2010.

As Summer wears on, a day can be perfectly sunny everywhere in Cascadia, but the last mile up to the beach can be very foggy. Blame it all on how the weather works at the coast, but you can never be guaranteed a sunny day at the beach. You will find, however, that no matter what the weather on the beach that day, the tourists will continue to flock there to sit and enjoy themselves. After all, any day on vacation is better than a day sitting at home. Just watch out. You can still get a pretty bad sunburn even in the fog. Photo: Taken at Tolovana Park near Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast on 19 August 2009.

Pioneer Square is considered by many to be the “Birthplace of Seattle” sitting in the place where many of the region’s original pioneers set up shop cutting into the forests and operating the sawmills that built what was to become the City of Seattle. The site is a central meeting place in the South end of Downtown, and serves as a hub for both tourists and the people of the city. Among the attractions in the square is this totem pole, towering over the square below. Photo: Taken at Pioneer Square in Seattle on 27 June 2010.

Fly. Be Free. Be free to fly anywhere within the range of your species. Enjoy the beautiful day. Enjoy the sky. Look down at the world, while the world looks back at you. Open your wings, but don’t care who sees you. Look for fish. Look for french fries. Just be the bird. Photo: Taken freely from Pier 54 in Seattle on 26 June 2010.

Just remember: If it quacks like a duck, and it floats like a duck, then it must be a seagull! Here, seagulls are acting like ducks next to Pier 54 in Elliott Bay in Seattle. The Seattle Fire Department fire boat Chief Seattle sits just beyond. Yes, the day was very sunny and the water shone like glass. Photo: Taken from Pier 54 in Seattle on 26 June 2010.