(Click here for a larger view) It was the summer of 1939, and Depression-era Americans were escaping the hard times with the theater releases of “Gone with the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz”. In Europe, Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September of 1939 ignited World War II. Against the sweeping backdrop of this pivotal [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category
Warren Falls Mystery… Solved!
January 31, 2012Proposal: Bridal Veil Canyon Trail
January 15, 2012It is an unfortunate reality that in the face of Oregon’s population doubling over the past half-century, our trail system has declined. The resulting crowding and overuse is evident on many of the trails that remain, especially on those fringing the rapidly growing Portland region. This trend is at odds with oft-stated public goals of [...]
Looking back at 2011… and toward 2012
December 31, 2011This is my third annual report on the WyEast Blog since kicking it off in November 2008. As in previous years, I posted new articles every couple of weeks in 2011. The most-read of 24 new articles in 2011 were: 1. Let’s clear the logjam at Oneonta Gorge (May 2011) 2. SOLVED: North Side Waterfall [...]
New Lidar Maps of Mount Hood
December 26, 2011The age of the microprocessor has ushered in a revolution in the fields of cartography and geosciences. After all, few could have imagined streaming Google Earth imagery over a worldwide web when the first air photos were being scanned and digitized in the 1980s. The latest innovation on the geo-data front promises still more detailed [...]
The Newton Clark Moraine
November 26, 2011Tucked on the remote east shoulder of Mount Hood is the Newton Clark Moraine, the largest glacial formation on the mountain, and one of its most prominent features. Yet this huge, snaking ridge remains one of Mount Hood’s least known and most mysterious landmarks. At over three miles in length, and rising as much as [...]
Columbia Gorge: The Fight for Paradise
November 18, 2011On November 17, OPB’s Oregon Field Guide aired a special 1-hour look at the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Act, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the legislation. The show provides a comprehensive look at the history of the Gorge Act, its friends and foes and some of the future challenges, including those never anticipated when the [...]
WyEast Blog has a new address!
November 14, 2011The WyEast Blog has a new, shorter URL as of today — www.wyeastblog.org — with the goal of making it easier to find, and to underscore the non-profit mission of the Mount Hood National Park Campaign. The old URL will continue to work indefinitely, but the new address will make it a little easier to [...]
Piggyback Plant
November 13, 2011Hike along any low-elevation stream in the Cascades and you’re likely to pass colonies of Tolmiea menziesii — more commonly known as the piggyback plant. These humble plants draw their common name from a unique habit of sprouting new plants on top of their leaves (reflected in other common names for the species, including “youth-on-age” [...]
2012 Mount Hood National Park Calendar
October 30, 2011Each year at about this time I assemble the Mount Hood National Park Scenic Calendar. The proceeds are modest, but do help support the Mount Hood National Park Campaign website and related project expenses. The main purpose is simply to promote the project, and make the case for the campaign with pictures. I’ve published the [...]
Let’s Fix the Cooper Spur Trail
September 27, 2011The first hiking trails on Mount Hood were built in the late 1890s, radiating from the newly constructed Cloud Cap Inn on the mountain’s north side. The steep hike up the south Eliot Glacier moraine to Cooper Spur was perhaps the first trail, as it was part of the still-popular Cooper Spur route to the [...]
White River Buried Forest
September 18, 2011The summer of 2011 will be remembered as the year of the Dollar Lake Fire in the Mount Hood area, as much of the north side is still smoldering from a lightning-caused wildfire that ignited on August 26. Though a calamity to those who loved the verdant forests on Mount Hood’s northern slopes, the fire [...]
SOLVED: North Side Waterfall Mystery
August 28, 2011Fans of the classic 1975 edition of Jack Grauer’s “Mount Hood: A Complete History” have memorized the many rare photos and stories found only in this unique book. For waterfall hunters, the photo on page 226 (shown above) is particularly compelling. The 1890s image is titled “Wallalute Falls on Compass Creek”, and shows the tiny [...]
ODOT lays a big Goose Egg
August 20, 2011For this article, I’ll stray from WyEast country a bit, if only to illustrate just why those who love the Oregon landscape ought to be distrustful of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) when it comes to respecting Oregon’s scenic and cultural legacy. Sadly, the agency simply isn’t up to the job. Case in point: [...]
Proposal: Bald Butte Loop
July 26, 2011Each spring the parking lot at the Dog Mountain trailhead in the Columbia Gorge starts to look like Black Friday at a shopping mall: hundreds of hikers crowd the trail for the classic hike through steep meadows of blooming arrowleaf balsamroot. Who can blame them? The flower show is spectacular, even with the crowds. But [...]
