Columbia River Gorge

Picture taken today from Vista House, looking East

View of Sand Island in Columbia River, near Bridal Veil Falls


Looking across the Columbia River from the Oregon side to Cape Horn on the Washington side. This is a composite of 7 photos stitched together.

Closeup of Cape Horn waterfalls

Lanceleaf Spring Beauty, Claytonia lanceolata

I found this small flower along a logging road in the nearby state forest. It is in the same family as Miners Lettuce and the flowers are almost identical.

Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas Fir

I wouldn't say I live in a rain forest, but as the pictures show, its close....

Needle Ice, kammeis (German), shimo bashira (japanese), pipkrake (Swedish)

Freezing weather usually brings ice crystals growing out of the ground. This years crop is unusual in that the crystals are up to 2" long.

What ever is on the surface gets pushed upward - dirt, roots, or Doug Fir needles

Indian Plum, Oemleria cerasiformis

The fruit from this small tree is fairly tasty, but there is very little to eat as the seeds are huge. Red stems, dark blue fruit, and green leaves make for an interesting color combination.

Immature fruit:

Mature fruit:
Finally got a picture today (February 28, 2010) of the flowers that appear in early Spring:

Icy Little Salmon Creek

With the recent cold weather, Little Salmon Creek is starting to get icy. Water is flowing behind this 2 foot tall frozen waterfall:

Water flowing underneath interesting patterns in the ice:

Creeping Buttercup, Ranunculus repens

An introduced perennial, Creeping Buttercup is common in pastures and toxic to cattle.  This specimen was photographed in Lucia Falls County Park in SW Washington.