The wetlands posing for me...

 

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A Barrow's Goldeneye duck makes a running takeoff...

 

Go away! The lake is just for us today!

 

Light from above...

 

Max and Matilda are back again...

 

Very tiny flowers sprout from under fallen maple leaves-- And so it begins again...

 

Looking across the wetlands, over Silver Lake, to Mt. St. Helens...

 

Coldwater Lake...

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The eagle flies free...

 

Cathlamet-- Rich in history on the Columbia River...

 

The MV Levanto, under the Maltese flag, is almost silent as it slips up the Columbia to pick up vast amounts of grain-- bread for the world. Mt. St. Helens is glowing in the distance.

 

Last light over the wetlands...

 

It's time to leave the darkness behind...

 

The MV Elm Galaxy, an oil/chemical tanker under Panamanian Registry headed up the Columbia River to Vancouver/Portland to pick up a load...

 

Two coots on the Columbia...

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An avenue of bare trees in the Golden Hour light...

 

Into the light...

 

"I don't know," said the Heron. "It all started when I had one of those drinks with the little umbrella in it..."

 

And nothing but the complaints of a formation of geese overhead...

 

Seeing the light by Abernathy Creek...

 

The morning after fresh snow has fallen on a frozen Silver Lake a few winters back...

 

Hey! What's all this!

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The power's back on, the house is warming up, we have light and water again! Life is good.

 

Surprise! The 7 inches of snow we got today was much more than expected-- so were the 3 separate power failures at our house. It will all be gone in 2 or 3 days.

 

Mt. St. Helens as a storm moves in...

 

Inside the Columbia River Gorge, looking east--- One last along the river with the BNSF tracks...

 

Thanks for all the lovely thoughts and comments for my virtual trip to the dry side of the mountains along the Columbia River. I never expected it to go over 3 months with pictures from our various October trips. Still a couple left-- This is heading back West to the "wet side" through the Gorge. It's a windsurfer's paradise.

 

All the water they want...

 

Although it's smaller than the "Prairie Schooners" that brought so many people west, this wagon is pretty much the same. Stays would be inserted in the brackets along the sides to hold a canvas cover.

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It's good to remember the dry side of the mountains

 

Left or right...?

 

A cabin by the Columbia...

 

Someone left the door open...

 

An empty corral...

 

What window through yonder light is broken...?

 

What's around the bend...?

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Voices from the past--- Petroglyphs along the Columbia that are figured to be about 350 years old, although the drawings resemble others that are about a thousand years old. Other evidence suggests that people have been living in the area for about 10 thousand years.

 

Windmill...

 Yes, it was turning...

What's your hurry? Come sit with us for a while...

 

An old Chevy that got more colorful with age...

 

Loving caress...

 

Even on the dry side, there's plenty to drink along the banks of 15 Mile Creek....

 

Still some color on this old barn with a stone foundation...

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No school today...

 

Gone fishin'... Native American fishing platforms on the Deschutes River, near Sherar's Bridge. They've been fishing here for a thousand years.

 

Forgotten...

 

The railroads and the river--- They are still vital to the dry side.

 

Things just seem a lot brighter...

 

Lonely outpost...

 

Even here, one can feel the presence of people who worked very hard to make a life for themselves...