Revisiting favorite places #46: I think this old blown-over tree on Johnston Ridge really loves his wildflowers!

 

Revisiting favorite places #45: Johnston Ridge is unreachable until next year due to the washed-out highway, but at least we have pictures-- lots of them! Looking northwest at the beautiful sky, the beautiful Indian Paintbrush wildflowers, and the remains of one of the thousands of trees blown down in the eruption of Mt. St. Helens over 40 years ago.

 Sharing today with Mersad's Through My Lens

Revisiting favorite places #44: The wildflowers on Johnston Ridge magically aglow in the golden hour light.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #44: Johnston Ridge took the first blast when the mountain blew, but even after more than 40 years, you can still find the fallen trees (left). Just to the right of the tree in the foreground you can see the Toutle River, nearly 4000 feet below. The wildflowers are Indian Paintbrush.

 

Revisiting favorite places #43: It will be next year before we can visit Johnston Ridge again due to the road being washed out in heavy Spring rains. This view from Johston Ridge is about 4000 feet above the Toutle River Valley below. It's a great place to see how the north face and much of the top of Mt. St. Helens blew out in 1980. It's almost impossible to get a sense of scale, but the little green specks are tall conifers.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #42: Wildflowers on Coldwater Ridge-- July is best.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #41: Looking across the lake from Coldwater Ridge, we can see Mt. Margaret and a cloud that looks suspiciously like a Muppet!

 

Revisiting some favorite places #40: Coldwater Lake on a beautiful summer morning.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #39: Coldwater Lake is as far as you can go up the Spirit Lake Highway till sometime next year. Heavy Spring rain severely damaged the road leading to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. But between the viewpoints, hiking trails, and the lake, it's worth the trip.

 

Revisiting favorite places #38: Back, closer to home with a view of Mt. Adams from the Spirit Lake Highway's Elk Rock Viewpoint.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #37: For my final revisiting of the Columbia River Gorge, what could be more appropriate than the magnificent Latourell Waterfall...

 

Revisiting some favorite places #36: Here's a dramatic view of the Columbia River Gorge at sunset-- from the dry east side to the cooler and wetter west side.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #35: When the hot, dry air from the east side of the Cascades meets the cooler air of the west side-- The result is wind! Windsurfers come from all over to the Columbia River Gorge to take advantage! The town of Hood River, Oregon, is just about the capital of the windsurfing world.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #34: The Columbia River Gorge cuts through the Cascade Mountain Range. The West side is the "wet" side with a milder climate and more rainfall. Going through the Gorge gives the traveler a wonderful view of the differences. Here, the pine and juniper trees start giving in to the fir, cedar, and hemlock. At 3,848' in elevation, Nesmith Point is the highest point along the cliffs lining the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon side. It's named after a distant relative-- James Ellis Nesmith (1820-1885), a cousin of one of my great-great-grandfathers.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #33: You can follow just about any road in the high plains of North-Central Oregon and know that you will see something wonderful...

 

Revisiting some favorite places #32: Two lonely sights-- the Eight Mile Cemetary and the Eight Mile School--- on Japanese Hollow Road, near Dufur, Oregon.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #32: Across from the Eight Mile Cemetery in north central Oregon stands the abandoned Eight Mile School.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #31: It was near the Eight Mile Cemetary, a few miles south of the Columbia River, that we found these beautiful thistles and the biggest bumblebee I have ever seen. I wanted to pet him. But I didn't.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #30: The Church at Locust Grove, not far from Wasco. It has no windows and hasn't had a congregation for 100 years or so. But it still stands proudly.

 

Revisiting favorite spots #29: Here's one last look at the Goodnoe Station, from a different viewpoint, and on a different day. It's easy to think of crumbling buildings and ghost towns on the dry side of the Cascade Mountains. Why? The need for little towns within horse and wagon distances has disappeared, and many family farms have been replaced by corporate farming. But there's beauty in the land and the remaining pioneer structures. And there are still many people who love living there.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #28: The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River, over 65 years old, and the much older remains of a Shaker Indian Church and small homestead. Unfortunately, nobody is preserving these old buildings, and I expect that all traces of them will be gone before long.

 

Revisiting favorite places #27: From the little town of Dufur, Oregon's Mt. Hood is very dramatic!

 

Revisiting favorite places # 26: I'm sad to say that we can only revisit the Nelson House near Dufur, Oregon, in pictures. It had been one of the most photographed abandoned houses in the northwest before it burned to the ground in a wildfire in 2018. We were lucky to see it a few times on various trips before that.

 

Revisiting favorite places #25: Another place with a name, but no town anymore--- Friend, Oregon. WIth Mt. Hood looming majestically ahead, this is the road to Friend.

 Sharing with Mersad's Through My Lens

Revisiting some of my favorite places #24: The wonderful old barn on Tygh Ridge...

 

Revisiting some favorite places #23: Inside Goodnoe Station, looking out... At least you don't have to wash the windows.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #22: Goodnoe Station-- Definitely a lot of cross-ventilation!

 

Revisiting some favorite places #21: This is my favorite place for train pictures, and this image is probably my favorite!

 

Revisiting some favorite places #20: The Drano Lake Tunnel--just one of the 15 railroad tunnels on the Washington side of the Columbia River. The larger tunnel, behind, is for highway traffic.

 

Revisiting favorite places #19: A Union Pacific freight, passing in the night...

 

Sharing today with Mersad's Through My Lens

Revisiting favorite places #18: This is a beautiful place in the Columbia Gorge to wait for a train to come...

 

Revisiting favorite places #17: Just west of the Maryhill Winery, this train dominates the landscape! When the Burlington, Great Northern, and Santa Fe railroads all combined, they picked the perfect colors for their locomotives-- very close to the Santa Fe "Warbonnet" colors of the past.

 

Revisiting favorite places #16: Anywhere the trains roll--- Just East of the Cascade Mountain Range, as the trees thin, and the temperatures rise, it's such a wonderful sight to see the incredibly long Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains snaking through multiple tunnels on the Washington side of the river. And if you look closely at the bottom of the picture, you'll see a Union Pacific container train on the Oregon side. An extra today is the barge being pushed Westbound in the middle of the river. Barge traffic is still important on the Columbia.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #16: The abandoned Goodnoe Hills Schoolhouse, closed in 1961...

 

Revisiting some favorite places #15: High in the Goodnoe Hills in Washington-- It's the last tree. Or maybe it just seems that way.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #14: A seriously beautiful farmhouse with even a hanger for the airplane-- in Washington, on a high plateau north of the Columbia River. It still is "High Lonesome" in my mind.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #13: The beautiful White River Falls near Tygh Valley, Oregon. My Great- Great Grandfather started ranching in Tygh Valley in the 1850s.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #12: The hills and plateaus of north-central Oregon are rich in beauty. Mt. Hood and the orchards stand out about 15 miles south of The Dalles, Oregon, and the Columbia River.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #11: High in the hills, between the Maryhill Museum of Art and The Stonehenge Monument is a little pioneer cemetery that predates even the town of Maryhill, Washington.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #10: Of course, it's our own Stonehenge! High in the hills above Maryhill, erected by Sam Hill in 1918 as the nation's first memorial to those lost in The First World War. It's just a mile or two from the Museum. A great effort was made to make it an accurate copy of what experts thought the original Stonehenge looked like.

 

There are two big surprises on the hills just above Maryhill, Washington. One is the Maryhill Museum of Art! Built in 1914 by Railroad Baron, Sam Hill, and named after his daughter, Mary Hill. The little town is named Maryhill as well. The Museum was dedicated by Queen Marie of Romania (a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England) in 1926. But that's not the only unexpected thing up here...

 

Revisiting some favorite places #8: Again, looking across an orchard/vineyard in Maryhill to the oregon side. Both sides have major railroad mainlines-- The BNSF is on the Washington side. A Union Pacific freight is shown westbound on the Oregon side.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #7: Maryhill, Washington (foreground) is charming with its orchards and vineyards. Biggs Junction, Oregon, on the other side of the Columbia River, isn't nearly as pretty, but it is important to the farmers and ranchers. And it's a stop for travelers on the busy Interstate 84.

 

Revisiting some favorite places #6: I first thought these two very old and very small structures near Boyd were outhouses, but that made no sense. Why were there two? Why are there ladders to the top? It was finally explained to me that these were actually places where the hands could sleep overnight if they need to stay out among the cattle. I don't know if that's true, but they are very interesting.

 

Sharing today with Mersad's Through My Lens

Revisiting some favorite places #5-- This is the giant wooden grain elevator in the Oregon ghost town, Boyd. Once there were railroad tracks along the right side. On the left side, a small grist mill was once powered by a channel from the creek. The town was disincorporated nearly 70 years ago.