Because I've been doing so much research on the valley in which I live, I decided it was time to see some of the places I've been reading about. So I rented a car for the weekend, packed in the family, and prepared to head off. Little did I know what I was heading into.
The first stop was Council Crest, the highest point in Portland. From this hilltop, near the southern end of the Tualatin Mountains, one has a view of Mt St. Helens, Mt Hood, Mt Adams, and Mt Rainier. None could be seen. The problem was the fates had it in for me today. Today was likely to be the cloudiest, foggiest day of the year.We couldn't see the road further down the hill that had brought us up. Plus, it was bone achingly cold. The donuts we had purchased on the way couldn't fuel any warmth, so we quickly made our way to our next stop.
Once we descended from the peak, we crossed over to Skyline Blvd. This road rides the crest of most of the West Hills. Starting at the Sylvan exit off Highway 26, it heads in a generally northwestern direction through some of the highest priced real estate in the state.
Our next destination was the Willamette Stone. This was ground zero in the days that the Oregon Territory was being divvied up into land claims. It formed the (0,0) point of the grid of farms, townships, and streets that were to follow. There is a state park around it, but it's probably the least inviting one I've ever seen. No parking, a nondescript sign, and no amenities. Plus, the Stone itself was removed a quarter century ago. Oh well, off we go.
No real destination in mind now but to follow Skyline to it's end. The further we went, the heavier and more opaque the fog became. Then it started to snow. Of course I had hydrology on the mind when mapping out this trip and when the snow began to fall I started to wonder if it would melt off to the east and join the Columbia almost immediately, or if it would drain west and meander around the Tualatin Valley for awhile. We found an area where the snow had accumulated, perhaps a quarter of an inch. Good enough to have a snow fight.And a minuscule snow man.
We followed Skyline through some intersections that tried to get us lost, as this street is not the straightest of all roads. After some time of driving through a beautifully shrouded country side we found a road that was not fit for the compact car we were riding in, presumably the road that would have taken us back down to the Valley floor and ended this leg of the journey. Instead, we drove down the eastern face into the Columbia Valley. After having just listened to a story on NPR about the cutting down of Prometheus, a nearly 5000 year old tree (still alive at the time), we came into a wasteland. We crested a hill and suddenly there were no more trees. But the great river was in front of us and fighter jets were doing maneuvers above us. And now on the radio was the story of an endangered bird and the foolish attempts to help it. The subject of our radio our was well-meaning mistakes.
We stopped for lunch at Ichabod's in Scappoose. Then we headed off for a short drive around Sauvie Island. The weather had cleared up on this side of the mountains and we saw our first and only gleams of sunlight. Rather than a rough ride back to the Tualatin Valley, and not wanting to cover the same ground again, we shot through Cornelius Pass. We took some time to examine a house we saw online that we have considered purchasing. Near by is a open pit mine, but we were unable to view it due to the ever encroaching fog.
The last planned stop was Bald Peak Mountain, part of the Chahalem Mountains that form the southern border of the Tualatin River basin. After being lost in Hillsboro for a while, going in one really large circle and having abandoned all hope, we serendipitously found our way back to the right road to take us to the top of the hill. We broke through the fog just after sun set. We could see the valley blanked in thick clouds. We made our way to the peak, but it was getting too dark and the fog had chased up hill to see anything.
Descending the hills on the souther side into Newburg, we saw an amazing view of the Dundee Hills wrapped in tendrils of cloud. But it was getting fully dark now. We stopped for dinner and then headed home having had a nearly scenic adventure.
On Sunday the weather started to clear, and on Monday we had a lovely afternoon. I tried to make the best of it all by going to Powell's book store downtown. They were hosting a reading by author Jack Nisbet. Nisbet shares my passion of the Columbia river and it's environs. I picked up four of his books, all having to do with the lands of the Pacific Northwest, and I'm sure each will add to my understanding of this land and provide extra umph and depth to this humble blog.
Here is a link to a few of the pictures that I took on this adventure that pertain to the hydrology of the land: Gallery.
Next, a short look at Beaverton on it's treatment of streams in the Tualatin Valley.
Happy Hunting,
Brett
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