The beautiful Northwest - November 15, 2008

On the way back to Scappoose from the Forestry Museum, we took Skyline Blvd north along the ridge of low hills that separate the Columbia River on the east from the Willamette Valley on the west.  It was about 4:10 PM and the sun would be setting in about 20 to 30 minutes.    All of a sudden, through an opening in the trees, we could see Mt. St. Helens to the northeast of us in Washington.    On any day when it's not cloudy, from Scappoose we can see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and the tip of Mt. Rainier to the northeast of us in Washington and Mt. Hood east of Portland in Oregon.  But today, with the setting sun hitting the mountains, the view was especially beautiful, and since we were at about 800 feet in elevation, we could see some more of the Cascades behind Mt. St Helens, that are not visible from Scappoose.    Mt. St. Helens is the larger mountain in the photos.  I have no idea what the names are of the two snowcapped peaks to the left of Mt. St. Helens, but I do know that the little peak just in view to the left of the two snowcapped peaks is the very tip of Mt. Rainier.

Mt. St. Helens is 45 miles northeast of Scappoose and Mt. Rainier is about 50 miles farther north of Mt. St. Helens.   After living in Southern California, where you can see a couple of miles on a good day, I am still in awe of being able to see 45 miles to Mt. St. Helens, 74 miles to Mt. Adams, 95 miles to Mt. Rainier in Washington and 66 miles to Mt. Hood in Oregon, on any day there are no clouds.