Near the Top

Astoria, Oregon ~ January 23, 2010

I took a lot of photos on a long walk last January when Francisca was visiting. For some reason - maybe the lighting - a lot of them were usable. Here's a pretty home on a large piece of open land just before you go into the forest on the way to the top of Coxcomb Hill to see the Astoria Column. There was plenty of filtered sun that day. This was one of the cloudier moments, as I remember.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Wind and Waves

April 10, 2010

Alongside the Maritime Museum on the River Walk

46°11'22.81"N 123°49'23.81"W

On the south side of the Columbia River Maritime Museum is a tall glass window with a display inside of a real Coast Guard boat lodged at a rakish angle on resin waves. A recording produces the sounds of the pounding sea and the exchange of boat captains navitaging perilous waters. In today's Weekend Reflections photo you can also see Coxcomb Hill and the Astoria Column, the museum parking lot, and a wind-tossed photographer.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Dizzying?

You probably shouldn't look at this photo if heights and swooping roads make you dizzy. We've just seen the panoramic views from the top of the column (last post). Here's the almost-straight-down view to the parking lot atop Coxcomb Hill. The winding road is one of two ways to reach the base of the column. The other is on a densely-wooded trail called the "Cathedral Tree Trail," for reasons that will become clear in another post someday. This pic was taken in early evening with the sun behind gray clouds. You can see the state of our deciduous trees about now. The second wave of yellow leaves is about gone, in great part due to very heavy rains. (Now, almost a week after I took the photo, we've also had some screaming winds. The photo is from November 13, when I took the other photos in this series of the column.)

On the left side of the parking lot's curved prow, you can see a replica of a Chinook Indian burial canoe. There's a more romantic and scenic view of it here.

History on the Astoria Column

Built in 1926, the Astoria Column at the top of Coxcomb Hill, does not have such a long history itself, but it is painted with a long and winding mural that tells of the region's history for several hundred years.

The emerald road

This lovely forest road is actually right in town. It winds its way to the top of Coxcomb hill, and makes a nice walk - not too long, but very beautiful and relaxing. I took the photo on May 4, 2005, before some of the trees blew down in the great storm of December 2, 2007. It's still very green, but a little thinner on the right side, especially as you climb the hill. One of the first things I noticed about Oregon when I moved here in 2001 after living in Southern California and Western Colorado was how green it is! I loved it, and I still do. In the spring you can see more colors of green than I've ever seen anywhere. I've never been to Ireland or much of the UK, so I can't compare, but northwestern Oregon is a veritable artist's palette of greens.