Thinking about the Pacific Northwest
It’s been a rainy week so far in Southern California as a couple of storms are rolling through. I love overcast and rainy weather, and it’s making me think fondly of our trip to the Pacific Northwest. One of the first places I visited was Council Crest State Park, which is a ~30min drive from PDX.
Arriving at Council Crest State Park
The drive to the park contains a couple of switchbacks, but nothing too bad. When I got to the park, it was extremely windy. This was probably due to both the time of year (November) and the high elevation (almost 1100ft above sea level). Cars parked all along the road, and many rocked with the wind.
I couldn’t stay outside more than a few minutes at a time because the windchill froze my hands. The trees swayed and leaves fell to the ground. The fall foliage contrasted nicely against the green grass, and inspired the following shot. I widened my aperture partly to bring only the leaves in the foreground in focus and partly to let more light hit my sensor so I could shorten the shutter speed (my hands were freezing!). It was golden hour, and the light was hitting the leaves from the side, making them pop even more.
View of Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier
On a clear day, four mountains are visible from the summit of Council Crest: Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood. In the following shot, I managed to capture Mt. St. Helens. If you look closely, you should be able to see Mt. Rainier hiding behind Mt. St. Helens on the left. I shot this photograph at 40mm to get some of the trees and the city in the foreground to give it a more peekaboo feel.
View of Mount Hood
Mt. Hood is one of the most well-known volcanoes in Oregon. It’s over 500,000 years old and the last major eruption occurred in the 1790s, just prior to Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the northwest. It is currently dormant, but the United States Geological Survey indicates that it will erupt again someday. While the city will not be directly affected by the lava flow, it could be affected by the falling ash.
For the following shot, I wanted to really highlight the size of Mt. Hood against some features of the park. I zoomed in to 75mm and crouched behind a park bench to capture the shot with the fall colors in the foreground. By the time I got this shot, golden hour was just about to transition into blue hour, so there was an intense reddish hue from the sun cast onto Mt. Hood. This photograph is one of my favorites from the trip!
A Bit of History of Council Crest State Park
Council Crest State Park has a very interesting history. There is debate about the origin of the name. Some people believe that Native Americans held meetings here and lit signal fires, hence “Council”. Other people think the name originated from church delegates, who met at this site. Either way, Council Crest was an amusement park! The park opened in 1907 and remained open for 22 years. In 1941, the amusement park was torn down and replaced with grass and a monument. I guess that means that for 12 years the park was abandoned?
Just like how there’s a debate on the origins of the name, there’s also debate on whether it’s the highest point in the city. It’s actually the second highest point, as a stretch of NW Skyline Blvd. currently owns the title of the highest point in Portland.
There’s a water tower there that used to be an observatory, which was part of the amusement park. Around there is a bronze drinking fountain featuring a mother and child, built in July of 1956 (my mom’s birth month and year!). However, in the 1980s, vandals stole this statue. Ten years later, during a narcotics raid, officers found the statue under a cover and returned it to the park. This time, however, the statue was installed in the center of the park instead of towards the eastern side. If you look closely at the ankles, you might be able to see where the vandals used a hacksaw to free up the statue!
As always, comments, questions, and feedback are always welcome!