This morning I shot six holes in my freezer
I think I got cabin fever
Somebody sound the alarm!
– Jimmy Buffet, Boat Drinks
Portland doesn’t get a lot of snow and not much was really expected in the forecast. Then it started coming down and didn’t stop and the scene above was what I saw when I looked up my street.
It snowed for hours – Ten and a half inches in one day. The most snow in one day in Portland since 1943. It was nice snow too – good for snowballs and snowmen. I have a steep driveway and I knew I wasn’t going anywhere for awhile.
The next day there was a little sun and things melted a little but then it froze overnight forming icicles and making the roads slicker. I hadn’t ventured beyond shoveling my sidewalks and walking around the block for two days and the snow wasn’t going away.
On the third day we both felt the Cabin Fever and had to get out. So we bundled up and set out for our normal daily walk in the park. With camera in hand we ventured out into the slippery world. I immediately realized we might have planted the primroses a little early.
Our normal walk always takes us up Brazee Street towards Grant Park and each day we see Spirit on the way – sometimes helping him upright if he’s fallen in the night. I could see he wasn’t bothered by the snow.
Into Grant Park and up to the Beverly Cleary Sculptures – did you know that Henry Huggins was a Steeler fan?
Our six lane track was down to 1 lane and it made passing difficult because you had to run into the snow. Not a problem for us of course – we weren’t passing anyone – but I heard the joggers grumble about slow walkers on their running track. We walked to a party that night but we could see the roads were improving and we figured we could finally escape our steep driveway tomorrow.
The next morning we hopped in the car and headed to Multnomah Falls. The Columbia River Gorge was a winter wonderland but the roads were clear.
Majestic Multnomah Falls with a coating of snow and ice.
With the mist I had to wipe my lens often. My first battery only lasted twenty minutes due to the extreme cold.
Lake Benson nearby was mostly frozen over but the Falls were flowing strong.
The hike up to the bridge was icy and slippery. My trusty hiking buddy made the trip under extreme protest!
We backtracked on to the Historic Columbia Highway and visited nearby Horsetail Falls.
After passing Bridel Veil Falls we came to beautiful Latourell Falls
It felt so good to escape our Cabin Fever. I’ll brave the cold any day for views like this!
Very cool. Amazing, so much snow. Sorry I missed it. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Beautiful.