The Sandy River flowing through a snowy temperate rain-forest.
The top of Mt. Hood has been totally covered in snow, and so has much of the high-country… I wasn’t quite ready to let go of her plant life though, so I went for what was likely my last visit to the mossy green undergrowth, ferns and fungi of the forest just below snow-line.
A transition day it was… These are some of the most compelling times to get out – times of sharp seasonal contrast. The cloud deck was about 500′ above where my hike through the maples and alders began – obscuring the belly of Hood and her slender shoulders. A winding forest service road led me up into the conifers and mist.
A mature Oyster mushroom covered in some of the seasons first snow.
Through wet green foliage I climbed and it looked like forest sprites had a fight and threw powdered sugar throughout their lush living-room… I came around a bend and saw some immense power lines – relics of industrial life and ducked my head under their intense buzz… The clouds broke farther up the ridge and gave me some of the first sunshine I’ve seen in at least 10 days. It was so fuckin’ good… Shortly after the sun puddle faded, I rounded a corner and descended a snowy bank to a grotto, where three sister-waterfalls sang.
After a time the melody disolved from my balcony of snowy moss and shifting logs, and I knew it was time to go. The sun would soon be down and I was ready to get my blood moving again. Puffing large breaths of steam, thoroughly soaked and satisfied, I switch-backed the the fallen widow-makers and waist deep soggy-fern slope. Near the end of my journey a maiden-cloud came in and brought me my first snow of the season.
Doin’ a funky snow dance 😉
Alex
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- A mature Oyster mushroom covered in some of the seasons first snow.
Check out more articles and updates here.