the river rose…

the journey……..

river currents rub round

boulders bracing, enduring

worn down over time

Sandy Oregon Sunrise

My good friend Joe took this stunning shot of the Sandy River (Oregon) looking into the sunrise. Beautiful! Please go to Joe’s site and show your appreciation. He is a hard working man that does not get out as much as he’d like, but he does take very beautiful shots.

Rapid Thaws & Flooding: Think Preparedness

Tyler Malay and Alexandra Erickson, Sandy River flood, January 2011 (SwittersB)

A fair amount of snow has fallen around the country this Winter and in several instances is still coming down heavily today. Also, in some instances, there is a forecasted rapid warmup predicted for the next several days. That may well lead to runoff problems of large proportions, so if you would be influenced by such rapid runoffs prepare your strategy sooner than too late.

I write this common sense, “duh” post after watching some recent floods of a river close to my front door…not that close, but close enough to effect friends of ours. (2011 Sandy R. Flood)

Sandy River flood, 2006 by SkyKeen3 (SwittersB)

Science & such were never my strong suit……….

Well, I was going to do some science, math, nature deal here of how much water flows over that rock per second (CFS..Cubic Feet a Second). I noted this stretch of the Sandy River (Oregon) is running at 1300 CFS, which is about average right now. Well, the science says 1 CFS fills a box 1′ x 1′ x 1′ per second. So, now I start to get lost when I picture 1300 cubic boxes right there per second. See, I spared you the whole improbable bit of boxes whizzing by over that rock. I will just stick to the image and hope for the best.

Nature: A Winter Wetland & Future Salmon Project

A small section of wetland just South of the Columbia River off the Scenic Highway. Here it is lush green during the early Summer.

Below are three images I shot from the right toward the left this Winter…brown and somewhat lower in water levels. Game trails cross over the railroad tracks and scenic highway on the South side. 

Lovely Nia was so kind to offer to take my photos and give them a different, fresh appearance.

Photography of Nia

Oneonta-Horsetail Creek Salmon Project

Interesting piece about providing some habitat restoration in the area of the photos I took as well as to the Sandy River, 15 miles West, where they intend to redirect the channel to a pre-1934 pathway….all this designed to improve habitat for salmon/steelhead in easily overlooked back waterways adjacent to the mighty Columbia River.

Nature: Levels of Change

The ebb and flow of rivers is always a visible reminder to a fisherman walking the river banks or drifting the currents. Etched into the banks are indications of water levels, swift currents and the aftermath of what must have been frightening power. Snapped trees, giant boulders displaced, brush piles of debris high in the tree limbs all suggest river levels many feet higher than the current levels.

The lower Sandy River (Oregon) after flood stage levels & snapped trees. Soon the trunks of the damaged trees will be undercut, dislodged and wash down river to be snagged up or eventually be pushed out into the mighty Columbia River.

Speaking of flood, I thought this quote by Walt Whitman about his flood of thoughts while writing was intriguing:

“The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment – to put things down without deliberation – without worrying about their style – without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote – wrote, wrote…By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught.”