Irrelevance Glorified

In honor of Martin Luther King’s birthday, I spent the holiday with perhaps the whitest guy I know. And because I’m lazy, they haven’t been posted until now. But hey, better late than never.

I visited Portland back in January to see Bruce, Tina, and little Nile. This version of Nile was a little bit more interactive than the last time I visited, but not yet mobile enough to be a full-fledged monster. Normally, I’ve just done a picture dump of these things, replete with explanations, but after seeing Bruce introduce slide shows to his webpage, I thought it came off acceptable. Of course, my pictures are typically poorly composed, so explanations are usually necessary. So, hit the jump to see all the pictures, hit up the Flickr set (and increase my Flickr traffic), or just passively watch the slideshow below.

 

 

We had dinner at the Bridgeport Brewpub in the Pearl District of Portland. This picture is blurry, but I think Nile is cuter in this one.

 

I like to take pictures of signs like this, just so that later on when I’m sorting through the pictures I know where I went. Bruce, Tina, Nile and I tried to hit up some waterfalls during my visit, even though it was a bit chilly.

 

The view from the parking lot is pretty nice….you can see the waterfall in the distance, and the way it cascades down towards you. If you look closely, you can see a bridge crosses in front of that drop. The nearby trail offers a closer view….

 

Unfortunately, our hike was cut a little bit short due to the large amount of ice around. While the waterfalls were going pretty gangbusters due to the large amount of snowmelt, it was still cold enough that the trail was really slippery. Considering that we were carrying Nile around, no one wanted to risk a fall. So, this was as far as we got. I’ll just have to take it further the next time I’m in Portland.

 

After failing at Wahkeena, we drove over to the more accessible Multnomah Falls, one of the most impressive waterfalls in North America. You can see one of the main drops behind us. While Bruce disappointingly wears an -ugh- Iowa hat, Nile is doing okay with his Bears hat.

 

I do love taking pictures of people taking pictures. While Bruce captures Tina and Nile in front of Multnomah’s glory, I decide to take a broader view. You can see both of the main drops here, totaling about 620 ft.

 

One last look back at the falls. The building in the foreground is Multnomah Falls Lodge, poised to exploit the natural beauty of the Columbia River Gorge.

 

Moving on, we went to hit up a trail that Bruce hadn’t done yet. The path steadily climbs up along this rushing creek/river/thing.

 

I’m impressed at any trail where they take the time to actually build a bridge. Quite a selfless and unappreciated act.

 

Along the way to Wahclella Falls, I noticed that in general….everything was wet. There were a number of places where the slowly melting and refreezing of water coated the rock faces with a thin coat of ice. In areas like this one, where moss grows rampantly, we get moss icicles. Also, this is the first shot where you can see Nile in his Kelty carrier.

 

The distance from trailhead to payoff for this hike was pretty short. Here is Wahclella Falls, yet another cataract on the Columbia River Gorge.

 

Here’s me and Wahclella Falls.

 

Another, better picture of the kid carrier. Nile loves being high up and he likes water, so this was a pretty good afternoon for him.

 

Volcanoes are often quite picturesque, because they stand alone, rather than being part of some nebulous "range". While Mt. Hood is part of the Cascade Volcano Arc, the volcanoes are spaced quite far apart. Mt. Hood is particularly attractive, because it’s so pointy, and at this point of the year, it’s suitably snow-capped.

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