The view from our place on Center Ridge, about 20 miles SE of The
Dalles, Oregon. Looking north across the Columbia River at Mt
Adams on the left & Mt Rainier on the right, both of which are in Washington state. These volcanic peaks in the Cascade Range are
snow capped the year 'round.

The same scene mid summer.Not quite so much snow on the peaks, and a lot more smoke as a forest fire SW of Mt Adams
sends a plume towering into the afternoon sky.

Panning to the left from the shots seen above brings us to Mt St Helens, also in Washington. A lot of the top of this peak disappeared
in the famous eruption of May 18, 1980, but she is still tall enough to be snow capped the year 'round.

A steam eruption from Mt St Helens....November, 2004

The last major ash eruption.......March 2005.

The Queen of the north Oregon Cascade Range......Mt Hood.
Almost directly west of our place on a crisp winter morning.

Early September.......and quite a difference in the amount of snow on
the mountain. Hard to say 'snow capped' with a straight face with this shot. Still has some snow, but getting pretty naked after a long
hot summer.

Winter storms return the white coat to the mountain, as well as the surrounding foothills.

Peeking through the fog.

A little closer look......taken from a location 10 miles west and a little
south of our place on a bright winter morning. Lots of snow on the old girl now.

Hi John,

Mt. Hood seem to be dangerous mountain. May be two month ago, I read again from cilled mountaineer.

But I alway like a horizon with higher or lower mountains!

All the best
Theo

^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^ Breathtaking ^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^
Outstanding photos as usual John!!!:)
Thank you for sharing!

You live in a beautiful area!! I was out there 2 years ago went the whole way around the Queen (as you call it ) and drove up to the lodge (awesome wood in that place ) Then we went to MT. St. Helens and what I was wondering and maybe you don't know - why is there always a little cloud at the top??

Wow Mark!!! That is one outstanding photo as well!!!!
Downright beautifull!

Greetings to Bavaria!! Yes, you are right. A climber did recently
die on Mt Hood. Disappeared with out a trace actually. The weather on the mountain can change so rapidly that even the most experienced climbers can get into trouble. Clear & sunny
as seen here.........

.........can turn to blizzard conditions in a short time.

Hey Mark! Yup, Timberline Lodge up at about the 6000 foot level is
spectacular. The cloud cap at the top of the mountains is pretty
common......not always there ( see above) The cap comes from the moisture streaming in off of the Pacific. as it pushes up &
over the Cascade Range, it condenses .....first forming clouds,
then rain. The higher peaks such as St Helens or Mt Hood create
their own weather as the moisture pushes up their snow covered
slopes in cools & condenses faster....presto a cloud cap. Here is
one of Mt Hood.....a SW wind ( very typical) is pushing right up
over Timberline and forming a cloud at the summit (elv 11,239 feet,3426 meters) and then streams off the summit towards the NE

Cool, Thanks for the answer John we've always wondered ever since we were out. Another thing that impress me was that at the foot of Muntnomah falls was RT30 and that same road runs in front of my house in PA. Mark

As usual some great photos John.

Tony