Mima Mounds and the Black River on a sunny Winter day.

The cold light of late November shines down the prairies and marshes that carpet the rolling countryside south of Puget Sound. The dark waters of Black River shine like bright mirrors as it winds its meandering way through vast and mysterious marshes. As the day comes to a close, the ancient and enigmatic mounds of the strange Mima Mounds cast long shadows across the landscape. These rare and endangered ecosystems are filled with a unique and gentle beauty.

 

Milk of the Glaciers - Journey of the Nisqually River

The roar of the Nisqually River echoes through the green valleys, tumbling from shining glaciers of Mt. Rainier towards Puget Sound. The first snows of winter melt in the surprising warm weather of a bright November day, flowing through the post-autumnal meadows of Paradise, over towering Narada Falls in a veil of rainbows.

 

Devils Punchbowl

Howling wind tears across the scrub and gnarled trees of the headland, carrying with it the fury of the mighty Pacific Ocean as towering waves curl, crash, and explode against the rocky cliffs of the Oregon Coast. Below the heights lies the churning cauldron of the Devils Punchbowl, a massive, collapsed sea cave filled with boiling froth and flying jetsom. The very ground tremble with the impacts of the maelstrom that rages ceaselessly - driven by the immeasurable power of the endless watery wasteland of the open sea.

 

Burroughs Mountain

The high meadows of Sunrise at Mt. Rainier rise from the valley forests of the White River to the windswept moorland above. Here on high and lonely Burroughs Mountain the only trees are windswept krummholtz firs. Glaciers flow from the summit of Rainier, rivers of ice marching on beneath the crags and cliffs that rear like islands from the frozen white wastes.

 

Depoe Bay Spouting Horns

Beside the bright storefronts of Depoe Bay, lie chasms deep, mysterious and full of rage. From these trenches rises the throaty roar of the Pacific, a building cacophony that increases to a deafening crescendo only to die away, and then with sudden violence erupt skyward to douse tourists in brine as the sea savagely crashes against ancient lava and the modern bulwarks that man has built in his hubris against the ravages of the unstoppable power of the ocean.

Hiking to Short Sands Beach - Oswald West State Park

Through a forest of towering ancient trees, the trail to Short Sands Beach in Oswald West State Park is a sublime Oregon Coast experience. We hiked it on one of the years stormiest days, with rain dripping through the high canopy above and massive waves hammering the storm-wracked sands.