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all the new snow

Posted by drm (2007-09-29)

I had planned today to visit the Vista Ridge for the first time, and I wasn't going to let yesterdays weather stop me. In fact I figured that it would be nice seeing the first snow at that level.

Here's what the trailhead looked like.

But you didn't have to walk far before it looked like this. Lot's of "whumping" of that tree snow onto hikers.

For some reason, this one stuck out of the snow.

And here's the Timberline just east of the Vista. The tracks are mine and mine only.

Mt Hood was plastered. And although the coming storms this week aren't supposed to be quite as cold, I don't imagine the stuff that high will be below freezing. Is this stuff all going to melt before winter really hits?

I discovered something strange. I was walking up the trail and the "Transitions" coating on the glasses I wear was of course darkening the hard glare since there were some solid sun breaks early on. I discovered that Transitions not only makes it darker, it changes the color of leaves! Green is still green, sort of, but some of the yellow/oranges turn bright red! Compare the following two pics. The first is a regular shot. For the second, you can tell it is the same scene. I put my glasses in front of the camera lense.

Re: all the new snow

Posted by Splintercat (2007-09-29)

Great photos! There's nothing better than hiking after the first dusting of snow..!

Unless this year is quite unusual, the snow below about 7,000 will mostly melt before the big snows hit in late November. But from a photography standpoint, the snow at the higher elevations leaves a nice frosting on the rocks that greatly improves depth and detail on the mountain. This is a photo from last Fall (taken near the Vista Ridge Trailhead) that shows some of that remnant snow from a first snowfall, with fall colors in the foreground. This was taken in mid-October, I think:

Now that the "Old Vista Ridge Trail" is largely cleared, I'll have to make a trip in that direction after a snowfall. The forests in your photos are beautiful with fresh snow on the trees and undergrowth! I've never seen this side of the mountain up close in winter - intriguing!

Tom

Re: all the new snow

Posted by retired jerry (2007-09-29)

Wow! Looks really nice up there. Great pics.

It'll probably mostly melt off before winter really hits.

It seems like the weather is really weird this year - global warming????

Re: all the new snow

Posted by DennisTheMenace (2007-09-30)

Last Sunday I did the Obsidian Trail and after a while the rain turned into snow. So that was the first snowfall of the season. It was fun.

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