Columbia River Photos
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Alongside the Columbia on the Washington side, about one mile from Astoria. The muddy flat included a wrecked yacht, which I would liked to have moved in on for closer shots, but didn't think that would work very well with my footwear.
Race Rocks Lighthouse was built in 1860 and is the second oldest lighthouse on the Canadian Pacific coast. It cast its first beam of light on December 26, 1860.
It is the only lighthouse on BC’s coast that is constructed of stone. Most of the stone that makes up the tower was quarried in Scotland, while the top third is made from sandstone from nearby Gabriola Island.
One of the most striking features of the lighthouse is its black and white stripes, something no other nearby lighthouses have.
The Canadian Coast Guard automated the lighthouse in 1997. Victoria-based Pearson College continues to staff the station. (orcaspirit.com)
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If you squint, you can see two tiny triangles in the calmer section of water just below the house on the island. This was our only view of Harbour Porpoises!
Strait of Juan de Fuca, British Columbia, Canada. June 2022.
Eagle-Eye Tours - Ultimate British Columbia.
BC Whale Tours.
Somewhere between Vancouver and Fort St. John we crossed these beautiful snow-covered mountains. I took advantage of a break in the cloud cover to capture this image shortly before dusk.
British Columbia, Canada. May 2022.
The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia south to the Fraser River. The mountain range's name derives from its proximity to the sea coast, and it is often referred to as the Coast Range. The range includes volcanic and non-volcanic mountains and the extensive ice fields of the Pacific and Boundary Ranges, and the northern end of the volcanic system known as the Cascade Volcanoes. The Coast Mountains are part of a larger mountain system called the Pacific Coast Ranges or the Pacific Mountain System, which includes the Cascade Range, the Insular Mountains, the Olympic Mountains, the Oregon Coast Range, the California Coast Ranges, the Saint Elias Mountains and the Chugach Mountains. The Coast Mountains are also part of the American Cordillera—a Spanish term for an extensive chain of mountain ranges—that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western backbone of North America, Central America, South America and Antarctica.
The Coast Mountains are approximately 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and average 300 kilometres (190 mi) in width. The range's southern and southeastern boundaries are surrounded by the Fraser River and the Interior Plateau while its far northwestern edge is delimited by the Kelsall and Tatshenshini Rivers at the north end of the Alaska Panhandle, beyond which are the Saint Elias Mountains, and by Champagne Pass in the Yukon Territory. Covered in dense temperate rainforest on its western exposures, the range rises to heavily glaciated peaks, including the largest temperate-latitude ice fields in the world. On its eastern flanks, the range tapers to the dry Interior Plateau and the subarctic boreal forests of the Skeena Mountains and Stikine Plateau.
The Coast Mountains are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire—the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean—and contain some of British Columbia's highest mountains. Mount Waddington is the highest mountain of the Coast Mountains and the highest that lies entirely within British Columbia, located northeast of the head of Knight Inlet with an elevation of 4,019 metres (13,186 ft). (Wikipedia)
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Our best view of these majestic mountains was from the ferry as we traveled from Victoria, on Vancouver Island, back to the mainland.
Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada. June 2022.
Eagle-Eye Tours - Ultimate British Columbia.
Part of the view over Columbia Lake in the other direction, with the Rockies towering over the lake. If I had turned more to the north, you'd have seen the town Fairmont Hot Springs (but I preferred this "pure nature" view).
There were several different “rodents” running around in the fields out west. The beauty of camping along the way is that you get better opportunities to capture the wildlife around you. It was also spring when we travelled which meant lots of young life around. This Prairie Dog mom is letting her young one nurse. These animals are cute and quite social but many farmers think they are a nuisance because of all the holes they dig.
The reason for the name ‘Cathedral Grove’ becomes immediately obvious only a few minutes into visiting. Soaring towards the sky, these huge trees form their own beautiful cathedral of nature.
Featuring a magnificent temperate rainforest with enormous 800 year old trees, a carpet of ferns and draping moss, Cathedral Grove is an essential stop on any Vancouver Island road trip.
Officially known as MacMillan Provincial Park, the trees in Cathedral Grove are amongst the oldest and tallest in Canada.
It’s a humbling experience to stand next to these incredibly tall and gnarled tree trunks, some as wide as a car. The tree canopy is up to 80 metres high in places, with the sky a distant proposition. As you walk through the forest, beams of sunlight filter through the branches above, illuminating so many layers of green.
This incredible forest filled with Douglas fir, Western Hemlock, Grand fir and Western Red Cedar trees is the most easily accessible grove of old growth on Vancouver Island. (offtracktravel.ca)
MacMillan Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. May 2022.
Eagle-Eye Tours Ultimate British Columbia.
BNSF Railway's Flathead Valley roadswitcher rolls west through Columbia Falls on the evening of January 6, 2022, as a winter storm rolls into Northwest Montana.
Beautiful British Columbia
Canada
~C
Pitt Lake is the second-largest lake in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. About 53.5 square kilometres in area, it is about 25 km long and about 4.5 km wide at its widest. It is one of the world's relatively few tidal lakes, and among the largest. In Pitt Lake, there is on average a three foot tide range; thus Pitt Lake is separated from sea level and tidal waters during most hours of each day during the 15 foot tide cycle of the Pitt River and Strait of Georgia estuary immediately downstream.The lake's southern tip is 20 km upstream from The Pitt River confluence with the Fraser River and is 40 km east of Downtown Vancouver.
Pitt Lake is in a typical U-shaped glacial valley in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The overdeepening of the lower end of the valley over the span of the Wisconsin glaciation created a trough over 140 m below current sea level. After initial glacial retreat at around 13,000 years ago a saltwater fjord occupied this basin when relative sea levels were still ca 120 to 140m above current levels in the region. Unlike neighbouring Indian Arm and Howe Sound farther west, this fjord basin became partly cut off from tidal waters by sedimentation of the lower Fraser River ca 10,500 years ago, and Pitt Lake is now considered a tidal fjord lake.
Pitt Lake is the second largest of a series of north-south oriented fjord-lakes incising the southern slopes of the Pacific Ranges, the largest being Harrison Lake located 60 km to the east. The other fjord-lakes include Coquitlam Lake, Alouette Lake, Stave Lake, and Chehalis Lake.
The Pitt River drains into the northern end of Pitt Lake. The western shore of Pitt Lake are protected within Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, while most of the eastern shore are protected within Golden Ears Provincial Park. The southern end of Pitt Lake features an extensive marshland called Pitt Polder. While most of this marshland has since been drained for agricultural use, the northernmost portion is strictly protected in order to provide critical habitat for migratory birds.
Communities
The community of Pitt Meadows and the First Nations reserve of Pitt Lake Indian Reserve 5 are located at the southern end of the lake. Just southwest of the lake is the community of Port Coquitlam, which is across the Pitt River from Pitt Meadows. At the north end of the lake is a locality named Alvin, which is a transport and shipping point for logging companies and their employees.
Wikipedia
A special thanks to all my Flickr friends and visitors, for taking the time to view and acknowledge my photography.
Happy Clicks,
~Christie (happies) by the River
** Best experienced full screen
Capture made on a moody morning there at the Columbia Icefield with the milky chalky looking flow coming down off the glacier and making its way along this rocky river shore.
Oregon Columbia Gorge Hood River, even tho the hazy clouds were arriving at dusk hiked up west cliff to see this amazing view of lush orchards & forest on a small cove finger portion of the Columbia River ..the wind was whipping holding onto a rail with a 500+ ft. drop below. Worth it to see the view!
Thanks for your visit & comments!
A Central Maine and Quebec AC44 leads the St. Paul transfer towards Humboldt Yard and passes over the SOO Line bridge at Columbia Parkway. For first-time spot and power, I somehow managed no cars or pedestrians. Thanks to Mark for the tip on this one.
©Darren White Photography 2010 | All Rights Reserved | Please do not use without my permission.
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Happy Waterfall Wednesday.....
Latourell Falls, Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.
Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 30 sec
Aperture f/13.0
Focal Length 17 mm
ISO Speed 50
Exposure Bias 0 EV
B+W C-pol and 6 stop ND filter.
A far cry from the source of this mighty river but as the crow flies not that far away is this stretch, which is in the rather barren eastern part of Washingto State.
Wanapum Lake is a reservoir on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. It was created in 1963 with the construction of Wanapum Dam. It stretches from there upstream to the Rock Island Dam. The lake is named for the Wanapum people.
A significant difference between Eastern Washington and the western half of the state is its climate. While the west half of the state is located in a rainy oceanic climate, the eastern half receives little rainfall due to the rainshadow created by the Cascade Mountains.
Tree silhouettes and warm coloured sunrays on the Fraser River
British Columbia, Canada
Stay healthy
Happy Clicks,
~Christie (happiest) by the River
** Images best experienced in full screen
The clouds in the Pacific Northwest disappeared for a couple of days. So nice to see the sun again! Oregons Mt. Hood as seen from the Washington side of the Columbia River.
Peaking out of it's burrow to see if it's safe to come out after my 2 grandsons kept pushing the personal distancing boundaries.
Taken about 20 minutes before sunrise. I used my headlamp to illuminate the foreground a bit...
Canon 16-35II
Polarizer - GND