Week #52 - P52 Completed!

A dramatic sundown seems to be a good way to end my Photo Project 52 of 2019---a week late.  Winter hasn't been very forceful yet this year. We've had hints of snow and lots of rain.  It's cold and windy and dark.  This past week, I could see that there were pretty horizons with clouds and lots of color, so we drove up and out of the valley to Cricket Flat, where I could pick any horizon I desired.
Now I can order the photo book.

That Sky!

I really don't have a series of photos for a blog post yet, but this image is one I took on our way back up the Columbia Gorge last weekend (after another trip to do some "grandbaby duty" in Hillsboro while baby's daddy/our son was in NYC for work and mama could use some back-up). The weather was "iffy" but the clouds were spectacular.  This was taken through the windshield from the passenger side of the car...wind towers on the Washington side of the Columbia River, dwarfed by that immense cloud-filled sky.

Winter Clouds

There has been a serious lack of snow in this area this winter.  We had about 6 inches at Christmas time here in the valley, with more in the mountains. But that was it. Then rain came and recently caused a serious snow melt in the mountains, as well.  70 inches of snow soon became 40 on the summit.  But this week, we had snow again, only  3 inches or so down low.  The skies then cleared and the clouds were glorious, all of them crowning the surrounding mountains of the Grande Ronde Valley. 

 7000 ft. Mount Fanny (SE end of valley)

 6000 ft Mount Emily (west side) 

 5000 ft. Mount Harris (NE end) 

 Mount Fanny 

                                                                        Mount Harris

From the Back Seat

When my husband and I take his mother anywhere, I ride in the back seat of the car...always with my camera and telephoto lens.  Easter Sunday, we drove 60 miles to a brunch. It was a typical March day with rain, snow, sunshine, repeat.  Clouds were hanging over the snowy mountains on either side of the valley we drove through that day.

Remnants of Snow Clouds in Black and White

A recent trip east and south into neighboring Idaho provided amazing scenery, not the least of which was a rain/snow storm above the impressive Elkhorn Mountains in Oregon.  On the trip back in early evening, I could see the clouds were still stacked high above the mountain peaks.(The highest mountain in this range is more than 9000 feet tall.). I'm joining with The Weekend in Black and White.