It’s all good in the Hood!

We finally had a good weather day to head to Mount Hood.  I simply did not want to travel there unless we were going to be able to get some decent pictures of the mountain.  Boy, did we get blessed because on the drive over we just weren’t sure.  It may have cleared up down below, but a cloud was hovering over the Hood!
 

Mount Hood is a stratovolcano (a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava, tephra, pumice and volcanic ash.  Stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic explosive eruptions and quiet eruptions.  The height assigned to Mount Hood's snow-covered peak has varied over its history. It is somewhere between 11,240 and 11,249 feet high. The peak is home to 12 named glaciers and snowfields. It is the highest point in Oregon and the fourth highest in the Cascade Range.

Our second picture opportunity was Pulitzer prize winning!  Check out these gorgeous photographs of Mount Hood.

Psalms 90:2 / Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

 
Of course I asked a couple if they could take our picture and of course we returned the favor.  So here we are.  I'm "overdressed" (it was pretty warm) and Gary's dressed just right!  Oh yeah, and it’s another Sadie butt shot, too J

And, here’s a picture of both dogs at our photo stop (which happened to be a cross-country skiing access area).

Not too bad, huh?  We were so happy the weather cooperated and the skies parted just enough for us to get these beautiful, full mountain shots including cumulus clouds and azure blue skies.

On our way back down the hill we saw at least seven emergency vehicles head up to Mount Hood and wondered what in the world had happened for so many emergency vehicles to race up the mountain.  Found out today a snowboarder had decided to board under an ice cave which ended up collapsing on top of him.  Here's a quote from the article I read, "12 personnel used chainsaws and other hand tools" to remove "several tons of debris" from the trapped snowboarder's body."  Now we know why so many rescuers were racing up the mountain roads.

As a parting shot, here’s a shot of our darling dog, Sherwood, crashed on our way back home.  We bought him his own special car pillow so he can be nice and comfy … what good parents we are!