Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1883-02-01
In ClOud Land.

Ill OiOuu i<uuus
Mount Hood stands about sixty mile
from the great Pacific, as the crow flies
and about two hundred miles up TIT
Columbia River, as it is navigated
Mount Hood stands utterly alone. An'
yet he is only brother, a bigger ant
taller brother, of well-raised family o
seven snow-peaks.
AT any season of the year, you cal
stand on almost any little eminenc,
within two hundred miles of Noun
Hood and connt seven snow-cones, claC
in eternal winter, piercing the clouds
There is no scene SO sublime as this in
all the world.
The mountains of Europe are only
hills in comparison. Although some OF
them are quite as high as those of Ore.
gon and Washington Territory, yet they
lie far inland, and are so set on the top
of other hills that they lose much OF
their majesty Those of Oregon start
up sudden and solitary, and almost out
of the sea, as it were. So that while
they are really not much higher than
the mountain peaks of the Alps. they
seem to be about twice as high. And
being all in the form of pyramids or
cones, they are much more imposing
and beautiful than those of either Asia
or Europe.
But that which adds most of all to
the beauty and sublimity of the noun
tain scenery of Mount Hood and his
| nruipnnS 10 hn 81 al aGn
that encompass him.
In the first place, you must under
stand that all this region here is one
dense black mass of matchless and
magnificent forests. From the waters
edge up to the snow-line Chamber and
cling the dark green fir, pine, cedar,
tamarack, yew, and juniper. Some of
the pines are heavy with great cones as
long as your arms; some of the yew
trees are scarlet with berries: and now
and then you see burly juniper bend
ing under load of blue and bitter
fruit. And nearly all of these trees are
mantled in garments of moss. This
moss trails and swings lazily in the
wind. and sometimes droops to the
length of hundred feet.
In these great dark forests is dense
underground of vine-maple, hazel,
mountain ash, marsh ask, willow, and
brier bushes. Tangled in with all this
is the rank and ever-present and i'm
perishable fern.
Up and through and over all this
darkness of forests, drift, drag and
lazily creep the most weird and won
derful clouds in all this world. They
move in great caravans. They seem
literally to be alive. They rise with the
morning sun, like the countless millions
of snow-white geese, swans, and other
waterfowl tina: frequent the rivers of
Oregon, and slowly ascend the noun
tain sides, dragging themselves through
and over the tops of the trees, heading
straight for the sea, or lowering about
the mountain peaks, like mighty white
winged birds, weary of flight and want
ing to rest.
They are white as snow, these clouds
of Oregon, fieecy, and rarely, if ever,
still; constantly moving in contrast with
the black forests, these clouds are
strangely sympathetic to one who wor-
ships nature.
OF course, in the rainy season, which
is nearly half the year here, these cloud
effects are absent. At such times the
whole land is one vast rain-cloud, dark
and dreary and full of thunder.
To see snow-peak in all its sublimi-
ty, you must see it above the clouds. 1t
is necessary that you should climb the
peak to do this, but ascend some neigh
boring hill and have the white clouds
creep up or down the valley, through
and over the black forest, between you
and the snowy summit that pricks the
blue home stars. What color Move
ment Miracles life.