The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1922-03-09
MANY MOTORISTS
VIEW ICE CUTS
HIGHWAY POPULAR LAST SUNDAY
PerishSbIe Monuments Left by BOreaS Are
Fast Disappearing. Permanent
Damage is Small

Sunday, the first Sunday the scenic
boulevard has been open since Novem
ber l3 of last fall, will be telling their
children and friends of the 30-foot deep
ice cuts, glimmering like piled up
heaps of the arctic region, along the
scenic boulevard. Hundreds of Port
themselves eligible to recount stories
of the days of the hard winter of 1921
1922. Some modern Greenleaf Whit
tier. whose "Snowbound" was once a
classic for school children, has an op-
portunity to WOO the muses. and leave
an epic on the winter storm.
Sights, such as the motor wayfarer
may view now along the Highway, are
rare indeed. This generation may
never see the like of it again. Indeed,
it has been SO years since the mid
Columbia was so beset by unruly win
ter elements with Boreas gone on a
rampage. In the winter of lS83-84,
according to the records of pioneers,
sleet came down in torrents as destruc-
tive as that of last November.
All in all, after the publicity that
has been given to the effects Of the
sleet and the stories that have been
told of damage to viaducts and the
wonderfully artistic walls built by
Camille, the Italian stoneworker, who
learned his trade on terrace walls not
far from Rome. the sightseer may be a
little disappointed in failing to see q
great amount of wreckage. The dis
appointment. however, especially If
the motorist be taxpayer. is crafty
ing.
But the deep ice cuts, their sheer
sides gilmmering in the sunlight or re-
fecting the headlight glare of some
driver who is easing up his batteries.
are worth trip for any motorist. One
may think he can picture the ravines
filled with ice and now and the mina-
ture glaciers that lie with their deep
est ends on the Highway cuts, the ice
thinning as it laps back up the gorge
side. But you will have to see it to
fully comprehend it. 1t is like the
Hood River valley in the time of apple
blossoms. Someone may say trip tC
the land of bloom is not worth the TAX
ing that he or she has seen orchards
in blossom before. Thus they foregC
the sight of a wide expanse of pink
and white valley and the perfume from
million blooms. Certainly you may
have seen snow drifts before, but your
conclusions. based on your past expert
ences, will not give your minds vision
ing anything like a complete idea o.
the magnitude of the ice tonnage thai
rests in the folds of the Columbis
gorge.
The writer was privileged a motor
Journey down to Multnomah Falls Sun
dav with P. l.. Manser. While in
clement weather of Sunday morning,
rain and gusts of snow, probably
caused many to cancel plans of High
way automobile trip, many local folk
braved the weather. The day ulti'
mately turned out fine for sightseeing,
a brilliant sunshine lighting up the
afternoon and filling the great gorge,
with silvery haze. An effect of mys
terry and intangibility was produced
Ordinarily when a haze lies in the can
Won, its effect is dimming. and the
vision has less of an opportunity.
Minaret and rockbound promontorles,
mossy crags. fir forests all seem inter,
mingled. One sees much without de.
tail to any object. That silver mist OF
OuDuhNt WDCli NbC sun oliOhS VII bhN
snowcapped hills and trees, grisly wit
frozen fog and clinging snow, seem q
to clarity the air and emphasize JuL.
ting cliffs and such abruptly rising
points as Beacon Rock. The coloring
of the great canyon, with its back
ground of snowfields, too was given
emphasis. Never did the moss of old
logs and stumps seem more vividly
green. The cliffside to the east OF
Multnomah Falls appeared in the late
afternoon like crazy quilt hung up tC
dry. Varied were the hues of green
and the intervening spaces of bare
rock wall were umber and in variety
of browns. Ordinarily only the trained
eve of an artist can catch the gaudi'
ness of the Columbia gorge's varied
colorings. Sunday the most uninltlateC
riding eastward, the sun streaming
over his shoulders, was able to catcf
the overwhelming array of colOrfu
glory.
On Journey to the west the motonst
encounters his first ice cut at Shel
Rock mountain, Just west of CAM
Benson. This is the deepest drift il
Hood River county. Some of the &C
cumulation between Cascade Locks
and Eagle creek, how ever. were a;
troublesome to handle. Hood River
county damage includes a sinking oi
the road between Wyeth and Cascade
Locks, where poor drainage resulted
in undermining part of the right OF
way Immediately above the O.-W. r.
& N. track. Just west of Cascad,
Locks, where the entire terraine seems
to be on the shift, block of road hs.
settled down several feet. These dam
aged places would probably have re
suited without the winter storm
Indeed, trouble was experienced al
both points last winter. Some of The
rock wall on Shell Rock mountain il
out # alignment, and wooden fences
between Cascade Locks and Eagl,
creek and on the grade at Starvation
creek will have to be rebuilt. Tn,
paving was cracked by the weight 0.
the ice in instances in the Shell Rocl
vicinity.
The travel over the Highway SUNDAY
was remarkable, when the bad weather
Of the morning Is taken into cOnsidera
tion. Despite the bite Of the cold air
dozens Of picnickers were boiling coffee
at wayside points. Sunny glades were
more popular. however, than the shad
ed hooks in the forest. Indications OF
all sides pointed to the near approach
Of spring. Robin red breasts hitte,
across the. highway at intervals ant
pussywillows were blooming almos
every mile.
The motorist is advised to 20 nov
over the Highway, before the thaw o
warmer days have oblitersted the hug,
ice drifts. They will 90 fast, whel
sustained chinooks breathe on them
In a few short weeks. they will be bu
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