Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

Mountains on the descent into Portland

I’m here for three days in Portland, Oregon, attending and presenting at the 2009 ITSC (Instructional Technologies Strategies Conference.) I’ve updated my blog handouts page with links to my five sessions, two of which are repeats.

I absolutely LOVE mountains. As a “flatlander” growing up in Kansas and spending most of my adult life living the midwest in Texas and Oklahoma, I don’t get a chance to see scenes like this one which I photographed yesterday with my iPhone out the window of our Southwest Airlines flight, on the descent into the Portland airport.

Mount Hood on the Portland Skyline

I’ve submitted this photo and several others to the Southwest Airlines Flickr Group. As you can see, newly submitted photos have to be approved by individuals moderating the group. This is further proof of why I love Southwest Airlines: They are an innovative and cutting edge company. 🙂

Mount Hood on the Portland Skyline on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Is this a beautiful sight to see or what? According to WikiPedia, “Mount Hood’s snow-covered peak rises 11,249 feet (3,429 m) and is home to twelve glaciers.” I wish I had time for a closer look on this trip, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Mount Hood over Portland

As we continued on our descent into Portland, we flew directly by and over the Columbia River, which was used by Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition west to reach the Pacific by land. This image shows the Columbia near Portland. Again according to WikiPedia, “The river is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its drainage basin is 258,000 square miles (670,000 km2). Measured by the volume of its flow, the Columbia is the largest river flowing into the Pacific from North America and is the fourth-largest river in the U.S.” We don’t have any rivers this size in Oklahoma!

The Columbia River

I was seated on the left side of the plane, so as we turned east (towards Mt Hood) I was able to catch a glimpse of cloud-shrouded Mount St Helens to the north. Awesome!

Mount St Helens north of Portland, Oregon

Portland is a beautiful place! According to the hotel travel guide, the USGS rates the chances of Mt Hood (a “dormant” volcano) erupting as “a 3 to 7 percent chance within the next 30 years.” I think the Cascade range is one of most beautiful and breathtaking mountain ranges I’ve ever seen. Some day I hope to hike and climb in the Cascades with my family.

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3 responses to “Mountains on the descent into Portland”

  1. readerdiane Avatar
    readerdiane

    Welcome to Oregon and thanks for the wonderful comments. You did arrive on one of our sunny winter days. The mountains came out for you yesterday.

  2. Lindsey Reynolds Avatar

    Thanks for LUV-ing Southwest! Look for your photos to pop up in our Flickr account very soon!

  3. Martha Thornburgh Avatar

    So glad that you came to Portland. I enjoyed visiting with you at breakfast and learning lots.