The sun's been out for several days & that makes it easy to see the mind-boggling Mt. Hood

Today as I rode the bus to work, the sun softly painted the sky. I wondered if I'd catch a glimpse of Mt. Hood. Yep, I did, just at the highest point of the Hawthorne Bridge, about a block from my building. Seeing that snow-encased tip of the mountain that is between 60-65 miles away made me wonder if I could get a picture of it from the county parking garage, across the street from my building. I used my afternoon break to give it a try.

Here you have five photos of Mt. Hood. (That other picture of Lamont and Leland is explained at the bottom of the text.)

Taking into consideration that my camera's zoom is teensy, my photos--the first two pictures and the fourth one--aren't half bad. The third picture and the last one come from weather cameras at TV stations in town. I think the third one gives you an idea of just how far away Mt. Hood is. The last one is of a ski chair lift up on the mountain near Timberline Lodge where there's at least 80 inches of snow and all sorts of people enjoying themselves each day.

Timberline is the setting for "The Shining." Here's what Wikipedia has to say about that: The 1980 movie The Shining, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, used aerial shots of Timberline as part of its opening scene. Film of the exterior of the Timberline Lodge is also used for some establishing shots of the fictional Overlook Hotel throughout the movie. However, several of the exterior shots in the film which purport to show the Lodge, such as those with the hedge maze or loading dock, were not taken at the Timberline Lodge itself, but at Elstree Studios in England, using a mock-up of the south face of the Lodge. There is no hedge maze (and scarce level ground) at the Timberline Lodge. All interior scenes were shot at Elstree studios as well, and do not depict the interior of the Timberline Lodge.

If you want to really get a good look at the 11,249-foot mountain, be sure to click on the photos I've posted to enlarge them. Mama and I think it's so neat that when Mt. Hood's out, it pops up here, there and everywhere, depending on one's own elevation. The next weekend sunny day, we're going to drive out to Boring (where Leland's moved) which is 400 blocks from here, give or take a couple dozen. I believe I'll be able to get some astonishing photos from what will soon be Leland and Cristina's great room.

This first photo is one of the guys that I took inside Timberline, the summer of '05. They're doing something from "The Shining," I think. I've never been able to get myself to watch the movie--can't take Jack Nicholson's being all scary and off his rocker. I really like what the iPhoto enhance did to the picture, though.