Over the mountains

---

Traveling through the mountains in the summertime is completely different than travel in the winter. Going over Ochoco pass was old hat; I have made that trek several times over the last decade and half. Going over Santiam Pass is not something I have ever done in the winter time. You forget your are so high up in the mountains when there is no snow level marking the way. The lava beds, usually dry and shades of red and brown, were covered with snow and barely recognizable. I wanted to stop and take some photos of the stunning scenery but was afraid to lose my place in line up to the summit. Last night's snowfall left two inches of powder sitting atop branches of trees normally green with leaves and moss. Once over the pass and on the other side of the Cascade mountain range the scenery returned to a fraction of it's former greenery; moss covered all the deciduous trees in the temperate mountain rain forest. Grass still covers the forest floor, blending into the sleeping branches covered with moss. After Euegene and before Florence is a small mountain pass, thick with evergreen trees and shrubs but lacking the snow seen in the Cascades. And then we have the ocean.....

---