Willamette River, January

I posted this picture of the sun on the Willamette River back in October.
It was taken at a tiny park near Newberg, Oregon, and I had to climb down a huge embankment to get to the edge of the water.

Note the tree trunk to the right of the shot ...
Because I went back to the same spot last week, after our flooding rains ...

Remember that tree trunk?
It's under the water, just in front of and to the left of the sign (which is usually quite high on the bank).

There was a lot of debris floating downstream - like this entire tree!

It was still raining hard, so I covered my camera and ran back to the car.

I am linking this with Tina's "PicStory" - where the theme this week is "A Walk in the Park"!
(Although for me it was more like a RUN and SLIP in the park!)

Really Big Tree

I can't even begin to imagine what the world was like when this old growth Douglas Fir sprouted along the banks of the Willamette River. The picnic table gives some perspective as to the size of this giant. If this table was set against the tree, the tree would be bigger.

Most of the old growth timber in this area was logged out in the 1920's and 1930's - to fuel Portland's booming growth; and to make way for farms and fields.

I am glad some of these trees were saved early on - for future generations to ponder.