Saturday, February 15, 2014

Marquam in the Snow

 bright bike forest
The eve of Snowpocalypse 2014 was cold and clear. Before scurrying on to some place warm, I stopped by Eagle Point, a mysterious spot and unsigned park.

cold rhododendron leaves
Notice the rhododendron leaves above my bike - they're tucked down and curled under - yes, it was very cold.


marquam snow sam jackson park road
Next afternoon the snow started to fall. And actually stick. And build. Here we see cars flooding down the hill from OHSU, getting out before steep hill roads grow more difficult.

marquam nature park snow
 Immediately adjacent to machine madness, Marquam was calmly taking on the light dusting.


licorice fern cold snow sori
Usually bright, smiling, and green in cool, wet winter weather, licorice fern curled up in the cold. Was it simply drying out, or utilizing dry weather for spore dispersal, or both? Anyway, check out those sori!

licorice fern cold snow sori

 

snowy marquam shelter
 The next day, we had accumulation.


snowy holly leaves
 Mini-mountains of snow mounded on spiky holly leaves.


snowy ivy snag
This is a snow-topped, ivy-covered snag of some sort. Strange beast.

slipping ice marquam shelter
On Monday, things began to melt. Sheets of ice were slipping from the Marquam shelter roof.


muddy urban stream snow
And by Tuesday, the snow had its sentencing - warmer temperatures were in. Many urban streams were running chocolate-mud brown.


marquam trail snow traffic
A record of strong foot traffic was kept by the snow... despite, or because of, the snow.

sam jackson park rd sneckdown
This 'sneckdown' shows there could be room for a bike lane or sidewalk (or raised bike path-sidewalk combination) along the short section of SW Sam Jackson Park Rd leading to the park's main entrance. More space allocated for bikes and pedestrians here would make accessing the park by non-car a lot less sketch.

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