RETURN TO RIVERS OF MY ROOTS Columbia, Grays, Deep and Naselle were names of rivers where I came of age in the mid-20th Century. They were the primary means of transportation along the north shore of the Lower Columbia River as late as 1931. Ocean Beach Highway (SR 4) is a 62.27 mile-long (100.21 km) road serving the southwestern region of Washington State. Traveling northwest, the route, designated as part of the Lewis and Clark Trail Scenic Byway, takes off at an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) in Kelso through Longview along the Columbia River where it intersects US Route 101 at Johnston’s Landing on the lower Naselle River. The present route of SR 4 was codified into the state highway system in 1915 as State Road 19, connecting Kelso, Longview, Cathlamet, Grays River and Naselle along the Columbia River. The highway was incorporated into US 830 during the creation of US numbered highways in 1926, traveling east from US 101 at Johnston’s Landing and Grays River and between Skamokawa and Kelso by 1931. The remaining gap over KM Mountain was constructed of gravel by 1933 and the entire highway paved by 1939. Colorado has been home base for more than 30 years. Viewing and photographing headwaters of several of America’s best-known rivers at their source inspired an idea for returning to the rivers of my roots and attending the Nasel Heritage Days, Finnish American Folk Festival, for the first time on July 25-27, 2014. The 2400-mile scenic route selected traveled along rivers vital to pioneers of the Old West … Platte, Arkansas, Rio Grande, Gunnison, Colorado, Green, Yellowstone, Snake, Willamette and the mighty Columbia. Born in Vancouver and a cracker-box 2-story clapboard house for a first home in Kelso, the rivers of my roots are the last on the Ocean Beach Highway along the Lower Columbia before it empties like a “firehose” into the Pacific … Cowlitz, Elochoman, Skamokawa, Grays and Deep. The Naselle River originates in the Willapa Hills and flows generally west through the Naselle Valley before emptying into the southern part of Willapa Bay. The river’s name has been spelled Nasel and Nasal. The name comes from the Nisal Indians, a Chinookan tribe formerly residing on the river. A Subaru Outback Wagon is an ideal vehicle for a landscape photographer. An 8-inch thick twin air mattress with sheets, comforter and two pillows fit snugly in the rear compartment. With passenger seat pushed forward, there’s space for a suitcase, hanging clothes and heavy-duty tripod. Landscape camera case is situated on the seat floor. Lap-top briefcase is on passenger seat. Coleman cooler, food and camping supplies case on the top carrier. After a week of traveling, photographing scenes and subjects early morning to late evening, a 5-star bed and breakfast experience was reserved during the Finnish American Folk Festival at Dahlia House B&B near Pillar Rock with Brian & Linda Elliott. From their hillside home overlooking the Columbia River … Astoria, the 3.7-mile long Columbia River Bridge, the Columbia River Bar and Pacific Ocean are in sight. The destination of my sentimental 2400-mile return to the rivers of my roots at Columbia River mile marker 17 where coming of age 1953 to ‘63 was achieved. The selection of scenes and subjects attached to this little memoir surfaced a quote from Henry Cartier-Bresson, the famous 20th Century photographer … Photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression. I believe that, through the act of living, the discovery of one’s self is made concurrently with the discovery of the world around us. A balance must be established between two worlds --- the one inside us and the one outside us. As the result of a constant reciprocal process, both these worlds come to form a single one. And, it is this world that we must communicate.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 19:38:46 +0000
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