Tuesday, June 10th

...The point at which the proposed pipeline route crosses the Clackamas River exemplifies the majestic qualities of the river. Forty-seven miles of the Clackamas in Mt. Hood is designated a Wild and Scenic River Corridor and for obvious reasons. Old-growth forests push up against the banks, hundreds of years of usnea and lichen progress hanging from branches, carelessly swaying in the wind. The river rocks that have piled up on the beach display Mt. Hood's diverse geology, smoothed by regular, seasonal flooding. A side channel extends out from the rush of the main river, shaded by a grove of Red Alders and providing ideal, slow-moving spawning grounds for the late winter run of the threatened coho salmon. Birds of prey soar overhead, perching on two-hundred foot snags. Dippers, killdeer, mergansers and other waterbirds skim above the rapids. We are still above human intervention of the flow and I'd say they picked a particularly dynamic spot, but this river holds something unique at every bend. I savor a moment of uninhibited, no-compromise zeal...