Landscape paradise: Colorado vs. Pacific Northwest

Most people have heard of the big cities rising between the mountains and forests of the Pacific Northwest: Seattle, Portland, Spokane. But what of smaller towns with mountains for skyscapers and rivers as highways? What of treasures buried in the nooks and cranies of some of the nation’s most stunning geological features? Smaller towns can become ... See more

Oregon:🏔️

-Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway

-Newberry National Volcanic Monument

-Sparks Lake

-Tumalo Falls

-Tamolitch Falls

-Trillium Lake

-Crater Lake

-Smith Rock State Park

-Three Sisters

-Cannon Beach

Washington:🏕️

-Colchuck Lake

-Diablo Lake

-Picture Lake

-Chain Lakes Loop

-Artist Point

-Rialto Beach

-Mount Storm King

-Tipsoo Lake

-Fremont Fire Tower

-Sunrise Point

Br... See more

As entries in a scenic beauty contest, I offer for first prize either the gorgeous view of Xochimilco in Mexico, where skies, mountains, and poplars are reflected, amid playful fish, in myriad lanes of water; or the lakes of Kashmir, guarded like beautiful maidens by the stern surveillance of the Himalayas. These two places stand out in my memory a

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