Clark Fork River Below Cabinet Gorge Dam: Light and an Ice Age Story

 Clark Fork River Below Cabinet Gorge Dam: Light and an Ice Age Story

By Bryan D. Spellman, Ph.D.

Light breaking through clouds can change the whole character of a landscape. In today’s photograph, it spills across distant mountains while the Clark Fork River winds through the darker canyon below. Evergreen forests cover the slopes, exposed rock borders the water, and the river draws the eye into the scene.

This is the Clark Fork River below Cabinet Gorge Dam, near the Montana–Idaho state line. The photograph shows a landscape whose beauty comes with an extraordinary geological history.

Cabinet Gorge is considered a likely location of the glacier’s edge that blocked the Clark Fork River during the last Ice Age. Behind that barrier, water accumulated to form Glacial Lake Missoula, flooding valleys across western Montana. The glacier advanced and retreated, so its contact with the lake was not fixed in one place.

The ice dam failed repeatedly. Each failure released enormous quantities of water downstream into Idaho and Washington. Those floods stripped soil, scoured rock, and helped shape eastern Washington’s Channeled Scablands. They continued through the Columbia River Gorge toward the Pacific, profoundly altering the landscape along their route.

Looking at this river today, it takes some imagination to picture water moving through the region on that scale. The photograph offers a quieter view: forest, stone, flowing water, and sunlight finding its way through the clouds.

I’ve recently revisited this image and refreshed its LightIntoArt listing with new print previews, room mockups, and information about the landscape’s Ice Age connection.

The photograph is available as a physical fine art print on photo paper, stretched canvas, metal, or acrylic, with three-panel canvas options for larger walls. Visit the listing to explore the available sizes and materials:

https://lightintoart.etsy.com/listing/4371335516

For more about the region’s flood history:
https://iafi.org/must-see-floods-features-in-northern-idaho/

The Colorado River, seen from a helicopter above the Grand Canyon.

 

My mother saw the Grand Canyon while she and my father traveled from Boston to western Montana after World War II. It was a long-delayed honeymoon, and when she described the canyon afterward, she needed just one word: “Breathtaking.”

I understood what she meant when I first stood at the rim in 1973. The view seemed to go on forever, while the river that had shaped it was far below. I’ve returned to the canyon several times since, and that first feeling has never entirely left me.

On a more recent visit, my partner and I took a helicopter flight over the canyon. The aircraft had a glass front, so I could see ahead and down as we crossed the rim. From the air, the Colorado River became a winding line through broad layers of rock. It was a different way to grasp the scale of a place I thought I already knew.

Today’s photograph comes from that flight. I’m drawn to the river’s long curve and to the quieter colors of the rock around it. The canyon needs no added drama; its shapes tell the story.

I’ve recently revisited the photograph and prepared a new edition for my LightIntoArt shop. It is available as a photo paper print, canvas, three-panel canvas, metal, or acrylic, with the sizes shown in the listing.

See the Grand Canyon photograph on Etsy

Photograph and text by Bryan D. Spellman.

Pic of the Day: Point Arena Lighthouse, California

Point Arena Lighthouse

Mendocino County, California

Point Arena Lighthouse stands above a rugged stretch of the Mendocino coast. What draws me to this photograph is everything happening below the tower: the steep, weathered cliffs, the scattered rocks, and the Pacific breaking around them. The lighthouse gives the scene its anchor, but the coastline does much of the storytelling.

I made the original photograph years ago under a plain gray sky. When I returned to the image, I still liked the land and water, but the sky gave little back to them. I chose to add a sunset sky during editing. The lighthouse, cliffs, rocks, and ocean are from my photograph; the pink and blue sky is an artistic addition.

That choice changed the feeling of the picture. The warmer light draws your eye along the cliffs toward the lighthouse, while the cool water keeps the scene grounded. I wanted the finished work to convey the drama I see in this part of the California coast without suggesting that I photographed that sunset on that day.

I’ve recently prepared a new version of the image for my LightIntoArt shop, along with room views that show how it looks as a single print or a large three-panel canvas. You can see the available sizes and materials in the Point Arena Lighthouse listing.

— Bryan D. Spellman

Pic of the Day: Flathead Lake at Somers

Flathead Lake at Somers

A few kayakers cross Flathead Lake while a houseboat rests near the shoreline. Beyond them, wooded land and mountains meet the reflective water. It is a wide, quiet scene, but those small human details are what keep my eye moving through it.

I photographed this view at Somers, on the north end of the lake. As a Montana native, I have returned to Flathead Lake many times. In revisiting this photograph for a new print, I wanted the blues and grays to feel natural to the scene rather than brighter than I remembered them.

The kayakers give a sense of the lake’s scale. At first glance they are easy to miss; once found, they make the open water feel even larger. The houseboat offers another place to pause before the eye travels toward the distant mountains.

I have finished a new edit of this photograph and updated its wall art listing with fresh images showing the print options.  The photo is available as a paper print (in smaller sizes) or as a stretched canvas, brushed metal or acrylic print in sizes up to 40x90 inch triptychs.  Let me know what you think.  You can see it on LightIntoArt.

Bryan D. Spellman

Pic of the Day: Newport, Oregon Harbor

The Harbor at Newport, Oregon

Back in the day, most of my trips to California involved driving US 101 along the Oregon coast.  One of my favorite places to stop was Newport.  I'd turn off 101 and drive the winding road down to the harbor.  In addition to the fishing boats and pleasure crafts, there were restaurants, souvenir shops, an underwater aquarium, and a seemingly endless array of floating platforms covered with seals.  

My mother died at Thanksgiving, 2006, ending my need to travel to California.  I stuck around most of 2007, clearing up her affairs, and since then, I've rarely visited the coast.  In fact, it's been close to twenty years since I last visited Newport.  I took this photograph on April 30, 2008, with a Nikon D80 and a Sigma 18–50 mm zoom lens set to 24 mm. The exposure was ISO 200, f/11, at 1/125 second. Years later, the photograph was featured in Redbubble’s All Oregon USA group. It's one of my favorite views of the Yaquina Bay area.  

If you like this image as much as I do, I've made it available in my Etsy shop, Light Into Art, and you can find it here:  https://lightintoart.etsy.com/listing/1847305882/yaquina-bay-bridge-seascape-newport or click on the picture or the caption below to go directly to my Etsy listing.

The photo is available as a paper print (in smaller sizes) or as a stretched canvas, brushed metal or acrylic print in sizes up to 40x90 inch triptychs.  Let me know what you think.

Word Search Puzzle for Snohomish County, Washington

 Below you'll find a word search puzzle with twenty-five names taken from my blog post about Snohomish County, Washington.  I recommend that you print this page before taking a pen to your monitor.  NOTE:  If you are looking at this page on yourr phone, you may have to rotate the screen to see the puzzle's full width.  Make sure all four outside lines are visible before you print.

Word Search Puzzle for Stevens County Washington

 Below you'll find a word search puzzle with twenty-five names taken from my blog post about Stevens County, Washington.  I recommend that you print this page before taking a pen to your monitor.  NOTE:  If you are looking at this page on yourr phone, you'll have to rotate the screen to see the puzzle's full width.