The White Salmon Valley was hammered by a winter storm this past week. A week of snow events, followed by freezing rain, then more snow, and then more freezing rain left the area blanketed in heavy snow and ice. Finally, the weight of the ice overwhelmed the trees, dropping trees across roads, power lines, and even buildings. The result was a week of power outages. Most people in the valley were out of power from Thursday through Monday, but there are still areas that have no power even now. Most of the homes near the White Salmon also get their water from wells. No power, means no pumps for the well, which means no water. What a mess!

With no power or water, and the rivers too full of falling trees to paddle, I had some free time on my hands this weekend. So, I dug out the truck, and drove around taking pictures. If you were wondering why your power was out for so long, or you're from Portland and wondering just what this winter storm looks like, check out these pictures.

The epic mission just to get out of my house.

We finally broke down and had the Wet Planet parking lot plowed.

If you've lived around here for a few winters, you know that you shouldn't ever leave home without your chain saw!

If you look closely, you can see the yellow flagging in the right side of the tree pile. That flagging is marking power lines that are tangled up in the mess.

This photo was shot on the Cook-Underwood road, close to the put-in for the Little White Salmon.

Downtown White Salmon just after power came back to the valley. 10 Speed Coffee was packed!

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