Mt. Hood

I finished my Mt. Hood piece today, except for a hanging sleeve and label. You may remember that it was based on a photo I took from an airplane and will be submitted for the High Fiber Diet show called "Bird's Eye View." The mountain is currently covered with snow, but this view represents a late summer view. Here is a closeup detail.

As I was working on this today I couldn't help but think of the three climbers who died on the mountain just a few weeks ago. One body was recovered. The other two have not been. All young people in their 20s. What a tragedy, but one that seems to repeat itself almost yearly on Mt. Hood. December is not a good time to climb and these young people did not carry a locator beacon that can be rented for $5 and are recommended for all climbers.

When climbers go missing like this the Sheriff's office search and rescue team, the National Guard and volunteer searchers are sent out to search for them, risking their own safety and at great expense to the tax payers. There are always editorials and letters to the newspaper from people who believe that the climbers who need to be searched for, or their families, should foot the bill for the search. Some are so hard that they suggest that climbers who refuse to carry rescue beacons should not be searched for at all. Of course that will never happen. I'm quite sure that regardless of how careless or misguided they may be in getting lost there will always be people who will do their very best to find them, even at great personal risk. And bless them for that.

I am sorry for those foolish climbers, and even more so, for their families.

added: The Mt. Hood piece is 15.5" x 47"