Where’s that confounded mountain?

Mount Hood, in early spring or late fall, when it’s bright and white with new snow and sharply defined in the sunlight against an incredible blue sky, is one of the most beautiful sights to see. It’s not something you can adequately describe with words or that a photograph even begins to capture.

I remember the first time I saw Mount Hood like that — it’s in the book — and I love to share that view and experience with friends and family who come out to visit. For the most part, I’ve been lucky and my guests have been treated to memorable first views of the mountain. But occasionally, some get gypped. Occasionally, clouds hide the mountains for days on end, to the point that you’d never even know it was there if you’d not seen it before.

One of my best friends came out for a long weekend this weekend from Atlanta, and though he’s been out here before and seen the mountain in all its glory, it’s been probably close to 10 years since he’s been out. His wife, who came out this time too, had never been to Oregon, so I was excited for him to get to see the mountain again and for her to see it for the very first time.

No such luck.

From the night they flew in through tonight, the mountain never once showed its face. Not on our way to or back from the coast on Friday, not during a kid-free escape to the Dundee Hills for some fun and fabulous wine tasting and a quick jaunt to see the Spruce Goose on Saturday, not during a round of golf at Edgefield this morning nor during a tour of downtown Portland, a stop at Powell’s and a couple beers at Rogue tonight.

They flew out tonight on a redeye at 11:00, so even if the clouds were low enough to reveal the mountain from the air, they wouldn’t have seen it.

A running joke with my friend’s wife through the long weekend was that this Mount Hood doesn’t really exist. Unfortunately, thanks to this unrelenting gray and wet spring, it almost seemed that way this weekend.

But it does. It’s there. It’s beautiful. And now Cathy and Ryan will just have to come back out to see it for themselves.

South side of Mount Hood from Timberline.