Historic Hood River
Follow the Lights
5-9-2017
Notes
I believe Charlott told us about this before. This is probably a long exposure from the night before the annual Legion climb of Mt. Hood, when Crag Rats would put on a show with torches marking the path for the next day’s climb. Did I get that right?
Charlott
Yes you are correct…….The mountain was illuminated at the end of the program at Legion Camp. This was the "grand finale" when the program was completed. There was a radio man at Legion camp that radioed/telephoned that it was time to light the mountain. If I remember they were very high powered flare type things that they got in a place that manufactured them down in the Canby area. Maybe they were like war surplus things….They were anyways very powerful things.
Now this is a double exposure or something. Note the big glob of mountain to the right which actually does not exist. Then there is that long line, which has the appearance of climbers. However, there was NO climbing done at night. I am thinking this is a combination of the night photo and during the actual climb.
Believe me, it was quite the sight to behold, both from Legion Camp and the valley. I remember vividly the first time I saw it. My parents were up there, and naturally my Dad was in the lofty heights. I was with my grandparents in Pine Grove. Grandma popped corn, Grandpa brought a blanket and we went down off the lawn aways and sat under the hazelnut tree and watched. The next year I was at Legion Camp with my Mom.
L.E.
Wonderful history story Charlott. Thanks.
Kyle
Indeed a double exposure. With early film cameras, this happened a lot by accident. Those designs relied upon the user to remember whether or not he/she had already advanced the film to the next spot… or not. Sometimes you wasted a spot by skipping over it and not exposing it, and sometimes you accidentally double exposed the same slot. I have a 1960-ish 6×6 that works this way, and I’ve done it.
Given that these two shots aren’t lined up remotely properly, I’m leaning towards "mistake" with my vote. No reason to double expose to get the lights in – long exposure would’ve done that nicely on one negative slot.
Jill Stanford
I remember being with my grandfather Al Peters and Maud, waiting for the mountain to light up – it was quite a sight!
Corin See
My grandparents used to sell fried chicken at Tilly Jane for this. Lots of legionnaire events right after the war.