Riffe Lake

RIFFE LAKE
By Erik Gunderson
July, 2025
Number 022
Photo Challenge: Ultra-Wide

”In an unnamed part of Cowlitz County, Washington you can find this view of Riffe Lake, a man-made reservoir nestled in the Cascades somewhere between Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens. The visceral shock of this much green under the sky is part of why the Northwest reminds me so of the forests of northern Wisconsin, except with mountains. I’d love to describe this as smelling and feeling of the dense pine and fir forest, but the fact is it’s a roadside vista along U.S. Highway 12 so the real smell at this exact point is of diesel engine exhaust. But the view is incredible, and if you were to camp here, you’d be far enough away from the highway that it wouldn’t bother you.”

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