Certain places, most likely away from the labors of civilized life, have a deeper meaning in perhaps more than one person's life. For some, theses particular places are held very dear, in that they stay the same while everything else in the world seems to be rapidly changing. Maybe this place is where one goes to clear the mind of stress and worry; however, this particular place might not be of any significant importance -- just a place that hasn't been immersed by the upward mobility of society. I'm happy to say that such a place exists in my life, and that place is Rocky Butte. Little has changed on Rocky Butte since the summer I spent on the Butte playing baseball, several years later in a car accident, and this most recent occasion spent on the Butte with my girlfriend.
Rocky Butte has been a neighborhood hallmark in the Madison High School area in Portland, Or for as long as I can remember. The Butte sticks out like a sore thumb in the flat area that surrounds the I-205 and I-84 freeways. At nearly 300ft in height, Rocky Butte attracts many sightseers. Thin, newly paved roads wrap around the "mountain- like a large spring, and, also from a distance, sharp, bright reflections from metal gutters and guard railings catch the corner of one's eye as he or she makes the first turn around 86th avenue, which leads to the front entrance of Rocky Butte. Also conspicuous about the mountain's appearance is the long, red tower that stands strong and unraveled by the punishing winds that usually blanket a majority of the mountain. Two circular satellite discs sit side by side at the very top of the tower as if the tower was wearing a giant Mickey Mouse hat from a Disneyland gift shop. Perhaps the most intriguing visual from the top of Rocky Butte -- and sightseers to the Butte would attest -- are the two mountains that stand miles a part on the cascade: Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens, standing unchanged for over 20 years.
From the geologic record preserved there, it is evident that a mountain range predating the Rockies existed when the Grand Canyon was just being formed. ... During the late Devonian, the "Temple Butte Limestone was deposited in a fresh to brackish water environment Deposition of the Redwall Limestone, a marine unit, during the Mississippian marks a rise in sea level" (Foos, 2000; p. grand). ...