Visitors enjoy the water of Lost Lake, Oregon, in summer. Mount Hood looms large in the distance.

This is a photograph of Lost Lake, Oregon, with Mount Hood in the background. This was my first and only visit to the lake. By sheer luck I visited at a date and time when the sunlight on the mountain was just sublime. But they locals seemed to know this, because they were there in force. The drive to the lake is somewhat sobering, passing through miles of back-country that one would hope is pristine, but in reality is quite logged. But as one nears the lake, the National Forests start to take over, and this sombering reality fades. It is nevertheless a reminder that true wilderness is becoming a luxury good, while thin veneers of wilderness are becoming far and far more common.

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