- Olney Falls (waterfallsnorthwest.com)
Olney Falls is a series of plunges and cascades along Olney Creek where the stream descends through a narrow gorge in the process of reaching the floor of the Skykomish River valley. The falls drop a total of 65 feet in five or six distinct steps, depending on how much water is present in the creek. The largest individual drop is about 20 feet. The cliffs lining the gorge on either side of the falls rise as much as 150 feet out of the streambed, towering above the surrounding landscape. Though the area around the falls has been extensively logged, the gorge itself remains quite verdant.
- While not nearly as tall as more well known Olney Falls not too far downstream, this small upper falls is an exceptional waterfall for both its power and beauty. Olney Creek is a large watercourse, bordering on a river during the winter months, and as it pounds over this 27-foot ledge it creates a thunderous echo accompanied by hurricane-like volumes of mist being ejected into the air. In stark contrast, during the summer and early autumn months the stream is reduced considerably in volume and the falls assume a much more graceful appearance, braiding over the rugged ledge in several lacy strands, with terraced pools in the bedrock found just below.
northwest waterfall survey of
- Willis Tower (Wikipedia)
The Willis Tower, originally and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, is a 110-story, 1,451-foot (442.3 m) skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), it opened in 1973 as the world’s tallest building, a title that it held for nearly 25 years. It is the third-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the 23rd-tallest in the world. Each year, more than 1.7 million people visit the Skydeck observation deck, the highest in the United States, making it one of Chicago’s most popular tourist destinations.