Yet another Hacker News

... how is a comment observing the really cool basalt rock formations in the photo being downvoted? Most HN readers are (I'd assume) nerds, are we not allowed to nerd out about geography?

chowells 34 minutes ago | parent

A lot of the Cascade range is basalt, and you don't need to cut down very far to expose it. A result is that most waterways in Oregon have revealed a lot of basalt around them, at least in the mountains.

ericyd 8 minutes ago | parent

Studying geology in Portland as an undergraduate, I didn't appreciate how unusual it was to have widespread basalt formations. It's super common in the area due to some ancient flood basalt. I appreciate it more visually after leaving and getting some perspective from other landscapes.

SBNakta 45 minutes ago | parent

It feels like it's back where it belongs.

cucumber3732842 44 minutes ago | parent

> Its owner, a nonprofit that supports a community of Benedictine monks, put it on the market earlier this year.

>The foundation put the property up for open auction in early February, meaning there was no minimum or maximum bid, she said. It accepted the offer the state made under the bill that passed.

>The listing worried fans of the natural wonder. But at the tail end of the legislative session this month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers stepped in and approved $2.1 million to buy the falls and its surrounding land.

Zero chance this wasn't arranged in some capacity off record.

Aboutplants 35 minutes ago | parent

One of the rare times where I’m probably kind of ok with it

wing-_-nuts 30 minutes ago | parent

Drat! I was going to buy this and put the entrance to my secret lair behind the waterfall. I would have gotten away with it too if not for those darn kids!

hadlock 19 minutes ago | parent

Probably they had been trying to sell it to the state for months/years/decades, and nothing had happened, so they escalated. Here in California in east bay there are thousands of acres of land around Mt. Diablo that are held by a non profit trust because the state/parks department is too lazy to aquire it/don't have funds to manage it. The privately owned/managed land around Mt. Diablo is roughly equal in size to the state park it surrounds.

bombcar 13 minutes ago | parent

This kind of thing exists in many places in the USA for many reasons (tax relief, government stupidity or inability or lack of funds, etc).

Sometimes the government is forbidden from buying land but nothing stops an individual or charity.

BeetleB 44 minutes ago | parent

I just want to remind everyone: Washington, Idaho and Oregon are terrible places to live.

In 2 of these states, it just rains all the time. You never ever want to visit these waterfalls, because you're perennially living in a waterfall. The local population is always depressed/suicidal. The only Oregonian of note got in trouble for that whole Nancy Kerrigan fiasco. And Washington is under the grip of Bezos and Gates. If you think Windows is bad ...

And Idaho, is, well, Idaho. There's a reason people doubt its existence.[1] It's because there is absolutely nothing of note there.

Texas is great! Lots of land. Number 1 in green energy. Go there.

[1] https://www.facebook.com/groups/221739400799965/posts/302745...

jmcqk6 39 minutes ago | parent

Yep, this is sooo true. Washington and Oregon are especially terrible. I tell you what, you're going to be sitting in traffic in Seattle just as much as you do in LA. And it's all very expensive. Texas is a much better decision.

Aboutplants 34 minutes ago | parent

Have you seen Texas city traffic lately?

BeetleB 31 minutes ago | parent

Have you visited Seattle in rush hour?

I kid you not when I say it took over 20 minutes for me to drive one block to get on to the freeway. There was no accident or other problem.

I go to LA often. Seattle is way worse.

petcat 38 minutes ago | parent

Yes everyone should stay away from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho! Terrible places to live! California is a dream compared to those hell-holes.

BeetleB 30 minutes ago | parent

Indeed! No one made a song with the title "Washington Dreamin". Same with Oregon and Idaho.

yoyohello13 26 minutes ago | parent

Is this a meme? I've never heard it before.

wing-_-nuts 26 minutes ago | parent

That I don't get about the PNW is the property prices of places hours away from any economic center that pays well enough to justify them. Are that many people still working remote for FAANG that those prices can be justified?

aliasxneo 19 minutes ago | parent

I guess the OP has never experienced any part of eastern Oregon or Washington.