Eagle Creek in a Heavy Rainfall

Well we are clearly into the rainy season in the Pacific Northwest.  What I had been able to trail run just a few days earlier was nearly impassible on this day.  Small trickling streams crossing the trail were transformed into raging, waist deep, scary, fast moving flows.  Here’s a photo from the same place with much less water.

Find it here:  45°37’22” N;  121°53’42” W

Twilight at the Rim

We took a family trip down to Crater Lake and saw this beautiful sunset!  Crater Lake is a collapsed volcano that after it exploded, the lake formed inside the rim.  Then the neat island (Wizard Island) started to form in the lake as the volcano cone started to grow again - so cool!

 

It was a great trip - I brought my bike along and had a great day of cycling around the 35mi Rim Road which circles the rim of the volcano and has great views of the lake along the way. The views were amazing as the winding road bumped up near the rim here and there along the way!  Despite a blowout and a flat, it was still an awesome ride!

 

The weather was perfect fall temps for sightseeing afterwards and we had this awesome sunset and pink glow in the lake at twilight. 

 

Find it here: 42°54’39” N;  122°8’30” W

 

a red barn in Klamath county

This barn makes its stand in southern Oregon.

My friend Dave and I were on a short road trip through southern Oregon wandering around fish hatcheries and small towns.  Dave was fly fishing while I was shooting some photos. Along the way we saw this peaceful scene of an old barn making its stand in a vast field.

I’ve mentioned before that I geotag all my photos.  I think it is super cool that you can see this barn on the satellite photos in Google Maps!  Guess I’m just geeky that way :)

Find it here:  42°39’6” N;   121°57’25” W

sunrise on the hood

We live just outside Portland, OR in Washington state and one of the many wonderful things about this area (aside from the great trail running, traffic free roads to cycle, and being in the gorge!) is we have a great view of Mt Hood across the Columbia River. Funny, becuase you get so used to seeing mornings like this that you can almost not even notice it day to day :)

I feel really fortunate to be able to spend some time living here and experiencing the Pacific Northwest. Really an amazing place.

find it here: my back porch :)

desolation

I started noticing this stand of trees a couple months ago in the Columbia River Gorge near Horsetail Falls.  Ever since then they’ve looked dead, desolate, and dark.  I wonder what they’ll look like in the spring…

find it here:  45°35’28” N;   122°3’53” W

oneonta gorge

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of going to this place, Oneonta Gorge is just too amazing!

find it here:  45°35’11” N;   122°4’26” W

creature in the gorge

Deep within Oneonta Gorge when the water was low I came across this rock which almost looked like some prehistoric creature with just it’s back breaking the surface of the water.  This gorge goes back surprisingly far and if you get all the way to the end (requires swimming even when the water is low) you’ll find an amazing waterfall!

find it here:  45°35’11” N;  122°4’26” W

punchbowl falls

This is another one of those places in the Columbia River Gorge that makes it so amazing.   Punchbowl Falls is just an easy couple mile hike in from the trailhead.  The falls come spilling out into this “bowl” which is flanked by these really neat granite walls covered with ferns, moss, etc.  At times, it can be quite busy here by not many people walk out into the water (cold most of the year) or if you just wait a bit, eventually you’ll have a people free moment to get a nice photo.  There are several waterfalls along this trail and if you keep going, about mile 6 is a 250ft waterfall with a tunnel going right behind it halfway to the top!

find it here:  45°37’22” N;   121°53’42” W

you can hear it grow

Near Cannon Beach, OR there is a little sign with a turn off for Ecola State Park. The road twists and turns leading you to one of two parking lots with great views of the ocean but what I really liked about this park was the rain forest you pass through getting there.  It was really foggy this day and the forest had a prehistoric feel.  Stopping the car to get out and walk in to the woods just a bit, it was almost like the quiet after a fresh snow - so still and silent but rather than snow, everything is green almost like you can hear it growing if you listened close enough.

Find it here:  45°56’19” N;  123°59’5” W

breaking light at wahclella falls

This amazing waterfall is just an easy one mile hike from a small parking lot near the Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River Gorge.  Anne and Gus were along for this hike and Gus hiked nearly the whole way by himself.  He does really good hiking for a 22mo old!

Just as we got to the falls, the fog started to break and the sun came streaming out through the trees at the top. There were so many great pictures from that morning, it was ahrd to pick one to post today!  I’m sure there will be more in the future :) 

Find it here:  45°37’6” N;  121°57’6” W

the fog rolls in

This was my first trip to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.  I had always wanted to visit but never made the time and never thought I’d ever live here.  But a great opportunity came up at Target and I was offered a position based out of Portland, OR so we were here in late September for the first time trying to get familiar with the city and find places to live.  It has been about a year since then, and living in the PNW has been nothign short of amazing!

On this trip, we took a couple days to do some travel to Mt. St. Helens then down the coast through Astoria to arrive at Ecola State Park and this great view overlooking Cannon Beach just as the sunset.

I just visited this location again over the past weekend which prompted me to pull this photo out from the archive to process and post.  It was really foggy this weekend, some neat photos from in the surrounding rain forest are stil to come.

Find it here:  45°55’11”;   N 123°58’31” W

let the sun shine through

This was a fun morning. My boss and his boss @CaspersDave were in town to spend some time visiting the area I’m responsible for (in my real job). Dave is into photography too so we headed out into downtown Portland at sunrise to shoot some photos one morning before “real” work started. Walking along the Willamette River, the shadows behind this tree caught my eye.

As we walked back to the hotel, some guy across the street waiting for a free breakfast at a mission started yelling “Hey camera guys, F*ck You! F*ck You!” then followed that up with “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”. At least he was sorry…

Find it here: 45°31’36” N; 122°40’13” W