For three years, I tried to take a trip to Oregon. At the time, I was still living in Dallas. It would require a flight and a truck rental in order to carry my bike. In 2018, one of my good friends invited me to his wedding in Idaho. I decided to hold off on the Oregon trip, and with my PTO, went to Idaho for his wedding, then ventured out to Glacier National Park, back to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Spokane, WA.
In 2019, I even had a flight and rental car booked for this trip to Oregon. However, due to unethical practices by the company I was working for at the time, I decided to leave my job, even though I had not yet secured another job. Because of this, I once again canceled my Oregon trip.
Then 2020 happened. I had originally planned to complete this trip in June, but due to the pandemic, many parts of Oregon were closed. Due to the uncertainty of travel restrictions, I did not make any reservations. I did, however, end up visiting Bend on a short trip, as it had opened up just in time for the week I had already planned off.
For the rest of the trip, I postponed it until August. And this time, it finally happened!
I started the trip with a visit to Crater Lake National Park. I have a thing for National Parks. They are some of the most beautiful areas of our country. And Crater Lake is quite the natural wonder. A volcano known as Mount Mazama, which collapsed about 7,700 years ago, and filled with water. The deepest lake in the United States (1,949 feet). How incredible!
My main objective here was a shot of the milky way over the lake. But there were plenty more spectacular shots to be had before nightfall.
It was quite windy that evening. After the sun set, a chill swept over the ridge high above the lake. I stood facing the lake, with the wind at my back. My body blocked my camera and tripod from the wind. While sturdy on its own, even small movements would blur the 20 second exposure set for the milky way.
The traffic was surprisingly persistent after dark. My perch was not far off the road, and on either end, the road was at a higher elevation than I was standing. The light affected the foreground of my scene. I needed 20 seconds without any vehicle headlights. I also preferred to have no airplane lights streaking across the sky, even though I could remove them in post. Such a small detail, but the healing brush over the streak would result in an inaccurate representation of the starry night sky. Thankfully, I was able to get my 20 seconds of a clear sky, and a clear foreground.
I had no reservations that evening. But I knew of a few Sno-Parks not too far from the National Park. I headed that way, and found one with a few campers and vans already parked for the night. There was plenty of space for me, however, and I had a peaceful night of pretty good sleep, considering it was in the back seat of my car. The milky way was still shining overhead, as well.
From there, it was on to Ashland for a quick ride on Jabberwocky, and then to the Pacific coast. The only time I’d been to the Pacific before was in Long Beach, CA when I was in 5th grade. That wasn’t really that great of a trip, as my father was dying from cancer. It was cut off early, and unfortunately what was supposed to be one final enjoyable family trip didn’t go as planned. Dad became very ill as soon as we arrived, and was not able to join my mom, sister and I for anything. That would end up being the last week of his life, as he passed away a few days after we got home, on Monday April 12, 1993.
I don’t mean to make this a sad story, but at any rate, this second trip to the Pacific would be a more memorable experience. While a tropical beach is always nice, I’m not sure if you can beat the rocky shoreline of the PNW. The Oregon coast did not disappoint. The water, of course, is freezing cold. This isn’t the beach you visit to sunbathe and swim, but it’s definitely worth a visit if you’ve never been.
On to the next stop; Oakridge, OR for mountain biking! This was to be the main attraction of the trip, and I had booked 3 shuttle rides for Larison Rock, Alpine and Lawler trails. I sure do love those forests of the PNW! All that lush greenery surrounding fast & flowy trails! But let’s not ignore the humidity! Oh goodness, after acclimating to the dry air of Idaho, the humidity killed me out there! I was drenched in sweat on every ride. It was like being back in Texas!
I’ll let the video below do the rest of the talking about the trails, however!
My other purpose in Oregon was photographing waterfalls. There are still some falls that I was not able to visit due to travel restrictions in the counties along the Columbia River Gorge, but I did get to visit Salt Creek Falls there in Oakridge, Proxy Falls, Ramona Falls, Sahalie Falls on the McKenzie River, as well as smaller falls on the McKenzie, that may have had a name, but I can’t recall them at this point.
Without a doubt, though, my favorite was Ramona Falls in Rhododendron, OR. This one also required the most work to get to. It is a 7 mile round-trip hike, which including a crossing of the Sandy River. There were signs at the trailhead that stated the river could be chest deep, and would need to be crossed with trekking poles in order to battle with the current. I was not prepared for this, so I set off on this hike uncertain as to whether or not I would be able to make it across the river. I looked at hikers coming back the other way to see if their shoes, or any of their clothes were wet. They all looked dry. Were they able to cross, or had they turned back at the river?
It was only about a mile or mile and a half to get to the river, so it wasn’t too much of a risk. Worst case, I’d get some good exercise, but I wouldn’t come away with the photos I wanted. Thankfully, when I got to the crossing, I could see numerous large trees down forming bridges over the water. It required some hanging on, and some balance to avoid falling into the current, but I was able to make it across without any issue. The payoff was this spectacular waterfall!
I ended the trip camping at the Trillium Lake campground. I had planned to shoot both sunset and sunrise photos of Mt. Hood from here, but that evening the sky was covered in low clouds, and Mt. Hood was not even visible. When I awoke the following morning before sunrise, the sky was still covered in clouds. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get the photo I had desired.
I went to the south end of the lake anyway, and waited. Perhaps it would clear up later. Thankfully, my patience looked like it would pay off. The clouds did start to thin out and move off to the east, with breaks revealing the peak of Mt. Hood for a few seconds here and there. Slowly but surely, the clouds got thinner and thinner, and in the end those remaining clouds made for a spectacular photo!
Be sure to check out the video for more of the beautiful scenery in Oregon, including some drone shots from the coast! There is still a lot I have left to see in this incredible state, so I will definitely be back. Thankfully, living in Idaho now means it’s not too far away!
hunt.style 