Spring in Yosemite Valley

Big Sur

McWay Falls
Pfeiffer Beach

Oregon Photography Tour: Crater Lake and Rogue River Waterfalls

After a stop in the Klamath Marsh to catch sunset, I arrived in the Crater Lake area late at night and camped by Diamond Lake. Dawn could bring an excellent view of Mt. Thielsen across the lake. Dawn actually arrived late and gray, so I caught up on some much-needed sleep.

My first few stops along the road circling Crater Lake's caldera were gray and very windy, but by the time I reached the visitor center, the clouds had broken somewhat and I could see that Crater Lake's 1,943 feet deep waters take on the most amazing turquoise blue tones under the influence of a blue sky.

My most recent Internet access had revealed a weather forecast for partly cloudy skies on the Oregon Coast with a fair amount of sun for the next few days, so I headed down Highway 138 along the Rogue River. I stopped at a visitor center near Diamond Lake and determined that I could stop at several waterfalls along the way. I'd simply see how far I could get by nightfall.

One of my stops was Whitehorse Falls, a small cascade into a punchbowl plunge pool.

Another stop was Tokatee Falls on the Rogue River, a dramatic three stage plunge over substantial basalt columns.

In the narrow canyon above Tokatee Falls, this fallen log was resisting the full force of the river. I used a polarizing filter to cut light and slow the shutter speed so the shot would show the motion.

I continued down to Roseburg for dinner and a motel.

Oregon Photography Tour: Columbia Gorge

My trip started with the 600 mile drive to Portland, OR. With rain forecast for the next week, it didn't make sense to visit the Hoh Rain Forest and the beaches on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Having lived in Portland for 3 years in the 1980s, I knew that if I set mysights inland towards the dry Eastern side of the Cascades, I'd probably be able to avoid the worst of the rain.

The Columbia River Gorge was a logical way to head out of town, but it was raining and even having brought a giant golf umbrella and towel for frequent drying, most of my shots have some degree of water drops on the lense. The drizzle stopped briefly during my hike into Oneonta Gorge, so I was able to capture this shot of Oneonta Falls.



My first night out of Portland, after a dinner stop at the Full Sail Brewery in the town of Hood River, I headed towards the rian shadow of Mt. Hood. I still had a Forest Service map from when I lived in Portland years ago, and I tried to find a campsite that would have a sunset and sunrise view of the mountain.

This site, "Clouds Rest" had a promising name, and while it seemed to take foreever to reach up a decaying dirt road, my effort was rewarded with this sunset view of the breaking storm, over a sea of wildflowers.



It was raining and gray when I woke up, so it was fortunate that I made it to the campsite in time for sunset!

I heard a couple of days later that the Washington coast received record rain on the days that I had planned to visit, so having the flexibility to head for a drier part of Oregon really paid off!