Life Off The Road

Exploring the west

Tag: Nature Photography

Wherever I am, one of my goals is to always try and capture something with the camera that reminds me of the journey.

  • The Giants of Lost Creek

    The Giants of Lost Creek

    I recently stumbled on a 2015 newspaper article about a 170-acre section of old-growth timber semi-secured away along a tiny, secondary tributary in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, called Lost Creek. There is old-growth timber in at least several places, in Gifford Pinchot. This past winter I hiked the Lewis River Trail which had a plethora of old-growth fir and cedar along the route, including a monster Douglas Fir between the middle and upper falls that rivaled the ones I could find on this trip. Old growth timber is fairly rare in northwest Oregon due to logging (of course) and forest fires, like the Tillamook Burn. These trees do not grow forever, though, and there is a massive fir tree along Lost Creek that is dead, with huge carvings of bark falling off around the tree, onto the ground. This area, like many along the creek with leaning trees propped-up by others, are somewhat dangerous and should be respected.

    The forest floor along Lost Creek in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest
    The forest floor along Lost Creek in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest

    Unlike Lewis River, Cedar Flats, or several other well-publicized locations of old-growth trees, the stand along Lost Creek has a much more remote and primitive feeling. It is still the Pacific Northwest with all of its moss and decay, but there is a “lost in time” feeling when traveling through the area, which I do not think was just my imagination. It is part of the fascination with this area, and not one that I felt while hiking along the Lewis River – even though some of the trees were just as spectacular. This area along Lost Creek is old and untouched, and you can feel it.

    Showing the width of a fir tree along Lost Creek in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest
    My pathetic attempt at demonstrating the width of a Douglas Fir along Lost Creek. My arm span is 6′ 4″ / 193cm, but of course I did not get centered on the tree! This is why I am an amateur…

    This was my second outing to Lost Creek, the first time being on the south-side of the creek. To be honest, I am probably going to go back, just because it is such an untouched and remote place. Ironically, the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route runs right by it, but there is nothing to make you think there might be something more lurking off in the woods. Perhaps you might see a Toyota Prius parked there, on this fairly pot-holed and rough logging road. There was one parked there, last Sunday.

  • Lusk Creek

    Lusk Creek

    I had spent the day exploring some areas in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and was returning home on Forest Road 86, which runs along Lusk Creek, when this fairytale view stopped me in my tracks.

  • Oregon’s Painted Hills

    Oregon’s Painted Hills

    Travel Oregon has a list of seven natural wonders in Oregon, and the Painted Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is one of them. The others are Crater Lake, the Columbia River Gorge, Mount Hood, Smith Rock State Park, the Wallowa Mountains, and the Oregon Coast. I am a bit chagrined to admit that I have not been to the Painted Hills, or any of the other areas that comprise the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, so I decided to remedy that with a day trip. 

    The three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
    The three units of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

    The John Day Fossil Beds NM is actually three separate locations, with the Painted Hills unit being the popular one that the majority of people visit. In addition, there is the Clarno Unit forty-five miles to the north, and the Sheep Rock unit, forty-five miles to the east. The Painted Hills unit is two hundred miles from Portland, making this a challenging day trip! 

    I arrived at the Painted Hills in the morning and headed up the Carroll Rim Trail which gains about two hundred feet, providing one of the best views of the Painted Hills area. There are numerous other trails that branch out along the base of the hills, for equally impressive close-up views. 

    I did not have enough time to include the Sheep Rock unit on this trip, but I did visit the Clarno unit on the way home. Unlike the smooth multi-colored hills, the Clarno unit is an ancient volcanic mudflow that has eroded away into tall spires. It reminded me of the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park. Since this was a mudflow, though, there are the fossilized remains of plant material in nearly every rock. For my untrained eyes, the fossils were not always easy to see. The rocks formed by the 45-million-year-old mud are weathered and covered with lichens, camouflaging the fossilized leaves. Fortunately, the park has numerous signage along the trails, pointing-out specific fossils.

  • Mount Hood

    Mount Hood

    Mount Hood is Oregon’s highest mountain, at 11,249 feet, and one of three active volcanoes around the Columbia Gorge; Mount St. Helens last erupted in 1980, Mount Hood in the 1790’s, and Mount Adams around 1000. These mountains are part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, stretching from British Columbia to Northern California. This arc also forms a demarcation between the Pacific Ocean-facing wester side with its lush rainforests, and the arid eastern side, shown here, with less than 20-inches of annual rainfall.

  • Columbia Gorge

    Columbia Gorge

    The Columbia Gorge is one of the most geologically impressive features in North America, forming a deep path through the Cascade Mountains for the Columbia River – the largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America. The river was not always where it is today, having been pushed north by lava flows on the Oregon side, and more recently, pushed back south and even blocked, by enormous landslides from the Washington side. The layers of lava flows, reminiscent of frosted layers in a cake, form the steep cliffs on the Oregon side of the gorge providing a waterfall-rich environment between Troutdale, at the western mouth of the gorge just east of Portland, and Hood River. From the Portland Women’s Forum scenic viewpoint where this photo was taken, easily-accessible waterfalls along the Historic Columbia River Highway include Latourell Falls, Shepperd’s Dell Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah Falls, and Horsetail Falls. 

  • Paulina Lake

    Paulina Lake

    Crater Lake is one of several lakes in Oregon that reside inside volcanic calderas. The Newberry Volcano erupted some 75,000 years ago and subsequently collapsed, forming a five-mile diameter caldera. Newberry is much older than the 7,500-year-old Mount Mazama Caldera, containing Crater Lake. The Newberry Caldera is located 20-miles south of Bend, Oregon, and contains Paulina Lake and East Lake. Paulina Lake is the larger of the two, encompassing 1,530 acres and a depth of 250-feet. Like Crater Lake, Paulina and East Lake rely on snowmelt and rain, and Paulina Lake also has hot springs that feed it. Newberry remains active and its most recent eruption formed Big Obsidian Flow, a 1,300-year-old lava flow, the youngest in the state. This photograph is from the top of Big Obsidian Flow, with Paulina Lake in the distance. 

  • White Pocket

    White Pocket

    A challenging place to reach, White Pocket on the Arizona – Utah border is an impressive area of sandstone formations.

  • Coronado National Monument

    Coronado National Monument

    We began our journey across Arizona in the Coronado National Monument on Montezuma Canyon Road, heading up to Montezuma Pass. It was a clear morning in early May, with stunning views all the way into Mexico. 

  • Valley of the Gods

    Valley of the Gods

    Valley of the Gods does not get near the attention of neighboring Monument Valley, but that is part of the charm of this southern Utah wonderland. Particularly during the week, you might only see a handful of other people along the 17-mile route cutting through the valley. It is BLM land, so there will be campers, but mostly on weekends. There are no services and no campfires allowed.

  • Valley of the Gods

    Valley of the Gods

    Valley of the Gods is a great little park located south of Bluff, Utah off highway 163. It is also accessible from the west via highway 261. A seventeen-mile road runs through the park, connecting the two highway entrances. The road is accessible to most vehicles, but like many semi-improved roads in the southwest, is crosses several washes that will challenge any vehicle that does not have ground clearance for off-road travel. I made several trips through the park. Even though it is smaller than the more popular locations, like Monument Valley or Canyonlands, it is no less stunning and I found myself stopping every five minutes to take-in a new sight, or get a different perspective on a feature.

  • Trillium Lake

    Trillium Lake

    Trillium Lake is a man-made lake at the base of Mount Hood, in Oregon. This shot is from the south end of the lake, drive past the campground towards the day use area.