Wahclella Falls Hike

On Tuesday I went for a hike out to Wahclella Falls out by Bonneville Dam. I've been out here once before last September and thought it'd be nice to get out of the 90° Portland weather and up into the Columbia River Gorge. I headed up after work, parked, out out my NW Pass, grabbed my gear and headed down the trail. 

Once I arrived at the falls, I realized I left my freshly cleaned circular polarizer on my desk at home. I was pretty bummed about it, especially since this was the first time I'd been to the falls with my 11-16mm Tokina (last time I just had my kit lens and it has no circular polarizer). But I didn't that hold me back. I just used what I had: my camera, tripod, Tokina 11-16mm, and Canon 70-210mm. 

I was a little bit of a mountain goat, climbing up the opposite side of the canyon wall to get a wide shot; a bit of an otter, balancing on rocks and logs capturing long exposures of the water tumbling over the rocks; a bit of a Oregonian, standing in the unrelenting mist at the base of the falls with the frothy water lapping at my tripod. 

I'll be back and next time I'll remember everything that I want to play around with. 😊

Rowena Crest Hike

First off ... WOW!

Secondly, I love my husband.

Why?

Last week I was seeing all the photos photographers were posting of the wildflowers at Rowena Crest, especially ones at sunrise like this, this, and this. 

John and I are very busy on weekends and our schedule opened up for Sunday and so I told him that I wanted to go out to Rowena Crest and take photos of the wildflowers and showed him the photos that inspired me. He said yes. I was just thinking, morning light, sometime before noon. That would even be pushing it, since he works swing (3:30 pm till midnight or later) and his sleep schedule is way different than mine (I work 7:00/7:30 am till 3:30/4:00 pm).

Sunday morning came around and I was awake at 3:45 am, he was asleep. I think I dozed, and then John woke himself up at 5:00 am and asked if I was awake and if I wanted to still catch sunrise .... uh, YES!

We made it out to Rowena Crest and missed sunrise, but I was still happy as a clam since it was 7:00 am once we parked and hit the trail. We headed up to Tom McCall Point and saw lots of people in the fields of wildflowers hauling their camera gear, taking photos, and taking it all in. John and I kept going up, I leading the way and stopping every once in awhile when something caught my eye.

From the look of the trail, only 2 other people had gone up the trail past the first couple mini plateaus of wildflower patches and at least one person had already come down and most of the way up we came across a young women on her way down. But before we crossed paths with her, I came across something wonderful.

A doe and her yearling. I quickly changed from my 11-16mm Tokina to my 70-210mm Canon as they walked up the hillside out of sight (John is a wonderful assistant, handing me lens and carrying my pack, and as a deer spotter). I quietly worked my way up the trail and caught some photos of them sauntering off across the wide plateau with Mt. Adams in the background.

A little bit later up the trail in a giant field of Balsam Root (the yellow wildflowers that look like sunflowers) and I was focusing on some Indian Paintbrush (bright orange/red flowers) when John is saying "11 o'clock, 11 o'clock" ... another doe and this time her twin yearlings were out in front of us and up the hill a little bit in the mass of yellow flowers. I captured some photos of them and we watched them head down to oak groves which were far from the trails so that they could chew their cud in shade for the morning and doze in the afternoon.

It was a wonderful hike, with beautiful weather, and great company.

I hope you enjoy the photos I'm sharing with you. Thanks for following along!

The Hofer Boys | Watercolor Commission

"The Hofer Boys"

12" x 16"

Commissioned Watercolor Painting

Meet the Hofer Boys, L-R: Johnnie, Robby, Willy, and Glennie

They are Scottish Terriers and West Highland Terriers. Aren't they the cutest?

This was a commissioned painting created just for the owners of their beloved boys. 

If you're interested in something just for you, please contact me!

Dry Creek Falls Hike

Last Wednesday I went for a nice hike up by Cascade Locks. It's was 72 degrees out and blue skies. I parked in Cascade Locks and then headed south on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail). All the way to the falls was quiet, not a soul in sight. The closer I came to the falls, the cooler the air became. Rounding the last corner came the wind from the falls; that never grows old. 

I'll be going on this hike again, there are so many to check out before then though! I did some tricky balancing techniques to capture these for you to enjoy.