Epilogue: Thank You Oregon

It’s been a few days now since I’ve gotten back from Oregon.  Fortunately, the jet lag hasn’t been too bad, and my sleeping is more or less back to normal. 

Looking back at the trip, I am a somewhat nostalgic.  It’s always great to come home, of course, but in a strange way I miss Oregon a little, especially the coast.  It was a great trip overall and from a photo perspective, fruitful.  Yes, there were several places on my list I didn’t get to, and the conditions were not always what I had envisioned.  But, I had fun, and I was fortunate to capture some images that I had not even imagined.  Some of these could turn out to be “frame worthy”, and that’s all I can really hope for!

Speaking of images, I took over 1,400!  Many of these (probably 50-75% based on experience) I will eventually delete, either because they are technically flawed, lousy compositions, or essentially duplicates of other images…no need to waste digital storage if I will never do anything with them (even though I now have well over 3 TB of storage).

I used virtually all of the camera gear I took, except for my backup camera (which was a good thing).  This means I am doing a better job of paring down my gear to what I think I will realistically use rather than just bringing stuff “just in case”.  However, I am on the lookout for a new camera backpack (my current one has some features I don’t like), and I need a better carry-on bag for all the things I am not comfortable putting in my checked bag (like my laptop, tripod, etc.).  The one have been using is too flimsy and is difficult to carry because of the strap design.

In nearly seven days I drove 1,126 miles, or about 160 miles per day.  If you assume an average speed of 50 mph (and that may be a bit high), that translates to nearly 23 total hours of driving, or 3.2 hours per day!  Makes me tired just thing about it!

So, the question I always ask myself is whether I would go back.  Of course I would, but there are other places I’d like to go (e.g., back to Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Canadian Rockies, etc.).  That said, I told Mary Jo that we definitely need to visit Oregon and stay in a B&B, VRBO house, or one of the several resorts along the coast.  She would enjoy it. 

Time to close this blog and move on.  Thank you for taking the time to read my posts, and as a reminder, feel free to share the link to my blog with others.  Also, if you want to see more of my images:

Visit my web page at https://russkerlin.smugmug.com/

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Visit my Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rkerlin/

I will leave with some additional images (apologies if I already post any of these, but I think they are all new).  Thanks again!!!

Columbia River Gorge panorama

Day 7: The Last Day

It’s the last day.  Time to go home, and I’m ready.  But, I’m excited to explore a few waterfalls here in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge.  Then I need to meet Jolene at 4 pm to handover the van (she has graciously agreed to take me to my hotel, saving me an Uber fare).  Before that I want to check into the hotel, unload all my stuff, and clean out the van.  Portland is also about 45 minutes away, so I don’t have a lot of time to explore.

As I mentioned in the Day 6 blog post, I had a 9 am ticket for Multnomah Falls, but I wanted to get there early to get a parking spot as it was very crowded when I drove past the day before (Multnomah Falls is an extremely popular tourist attraction and can get very crowded).  Parking proved not to be an issue, however.  In addition, there did not appear to be anyone checking tickets as people were just walking in.  Maybe before 9 is open admission?   Who knows, but in I went.  This turned out to be a good thing because there were few people by the falls, and I was able to quickly get the shots I wanted and get out of there.  As I was leaving a tour bus load of people was just coming in, so my timing was perfect!

Multnomah Falls, which is actually two separate falls, is Oregon's tallest at 620 feet.  What makes it unique is the walk bridge (the Benson Bridge) situated directly above the lower falls.

Closer view of Benson Bridge

Next up was Fairy Falls.  You need to hike to get to Fairy Falls, and the trail head starts at another waterfall, Wahkeena Falls located just down the road from Multnomah Falls.  Wahkeena Falls was pretty interesting as well, so I grabbed some shots there first before heading up the trail.  And when I say “up”, I mean “UP”!  The trail to Fairy Falls is 1.3 miles with an elevation gain of about 900 feet through steeply inclined switchbacks.  Initially the trail was paved and well-maintained, but further up the rockier it became.  I had to take quite a few breaks, and a couple times I debated whether to turn around.  But, I decided to persevere.  Over an hour after starting, I arrived at Fairy Falls.  Not as large as I thought it would be but very delicate and graceful!  Well worth the journey!

Wahkeena Falls

One of many un-naned "falls" along the hike up to Fairy Falls.

Fairy Falls

Going down was much, much easier of course, but by the time I got back to the van I was exhausted.  My legs were like rubber.  There was one other waterfall I had considered visiting, but I was tired and running out of time, so off to Portland I went. 

Example of the steep switchbacks up to Fairy Falls. 

I checked into the hotel and randomly stuffed all my things into my bags…I would organize things and repack later.  I quickly cleaned out the van and drove to Jolene’s house.  There were no issues with the check-in, and she drove me back to the hotel, which was just 10 minutes away.  Next on my agenda: a shower!  This felt soooo good!  There was a sports bar within walking distance (part of the reason I picked this specific hotel) so I went there for dinner…beer and wings!  Tasted so good!

Well, that’s it!  I’ll do one more post, my traditional epilogue, after I get back and rest up a bit.