Oregon Waterfalls

I've been ambling around in Oregon lately, staying close to water most of the time.  Interesting water scenes abound in the Beaver State, even far from the ocean.  Here's the fish hatchery at Bonneville Dam; lots of young trout.

Herman is a longtime resident at the hatchery.  He's a white sturgeon who is over 10 feet long, tips the scales in excess of 450 pounds, and is about 70 years old!  His ancestors swam with the dinosaurs.

Horsetail Falls, on the old Columbia River highway.  Hike up the trail from here and you come upon...

Ponytail Falls!  As you can see from the other hikers, you can go under the falls.  About 35 years ago I remember pushing my mom up this trail.  She was enchanted by the scene.

Now I''m in Silver Falls State Park, east of Salem.  This is upper North Falls.

80 inches of rain annually coats the trees with moss.  Very cool.

This is a view of North Falls, still in the state park.

You can hike behind this cascade also,  and look out upon the forest from a unique viewpoint.

Farther along in the park is South Falls, a 177 foot cascade.

It's rather wispy from behind, especially at this time of year...about the driest hereabouts.

Near the state park is one of the nation's premier Christmas tree growing areas.  There's a good chance your tree lived here.

Now I'm in Central Oregon, at the source of the Metolius River.  The lizards are checking it out.  It's not a major river like the ones they visited last year, which included the Columbia, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Colorado, and Arkansas, but it gets a much more dramatic start, rising fully formed from under a hillside only a few yards behind me. 

And here's the Deschutes, from my deck at the Riverhouse, a fine motel in the heart of Bend.  Very comfy and highly recommended...I've stayed here several times over the years.

Rainier Vistas

Mount Rainier...as always absolutely spectacular!  Yeah, I've taken this pic several times before but it's always good.

Quite the pile of rock.

Profuse wildflowers, of many species. 

Map of the Paradise area.  Blow it up for better detail.  We hiked up to a little past Glacier Vista.

Paradise at the flowering peak, August 20.

Four species flower macro.

Mount Adams, on the southern horizon.  Almost a twin of Rainier.

Rainier from timberline, near Glacier Vista.

The waterfall here is actually 150-200 feet high, dropping meltwater underneath Nisqually glacier.

Blow up the pic and check out the crevasses on Nisqually glacier, about in the middle of the photo.

My ol' dormmate Dick doing the Everest sherpa trek gig.

Sound of Music territory!  Where's Julie Andrews when you need her??

The lupines were profuse!  Don't recall seeing any better displays.

Macro shot. 

Another great flower shot.  Usually when you try to take a broad shot of a large flower field, the green grass overwhelms the other colors.  Not here! 

Coastal Migration

As is the case with many other sloats, the Old Sloat migrates with the seasons.  In the summer he regularly makes a sojourn to the place of his birth and rearing...Portland Oregon...and to his site of higher education...Seattle and the Puget Sound area.  Wandering in the redwoods the other day, I came upon this large biomass...four or five redwoods soar from a common base here in Redwood NP.

The forest floor...redwood sorrel in sun and shadow.  The quiet beauty here stands in pleasant contrast to the spectacular trees.

View from my deck at the motel in Brookings.  Always nice to sleep to the sound of the surf.

Roaming in Boardman State Park near Brookings, deep in the coastal forest.

Now I'm in the Oregon Dunes, a popular playground between North Bend and Florence.

The dunes are great for abstract photography...sky, grass, and footprinted sand here.  With a brisk north wind blowing, the footprints don't last long if they're not reinforced.

This bloke is, uh, sandboarding the dune, I reckon.  Wipeouts into the soft sand are no problem.

Now I'm in Yachats, right near my oceanfront motel.  The late afternoon light here was ideal for another abstract shot. 

The central Oregon coast, like many littorals, is windswept.  West is to the left.

I found a fellow sloat on the beach at Yachats!  Ever bent on self improvement, he's doing crunches! 

The sun sets into a soup of fog, haze, and water.