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Entries in Oregon (6)
USA Road Trip: Bull Bend Campground - Deschutes National Forest, Oregon
Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 12:38PM 
At the start of a long road trip to the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce National Parks, my wonderful wife and I stopped off for a two days of camping along the Deschutes River on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains of Central Oregon. Bull Bend Campground was lovely!
A 3 1/2 hour drive from our starting point in Keizer, Oregon to the Bull Bend Campground through the beautiful Santiam Pass . . .
There was a somewhat bumpy and dusty 2-3 mile drive off the paved road through the dry Ponderosa Pine forest to get to Bull Bend Campground.
The campground was very nice with all the sites actually on the river. We found a nice one and went about setting up camp.
With our camp set up (complete with our "shower/toilet" tent), we took of for a quick look around.
We were situated in a beautiful forest on a perfect, clear 80f day.
30 feet from our campsite we had the Deschutes River. Spectacular!
There is a big 300 degree bend in the river which almost creates an island, where the campground is situated.
Incredible nature!
I immediately went back to our camp site and grabbed my camping chair and took it down to the river banks. This is where I wanted to sit and enjoy life.
The view from my camp chair. Heaven.
Looking to my left from my camping chair the river bends out and around in a big arch which surrounds the campground.
I took my bike out for a spin around the campground . . .
Then I rode the road out of the campground . . . for some different views of the river.
The Dechutes River floods at various times of the year eroding the banks. These sawed-off root snags can be found along the banks.
The forest floor is a complex and beautiful environment . . .
Various tree falls from fires and thinning.
On the next morning my wife and I took a walk out into the forest on a random trail leading away from the river.
There was plenty of evidence that there had been a big burn in the not-too-distant past. Of course, these Ponderosa pines depend on fire to help their seeds propagate.
Such an inviting forest trail . . . on such a gorgeous day!
Our trail "away from the river" eventually lead us back to another bend in the meandering Dechutes River.
I am not sure if I will ever get back to this wonderful place, but I will always remember these fantastic trees.
An absolutely gorgeous place to camp for a couple of days . . .
USA Road Trip: Driving the Oregon Coast to the California Redwoods
Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 7:11PM 
The beautiful southern Oregon coast in early April.
A rugged coast for several hundred miles.
The old 1996 Chevy 4X4 camper truck working well.
A classic lighthouse on a high bluff above the raging Pacific Ocean.
Sea Lions abound along the southern Oregon coast. We saw them at almost all our stops.
The famous beauty of the Oregon coast in all its magnificence.
The drive south on the Oregon coast is wonderful because at every turn there is a new sweeping panorama . . .
A beautiful bay just south of Crescent City, California after sunrise.
People out on their morning beach walk.
I'm glad I had the V8! Not exactly a tourist trap . . . but a pretty good dinosaur park roadside attraction.
We made many stops along Highway 101 to ogle at the incredible scenery.
Of course, my wife wanted to stop and look at every golf curse along the way. This one, near Brookings, looked so Scottish! A real links curse, yellow gorse and all!
Arriving at the Crescent City bay.
Crescent City bay and lighthouse.
Crescent City lighthouse.
A beachcombers' stick sculpture.
I love these Pacific Northwest coastal scenes.
On of my favorite photographic subjects: driftwood.
Worn by sea, sun, and sand into fabulous textures and patterns . . .
A visitor's cartouche . . .
A damaged surface. The orange scrape revealing the natural color behind the grey aged driftwood.
Twisted driftwood.
A revelation of the history of the forces and conditions this particular tree has experienced in the past represented in these patterns.
Ice plant! Stained all my clothes as a child. Here, at Crescent City, in flower on a rainy morning.
We stayed the night in a motel in Crescent City, California and went out for seafood on the pier . . . and discovered the sea lions at sunset.
Sea lions are fascinating to watch. Very entertaining sea mammals!
The Crescent City harbor . . . a gull supervises a log-full of sea lions.
Sea lions on a log in the sunset.
It was early April . . . time to take down the Christmas decorations . . . but cute.
Crossing the Smith River on the way to a redwood stand.
Arriving at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
One of many foreign tourists that visit the giant redwoods of California every year.
A fantastically dramatic redwood snag left from some past burn.
Ancient giant redwoods.
We walked for hours on the park paths among the towering redwoods.
The park service did a good job of keeping the paths easily accessible by cutting back fallen redwoods.
An incredible space, line, color.
Ancient plant spirits . . .
Sturdy, solid, immense, strong, tall . . .
Walking in the giant redwood forest is a spiritual experience.
Wonderful shafts of clear, bright light illuminated the forest.
A single lit redwood in the dense forest.
A giant redwood healing an old wound.
A beautiful path through a magical forest.
Deeper into the redwood forest.
The sturdy foot of a giant redwood.
The existential redwood.
Redwood bark.
We could have stayed in these woods all day . . . but the call of a seafood dinner beckoned.
Out through the small trees to the camper . . and then, the next day, back to Keizer, Oregon on I-5.Update on Sunday, July 28, 2019 at 10:18AM by
Dr. Jeff Harper
Dr. Jeff Harper
Redwood Burls
I became fascinated with the redwood burls in this forest.
Burls are growth gone astray . . .
Every burl is different.
fascinating.
Road Trip USA: Steens Mountain, Oregon
Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 10:48PM [September 5-9, 2018]
My 'sabbatical year' road trip around the USA brought me back to the Steens Mountain in the far southeast corner of Oregon.
I am a world traveller, you could say, and as such,I am often asked what is the most beautiful places you have ever been. I usually answer, that among my favorite places on the planet, Steens Mountain (or The Steens) takes a high spot. When I was planning my USA road trip, I realized that I hadn't been back to The Steens for over 30 years! Were they still as beautiful as I remembered them?
The road ahead . . . phone poles and mirages. (Color caste is from tinted front windshield.)
A road to forever.
To get to The Steens from my base in western Oregon (Keizer) meant I had to drive across the Eastern Oregon high desert.
Eastern Oregon has a very special barren beauty. It is anything but empty.
A failed homestead in Eastern Oregon.
The further east and south I went in Oregon, the more mountainous the countryside became.
The road to The Steens passed nearby the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge . . . a vast plain of colorful wetlands.
I drove nearly all day under cloudy skies, but when I stopped to take photos of the Malheur Basin the sun shown through. Extraordinary color and pattern. This photo has not had the color bumped!
The beauty of the Malheur Basin.
I worried it might rain . . . it never did. The clouds and the wind blew away the wildfire smoke that pervaded the entire western third of the USA over the summer.
At last I arrived in The Steens!
The tiny old cowboy town of Frenchglen is the front door to the Steens Mountain Loop. The Frenchglen Hotel is a listed building that still operates as a hotel to this day - you will want to book well in advance. I went there for lunch one day (more on this later). My goal was the Jackman Park Campground up 20 miles of washboarded gravel road.
The flora changed from high desert scrub . . . .
. . . to sparse grasses and rocky soil.
Driving up a lower section of the Steens Loop.
I arrived here just before dark . . . my campground was down in that stand of aspen trees! 
I found this campsite and quickly unpacked the camper and made camp and went straight to sleep. I woke in the middle of the night, as old men do, to see more stars in the black sky than I have ever seen in my life!
My campsite in the morning . . . very dry . . . and very quiet. There were only 8 camping spots in the campground . . . and only one other was occupied, although I never saw or heard them. The next two nights I was the only person there.
With the help of my good friend, Jeff Milligan, I carefully selected my camp gear. This was my set-up everywhere I went (except sometimes I used my own table when there was none provided.) Coffee is very, very important.
After breakfast I took a short walk in the aspen grove that surrounded the campground.
I could not explain why these aspens were all twisted.
Remains of ancient lava flows wound their way through the grove.
After clean-up, I drove up the loop to near the edge of the East Rim . . . and Kiger Gorge.
A north-south escarpment over forty miles long, Steens Mountain is “the largest fault-block mountain in the northern Great Basin. During the cooler, moister climate of the Pleistocene Epoch, between four million and ten thousand years ago, glaciers carved out the mountain’s dramatic canyons, including Kiger Gorge. (Steens Mountain) The thinning wildfire smoke can be seen in this photo . . . it would mostly go away in two days time.
The Steens Mountain Loop road is normally closed due to deep snow from late November until late May. This is the very last bit of snow left on The Steens in early September 2018.
I loved walking along the path on the edge of Kiger Gorge . . . looking down into amazing and grand scenes of Nature.
Kiger Gorge is full of unique wildlife protected by the State of Oregon - it is a kind of vault of nature . . . untouched.
It is nearly 4000 feet to the bottom of Kiger Gorge. An incredible view.
Magnificent geology.
Steens Mountain wild flower against Kiger Gorge.
I left Kiger Gorge along the Loop Road, hugging the great escarpment. I love this road!
There are several points along the Loop Road where you have a grand view of the Alvord Desert below. Unfortunately, the massive wildfires in the western USA left thick smoke at lower elevations, obscuring what is normally a panoramic view. It is, nevertheless, a wonderful sight.
Craggy cliffs form the eastern edge of the great hinge fault that made Steens Mountain.
Photographically, perhaps the wildfire smoke helps define the rows of sharp ridges . . . .
This is why I came back to Steens Mountain: this is the view I had in my memory for 30 years . . . . now renewed.
Driving along the Steens Loop Road toward Wildhorse Lake.
The road to Wildhorse Lake had marvelous views of Lower Indian Creek Canyon.
The view from the Wildhorse Lake parking area . . . .
At the southwest point of the Loop Road is Wildhorse Lake (aka, Alvord Lake). Magnificent, smoke and all.
Wildhorse Lake. If you look closely you can see a trail to the lake . . . and two small tents on the lakeshore.
Again, the views from the Wildhorse Lake overlook down to the Alvord Desert were fantastic, in spite of the wildfire smoke.
I sat here for quite awhile . . . enjoying the grandeur of this actuality.
I walked out on the Jeep trail I came on . . . a road to the sky.
Back in the camper and along the rim loop road . . . incredible views wherever I looked.
At the southern end of the great Steens hinge fault the road begins to wind down the escarpment.
More ancient, deep glacial valleys fell out of the high plateau on the south end of the Steens.
I stopped often to take in the beautiful scenery more closely.
Majestic.
Ancient trees cling to life and the cliffs.
I turned back to my campground at this point, knowing that I would be driving up from Frenchglen along the south section of the Loop Road the next day. I was hoping that tomorrow would be clearer . . . without the wildfire smoke.
I was treated to a beautiful sunset that evening.
The next morning I woke up to find a camper van had arrived in the campground. As luck would have it, he was a professional photographer from Portland, Oregon. We met and chatted and I took him to the twisted aspen grove for a morning of photography in amazing light.
Scrumptious morning scenes.
I finally figured out why these aspens were twisted: There must have been very deep and heavy snow covering them when there ere very small saplings.
Snow-twisted aspen.
Morning magic light in a grove of twisted aspen . . . magic indeed!
Before heading into Frenchglen, I took a three mile walk to check out this stand of aspen trees.
The grove was fed by a small spring coming out of the hillside.
I had read that sometimes the early Basque shepherds would camp in these groves and carve their names and their home Basque village names on the aspens.
Such a calm and peaceful aspen grove.
I found an old cast iron stovetop among the aspens.
I found the Basque shepherd tree carvings.
These carvings are said to date from the 1870s . . . nearly 150 years old.
There were many of these small isolated aspen groves - each a world of their own. I wanted to explore all of them . . . but couldn't.
I drove down off the mountain to the little village of Frenchglen.
The Frenchglen Hotel is run by the State of Oregon and is an old cowboy rest spot. I had delicious home made lunch here.
When I was last here 30 years ago this was an old cowboy bar and provisions store.
The Frenchglen Mercantile as it is today . . . a general store and souvenir store with a gas pump (thank goodness!).
The interior of the Frenchglen Mercantile had been cleaned up and reorganized since I was here. A few dollar bills were still on the ceiling as a reminder of the drinking games the old cowboys liked to play when it was still a bar.
It is still a very interesting old space . . .
Out front of the Frnchglen Mercantile.
An old shepherds chuckwagon stands near the Frenchglen Mercantile.
Imagine the old time reality of these Basque shepherds.
I grove out on the paved Oregon Route 205 to the southern entrance to Steens Mountain Loop Road. I love this high desert landscape.
Although beautiful, the southern portion of the Loop Road had awful washboarding. I was reduced to 10mph for 10 miles of bone-shaking and teeth-chattering driving. Perhaps they only grade it a few times of the year. I would check before you attempted it.
The road eventually smoothed out and began to wind up into the edges of Steens Mountain. This is Indian Creek. I stopped for a leg stretching.
Such an idyllic mountain stream.
The babbling stream echoed against the canyon walls.
The road climbed back up onto the high Steens ridges. The light today was the best since I arrived . . . the wildfire smoke was beginning to dissipate.
I stopped often to take in the grandeur.
More glacial valleys to the left . . . . and to the right of the Loop Road:
. . . Big Indian Gorge . . . a glacial valley and source of Indian Creek. Magnificent!
In the late afternoon 'magic light' overlooking this glorious glacial gorge. Overwhelming beauty.
These cliffs! This light!
Yellow lichen growing on the sunny side of Big Indian Gorge walls.
The geology here was fantastical!
A rocky spine jutting out above the gorge . . . and a path to follow. This may be my favorite photo from my Steens Mountain experience.
Approaching the spiny outcrop.
I took this photo from a bench next to a sign that said, "A Good Place To Meditate." Gotta Love Oregon!
Looking out to the opposite cliffs of Big Indian Gorge.
I took the path out to the end of the outcrop . . . . stunning . . .
Nearing the tip of the spiny outcrop. I was overwhelmed with the natural beauty.
At the very end was this old scrub tree . . . hanging on.
The view up Big Indian Gorge from the outcrop.
The next outcrop to the south.
I took my time walking back to the camper along this path . . . composing photographs to take advantage of the extraordinary light.
As the sun dropped lower toward the horizon, the colors became richer and richer.
I enjoy taking photos of my camper in these environments . . . it's like pinching myself to prove that it is real!
I could walk on these wild high desert paths forever . . . .
So much fascinating geology everywhere.
Back on the Loop Road taking photos . . .
These grouse stopped to pose for me among the dry bush.
The scenes of vast landscapes of tufted grasses were lit in golden light.
I find this complex scenery incredibly fascinating.
The Loop Road ahead in magic evening light. I loved driving through this grand landscape.
I arrived back on top of the East Rim as the last light was fading.
Big Indian Gorge in amber shadow.
I waited outside in the very cold evening until the red sun sank into the thick wildfire smoke . . . .
My last sunset in The Steens. I left the next morning for Lake Tahoe and more adventures.
I awoke on my last day to glorious light and color in my campground. I decided to take a short walk with my camera before I packed up and left.
I walked out across the Loop Road and over this hill to see what I could see.
What I found was this hidden little valley full of bright yellow aspens.
I miss this place.
Looking out and down the Steens hinge fault to the bank of wildfire smoke below.
I stopped to study the interesting geology on the way back to the campground.
These almost looked hand made!
These appeared to be Scottish thistle, just as I have seen in my years in Scotland.
Surprisingly, I saw very few insects during my entire stay.
Steens wildflowers.
I walked back down the hill to take a last look at my camper among the aspens.
I took a shower at this hand pump every morning . . . there were no people around to see me.
After packing the camper, I stopped to take a photo of my campground sign on the way out.
And then I drove down the Loop Road to Frenchglen and a very long drive.Schreiner's Iris Gardens
Friday, July 6, 2018 at 11:43PM 
I spent a lovely day in early June at the amazing Schreiner's Iris Gardens outside of Keizer, in the beautiful Willamette Valley of Oregon.
The garden holds flowers other than the iris . . . but first . . . the absolutely amazing iris:
If you LOVE flowers as I do, and especially Irises (but not only), you will absolutely love this garden!!!
I did not know there were so many kinds of Irises!
I rode my bike over to the gardens just kin time for the 'magic' evening light . . . and was rewarded!
Yes, there are even BLACK irises!
When I think of Irises these are what I usually picture . . .
. . . I DO NOT usually think of these . . . Gypsy Lobo Iris. WOW!
The heart of an amazing iris!
There were so many flowers to study . . .
A purple/blue iris.
A jumble of white and purple irises.
The combination of colors seemed endless.
An orange iris.
An orange and purple iris.
A purple iris . . .
Purple and white . . .
Many shades of color . . .
The marvelous iris!
The whites were so pure against the purple . . .
A splash of orange at the center . . .
An otherworldly iris!!!
Such a beautiful array of irises.
White, yellow, magenta, and purple . . .wow!
Pattern, color, shape . . .
Delicate and fine . . .
Strong yellow . . .
Pastel yellow and white . . .
Pale yellow, white, green . . .
A garish yellow and magenta iris . . .
Iris and stem . . . so pretty.
Bold color combinations too . . .
Subtle and gentle irises too.
A strange world . . .
I will never tire of photographing the iris flower . . . simply fascinating!NOT ONLY THE IRIS!
There were many other kinds of flowers at Schreiner's Iris Gardens . . . .
Many, many other kinds of flowers and trees . . . many of which I had never seen before.
Such a nicely laid out garden too.
Almost everything in the garden was in bloom all at once!
I rested here for a while . . . very pleasant.
Little colorful sprites . . .
Wherever my gaze would light there would be something fascinating!
A red poppy and exploding pod ball!
Pink Poppies.
Bright orange poppies . . . so cheerful!
A happy arrangement . . .
A cheerful little flower dancing on the wind.
All sorts of flowering and bud configurations here and there.
Ready to explode . . .
The beginnings of one of those purple puff balls . . .
There were many happy bees in the garden!
There were some red flowers too . . . some very, very red!
Reds everywhere.
Bushes full of red flowers.
This bush was loaded with pink flowers . . .
Loaded with flowers . . . and loaded with buds promising continuous flowering into the future.
Lots of yellow flowers around too!
Yellow dogwood.
Yellow/Orange roses smelled wonderfully.
A fluorescent glow from within . . . otherworldly!
Sweet little yellow ferries!
One bush, multiple shades of yellow!
Creamy!
Filtered yellow light falling on a cluster of white flowers.
Perfect.
Deep inside a leafy bush . . . perfect white . . . in a perfect garden.
They obviously know that their garden is a magnet/catnip to photographers . . . and supplied these wonderful props for families. I hated to leave . . . but a BBQ beckoned!Road Trip USA: Oregon Camping - Silver Creek Falls
Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at 11:36AM 
Magnificent South Falls at Oregon's Silver Falls State Park.
Out and about on the back roads and state parks of Oregon in my little camping rig. Life is great.
Only 40 miles from where I have been staying near Keizer, Oregon is Silver Falls State Park.
The western slopes of the Cascades Mountains are extremely damp and lush.
It rains so much here there is moss hanging from the trees.
I arrived on a cool, but dry, afternoon in early June. After setting up camp I went out on my bicycle to explore the well maintained trails.
I have been all over the world . . . and this part of Oregon is by far the GREENEST! Ireland and Scotland are not even close.
There are many miles of bike paths throughout the park, which I rode on day two of my stay. This is the Ridge Trial. I love the look of the orange pine needles covering the trail. 
The Ridge Trail passed through some marvelous old growth forest.
A steep climb brought many views of this old forest.
In many places the forest floor was a carpet of ferns!
A new wonderment at every turn of the bike path.
Trees felled by storms lay about here and there . . . and will decompose to supply nutrients to the next generations of tall trees.
I found myself stopping often just to take in all the beauty. What a bike trail!
A damp stand . . . .
Layers and layers of greenery . . . SOUTH FALLS
After a long bike ride in the forest, the overcast sky began to clear, so I packed up my camp site and drove to the South Falls trailhead. Here, the view of the South Falls from above. I met a nice family from Thailand here. It's a small world.
The path down and behind South Falls offers many fine spots for photography.
A very beautiful waterfall.
The trail goes behind the cascading falls . . . a very impressive sight.
There were a fair number of tourists on this day . . . and we all stood kin silence under the falls listening to the powerful 'song' of the water falling from above.
The bright sun suddenly appeared along the path to the Lower South Falls. . . making the already green environment explode with luminosity. Incredible green!
The picture post card view.
Silver Creek.
A nice bridge view . . . there were many other photographers, most with big tripods, wanting to use the bridge as a vantage point . . . but they were all complaining that people walking on it caused it to shake.
The two-mile path to Lower South Falls followed Silver Creek most of the way.
This is a very busy trail with lots of curious children.
A magical place.
The path rose for quite while before a view of the creek was visible again.
A steep zig-zag of stairs down to the fall's base.
After the winding and steep stairs down, I was rewarded with my first view of Lower South Falls.
The Lower South Falls through the trees.
A beautiful view.
Oregon!
The path here also continued behind the falls.
The roar of the falls became very loud as you neared it.
Another fabulous forest waterfall view.
I got a little wet behind the falls.
Through the mists . . .
Directly behind the falls.
My last glimpse of the Lower South Falls as the sun began to shine again.
Up the steep steps and onto the ridge for a view of the creek in bright sunlight.
I walked back up the path to my camper and left the park. I spent a wonderful three days in a beautiful place. The camping sites and facilities were first rate.Oregon Countryside and Gallon House Bridge
Hops for your beer: Oregon is a major world producer of hops . . . a very labour-intensive crop.
Oregon fields of grain.
This cooperative farmer stopped so I could take this photograph. Thank you.
A small road sign indicated 'Gallon House Bridge' . . . it must be very special, I thought.
And very special it was too. Gallon House Bridge is the oldest continuously used covered bridge in Oregon.
A perfect country road 'find.'
A very well-maintained old bridge.
To walk an Oregon country road in June . . . .
Oregon . . . good people, beautiful countryside.