Monday, May 31, 2010

Oregon Road Trip - Day 4


Clearwater Falls


Toketee Falls

After Toketee Falls we decided to find Umpqua Hot Springs. Well worth it and a fine ending to our Oregon road trip!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Oregon Road Trip - Day 3


Crater Lake
In my opinion this place has one of the most mind blowing views ever. The first time I saw Crater Lake I thought I was on another planet. As you drive up what appears the same as any other forested mountainside there is nothing to prepare you for a 20.6 sq mi lake filling a 2,148 foot deep caldera to a depth of 1,943 feet with clear deep blue water. It's kind of overwhelming for a photo so I decided to ask this guy if I could take a photo of him painting. He was super cool and we chatted for a bit. Turns out Jay makes some pretty cool jewelry, as evidenced by the cool wedding ring his daughter showed us.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Oregon Road Trip - Day 2


Odell Lake
Apparently Shelley owns a lake?! We found a great campsite at Trapper Creek Campground because there were still snow drifts nearly blocking access to the last two available sites. Thankfully this put us away from the noise of every other site filled with trailer and boat parties. But the nearby freight trains waking us in the middle of the night were quite a puzzling sound at first.


Crack In The Ground
Had to ask at the local gas and mini mart in order to locate the sign indicating directions to this interesting find. Though Christmas Valley itself was quite an interesting find. I watched a guy pull up on his chopper with a black lab perched on the tank like it was nothing. There is also a nearby airport but the only two planes parked there had flat tires. Apparently it does get used as there was an additional plane parked there when we left.


The Crack, as it is known locally, is 2 miles long, 10 to 70 feet deep and varies in width from 2 to 50 feet across. In places you can see parallel cracks through gaps in the rock. According to geologists The Crack formed recently as 1000 years ago when volcanic activity caused rock on the southeast side to sink leaving the northwest side in place. Normally these kind of things fill in with dirt over time but this one has remained deep enough to find snow in places during the summer. Allegedly pioneers escaped the summer desert heat and would have picnics in The Crack, even making ice cream from the snow.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Oregon Road Trip - Day 1


Castle Crags State Park
Still in California I decided to check out the scenic overlook this morning hoping to catch a glimpse of Mt. Shasta. No such luck as the morning fog was quite thick but I did luck out with a peek of the crags.


Salt Creek Falls
There are so many sweet waterfalls in Oregon I had no idea where to start. This one was basically the first one we saw a sign for. I felt like a kid in a candy store photographing this one.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Friday, May 21, 2010

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Image #40,000!!!


Wow!!! 40,000 pictures shot on my Canon 40D!
Shot while photographing the Smart Green Cities conference at Stanford University.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Slots In The Silver Reef




(l to r) myself, Sara, James, Raina
photo credit: Dave