Distance / Elevation

Heavy rain in the forecast from Bellingham to San Francisco and as far East as Boise put an end to our plans for a four-day backpacking trip. But we all had already put in for the time off so we drove around Central Oregon, checking the forecast every 6-8 hours and going wherever it didn't look like it was about to rain. This strategy took us to several areas I'd never seen before including the Deschutes River Canyon (outside of Maupin), the Crooked River Gorge, the Criterion Ranch, and a new secret car camping spot a few miles beyond the Oregon Badlands — and kept us mostly dry during our long weekend.

I shot this one with a 12 year old “toy” camera. I didn’t expect much but I actually liked the image that I got from it!

Our poorly planned and woefully executed weekend tour of Northern Central Oregon took us through six dusty towns with more tumbleweeds than people and the first working payphones I have seen in almost a decade. We made it out to the former Rajneesh settlement (it's now a Young Life Camp with a gate so there's only so much that can be seen), and then to the Palisades Rocks to look for fossils (though arid now, we learned from the park signs that the area once had a similar in climate to modern day Panama, with banana trees and elephants and rhinoceros). That night we car camped outside of Mitchell and woke up in time to watch the sun rise over the Painted Hills -- with almost no one else there. Later, we hiked up Sutton Mountain which surprised us with 100-miles views in every direction and then drove back to Portland through the some of most powerful winds I've ever experienced.

This is not an area that many people visit, which makes it all the more intriguing. The landscapes are full of impossible rock formations and are totally different from anything on this other side of the Cascade Range. Plus, there's more sunshine and less snow this time of year. Between this trip and others (Wallowas, Steens, Alvord Desert), we've really only made a dent in what's out there and I'm eager to see more of this beautiful state.

Also, I shot my first roll of Super 8 film while we were at the Painted Hills. Check it out: