A Chance of Rain - A Long Weekend in Central OR (Video)


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!

Coldwater Peak


My first hike in the blast zone of Mt Saint Helens. Pulling into a busy parking lot with a food cart and then waiting in line at the visitor center for an $8 day pass did not seem like a promising start to a wilderness experience. A few miles out we were able to ditch the crowds and enjoy this dramatic and surprisingly barren landscape, littered with downed trees that are all eerily pointing in the same direction as a result of the eruption in 1980. What an incredible area. I can't believe it has taken me this long to explore some of it.