Central Oregon roamings, the end - buildings of past and present

Throughout my 5 days driving around mostly in solitude on backroads throughout Central Oregon I mixed in my travel time with hunting for a favorite subject of mine: abandoned buildings or historic buildings being preserved. It made the journey time between other photographic attractions a joy!

The first thing that jumped out at me was a stunning abandoned Locust Grove Church, built and opened in 1895.

(above: Wheeler County/Fossil; Crook County/Prineville; Sherman County/Moro)Then as the week progressed I continued by hitting many county courthouses - I love the rich historic old buildings that shine in the smaller population counties east of the Cascades! I wish more of "the big cities" would have their old original courthouses still like you see so much more in the Inland NW.

Toss in a number of abandoned homesteads here and there, and I had a nice collection of buildings to bring home with me! Thanks for letting me share all aspects of my Central Oregon trip, as this marks the end of my talking about that trip. A much more enjoyable way for me to share how much I enjoyed the trip than to just toss out a few locations and photos that I visited! Now I need to get on with "all of the other places I've been since June" - stay tuned!

Central Oregon roamings, Part 1 - White River Falls

There is no way to briefly cover the wide assortment of adventures and locations I managed to fit in to a 4+ day photography roadtrip to Central Oregon this week. So why not break it all up into many segments to give due respect for every area of the natural world I was so pleased to visit?!

My first full day had me heading south from The Dalles, OR and roaming randomly planned back roads off the main highways with a goal to be hiking and photographing in the Painted Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument some 12 hours later. Lots of time! I found wonderful abandoned structures such as churches and homesteads which I'll share in a later post here. My main first area was to barrel down into the Deschutes River Canyon near Shearer Falls, then up into the Tygh Valley where the White River flows through.

And here also lies a special hidden treasure of the Oregon State Park system, White River Falls State Park (http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_36.php). Here the White River leaves the flat valley land and dives into a stunning canyon on it's final approach toward the Deschutes River. What a joyous location to be lucky to have morning clouds to give nice details to the water and canyon walls.

The short hike down 1/4 mile to the river below the falls takes you to a wonderful relic of history, an abandoned old hydroelectric power plant which was built in 1910 and supplied Sherman and Wasco Counties with power until 1960. I could have spent a full hour just photographing stuff around this old building! But I had plans for heading east to both the Clarno and Painted Hills units of the fossil beds...so I'll save those for next and leave you with previews of White River Falls, my first main stop!

Next up, Clarno after a nice drive to Maupin, up Bakeoven Road, down through Antelope, and east across the John Day River to the Clarno unit!

Photographing pipes...pipe organs that is

Many of you might recall my involvement in photographing all of the historically significant pipe organs in the Puget Sound region for the Organ Historical Society's 2008 National Convention which was held in Seattle. My enjoyment of this project simply keeps growing as now I get to see my images used throughout the CD being made of the music from that convention. Having not been in town to go to the convention myself last summer, this will be a wonderful product for me to finally get to hear the stunning music the organists pumped through these pipes! Organists from around the world were in town for this event.

This summer's convention is based in the Cleveland, Ohio area. But there is another local event happening and I too am working on that program, hopes will have it. I'll know here shortly. If you wonder where some of these organs are located I'd be happy to share!

Spring at the Washington State capitol

It got a late start but spring is finally showing off at our state capitol in Olympia. Finally after a few tries over the past years I timed a visit there for when the cherry trees were in full bloom. Victory! The grounds in the courtyard between the Legislative Building (aka capitol come building) and the buildings of the House and Senate were also finely landscaped with literally thousands of daffodils. Other areas to the NE of the Legislative Building had rows of tulips that were just emerging and would offer fine photography opportunities in another week or two in the morning hours.

After well over an hour photographing around the courtyard I did my typical visit to interiors of buildings and also used more time than previous visits in the Temple of Justice where the State Supreme Court resides. Something about that building really draws me. Maybe it is because there is hardly anyone in there compared to the zoo that is happening under the capitol dome outside of the legislature rooms!

(photos: Washington State capitol in spring; interior of where the House Reps meet; interior areas of the Temple of Justice)

Snoqualmie Valley Trail

So, today it snowed. Again!!?? I guess we were spoiled with six weeks of un-winter like weather since the early January floods. No rain to speak of, and many days of sun and even 60* temps! Not to worry, I always turn to my old companion when desiring some outdoor time close to home during any month of the year, including snow. The Snoqualmie Valley Trail is a gem of the rails-to-trails network, run by King County Parks, and there are no fewer than four trail access points within 10 minutes of this part of the Snoqualmie Valley. Tomorrow? Cold morning...and I'll be up on the trail for my morning run! I was pleased to be a major part of the 2008 published brochure put out by the Duvall Chamber of Commerse highlighting the trail and using about 25 of my photographs as part of the layout. If you don't have a copy of it, look for it in places like REI and other retailers on the greater Eastside, or in city halls near you and get out to enjoy watching spring come to life along this part of the Eastern Puget Sound Foothills!

(photos: brochure layout for the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, 2008)

SR 202 washout and airlift

Sadly, one of the main state highways in the Snoqualmie Valley, SR 202, became the scene of earmark video and images seen around the region and even outside of our state on Thursday afternoon 1/8/09. Not only did SR 202 have about a 90' section collapse and wash out, but the resulting rapid flow into the area homes ended in an emergency airlift of five or six members of the valley community. I'd like to personally thank every member of our regions emergency personnel and DOT agencies for all of the hard work put in 24-hrs a day helping make this flood event one throughout Washington pass without loss of life. And especially a thank you to the skills granted the fine individuals with the King County Sheriff staff flying Guardian Two and able to perform airlifts when things go from bad to worse.

Being capable of doing amazing things like these images only begin to share...we all should extend our thanks to them. Also do not forget to say thank you to your own neighbors who cared to ask you if you were doing OK.

(photos: scenes from east of Fall City on SR 202 showing aid personnel, washed out areas of the highway, airlift operations, etc...)

Too much water...a record flood on the Snoqualmie River

What a way to have the kids ease back into the school deal after an almost three week Christmas break. Monday a half day of school due to melting new snow, and one full day Tuesday. Now massive snows of the past three weeks have been flushed through Fall City and many surrounding communities from the Cascade Mountains runoff of melting snow and up to 17" of rainfall in under 48 hours at some mountain remote gauges. I've been busy trying to track what events have been occurring in our community, and also track what to do with yet three more days missed from school Wed-Fri this week! The Snoqualmie River near Carnation crested yesterday morning at 62.31 feet, a full foot higher than any previously recorded crest of the river since 1932. That is over 8 feet above flood stage across the entire valley! At Snoqualmie Falls the peak flow rate was over 60,300 cubic feet per second of water. Flood stage is 20,000cfs and most people who visit the falls see 2000-3000cfs or less. As I get through events of the past few days I'll continue to update things with what photographic journalism I got around to seeing - too much to share in just one post! (photos top-to-bottom: Welcome to Fall City and SR 202 bridge; Neal Road by King County Park; Fall City Grill on SR 203; SR 202 just east of Fall City before the washout occurred)