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Archive 2013 · Oregon Trip

garyroach
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Oregon Trip

I'm starting to plan a trip to Oregon for 2014. I'm reading the Photographing Oregon and Photographing California books. But, as always, input from FMers has been incredibly valuable in planning my previous trips. So far, this is what I'm thinking.

9/2 Fly to Portland
9/3 Cannon Beach
9/4 Newport
9/5 Bandon
9/6 Crescent City
9/7 Crescent City / Drive down the Redwood Hwy probably as far as the Drury Scenic Hwy.
9/8 Crater Lake
9/9 Bend
9/10 Timberline Lodge / Mt. Hood
9/11 Drive back to Portland by way of the Columbia River Scenic Hwy 30
9/12 Fly Home

What I need help with are places to shoot, places to stay, scenic highways, and filling in the details in general.

Suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks.

Dec 15, 2013 at 07:41 PM

Tim Knutson
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Oregon Trip

Your driving past proxy falls, and tokatee falls.
Canon beach down town is a tourist nightmare, go south a bit, just north of Mo's, easier parking, way less people. Personally I wouldn't get too excited about timberline.
Have fun, there is a lot of country to see.

Dec 15, 2013 at 07:48 PM

garyroach
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Oregon Trip

Thanks, Tim. Do you know if there are scenic highways between Crater Lake and Timberline?

Dec 15, 2013 at 07:52 PM

savingspaces
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Oregon Trip

garyroach wrote:
Thanks, Tim. Do you know if there are scenic highways between Crater Lake and Timberline?

Besides 5 and 99, any road is scenic in that part of Oregon, in my book. Just 'avoid" highways on your GPS and you will have a fantastic time.

Dec 15, 2013 at 11:22 PM

garyroach
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Oregon Trip

Is early September a good time to visit as far as weather and crowds?

Dec 16, 2013 at 12:30 AM

savingspaces
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Oregon Trip

garyroach wrote:
Is early September a good time to visit as far as weather and crowds?

Yes, September is fine - crowds? There are no crowds compared to the east coast. Everything is mellow and a lot less people.

Dec 16, 2013 at 01:21 AM

Dave R.
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Oregon Trip

garyroach wrote:
Is early September a good time to visit as far as weather and crowds?
Early September is perfect. Many of the schools have resumed their role so the family vacations are for the most part over. The weather that time of year generally speaking is the best of the entire year. Temps can reach mid 90's but usually in the low to mid 80's except for the coast. All bets are off anytime you're at the Pacific shoreline.

Dec 16, 2013 at 09:11 AM

DCJ50
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Oregon Trip

My wife and I went in late April, early May, a few years back for 10 days. We started in Portland, up to St. Helens, then over to Astoria, down the entire coast to Crescent City, Crater Lake and then through wine country before flying home out of Portland. 10 days was not nearly enough, we felt like Clark Griswold when his family stopped at the Grand Canyon.

No crowds anywhere when we were there, except for Cannon Beach and Tillamook. The drive down Highway 101 was serene, and scenic -- tons of scenic overlooks. The logging trucks don't slow down for anyone though. Seems like there was a state park every 100 yards along 101, clean and stocked restrooms too. Our favorite places were Ecola State Park, Heceta Head Lighthouse, 3 Capes Scenic Loop, Pacific City, & Bandon. Tillamook not so much.

The scenic loop out to Crater Lake was one of my absolute favorites, Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway. I probably saw 10 cars on the 170 mile loop.

Before we went, my wife requested catalogs from their tourism website. They were delivered quickly and were incredible guides for our entire trip.

Actually, our trip to Oregon got me into photography. I wish I could go back.

Dec 16, 2013 at 09:19 AM

andyjaggy82
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Oregon Trip

That sounds like fun, though a bit stressful and hectic going to a different location every single night, but we all have different tastes with our traveling. I would personally get rid of Cannon beach and tack on another night in Bandon. Canon Beach really isn't all that scenic compared to your other options.

Dec 16, 2013 at 01:13 PM

garyroach
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Oregon Trip

This won't be a family vacation. Just me seeing a part of the country I've never seen before and doing some photography. My trips are always road trips once I get to an area. But, I do prefer to stay a couple nights in a location before moving on. This trip doesn't lend itself to that though. Since this is my first trip to Oregon I'd like to see as much as possible. Hopefully I can come back some day and spend more time in the spots I like. I'm also squeezing the trip in between Labor Day and Sept. 13th. I'll only be driving 2-3 hours between stops so I'll have plenty of time for photos. At least, that's my reasoning.

Edited on Dec 16, 2013 at 02:28 PM · View previous versions

Dec 16, 2013 at 02:08 PM

Dustin Gent
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Oregon Trip

Id add to the list Toketee Falls, Smith Rock, Painted Hills, Cape Kiwanda as well.

Dec 16, 2013 at 02:23 PM

jdc562
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Oregon Trip

garyroach wrote:
... I do prefer to stay a couple nights in a location before moving on. This trip doesn't lend itself to that though. ...I'll only be driving 2-3 hours between stops so I'll have plenty of time for photos. At least, that's my reasoning.

Those are pretty optimistic driving times, especially in the second half of your trip. Some of these roads are narrow and winding--expect to be slowed in places by trucks, giant RVs, and pokey, spacey lookie-loos who don't pull over for you to pass. The schedule does not leave much time to consider light changes and camera angles at the photo destinations. Since this is just a scoping trip, maybe that does not matter too much.

However, the best scenes in Oregon are the many small vignettes formed by the combination of geology, rich vegetation, streams, etc. If you zoom from major location to major location, you will miss the best that Oregon has to offer. You really won't see the real Oregon at all.

For the portion of your trip along the coast, check the wave reports when you arrive in Portland. In the fall, the big waves are generated 1000's of miles away, not by local weather conditions. If the waves are big, a major stop should be at Shore Acres, near Cape Arago and Coos Bay, just north of Bandon. The shoreline at Shore Acres sends big waves roaring spectacularly high into the air, dwarfing nearby people, fir trees, etc. In addition, bigger waves will create many opportunities along the coast for the fog-like long-exposure shots, if you like that sort of thing. The nearby conifer forests can provide vignettes of ferns, mushrooms, trees dwarfed by being in the dark understory, miniature gardens growing out of tree stumps, etc. But don't expect to find these when zipping by in your car.

If you like wildlife in your photography, the elk herd near the coastal marshes at Reedsport will be in their prime when you pass there. There are several viewing areas where
the elk seem to be fairly accustomed to people and come into good camera range.

It can be cold, windy, and wet/damp along the coast in September, so bring the appropriate clothes and camera protection just in case. You'll need clothes of wind-block, fleece, and wool, not cotton.

Edited on Dec 16, 2013 at 04:15 PM · View previous versions

Dec 16, 2013 at 03:44 PM

garyroach
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Oregon Trip

Thanks for the replies. I wish I had more time to spend. I do plan to stop along the way whenever a photo op catches my eye. And I'm well aware how fast time goes by when you are caught up in shooting. But, I'm pretty good at getting the shot then moving on down the road. Unfortunately I'm getting too old for hiking, so those locations that require more than a short hike from the car are out. As I get more information, hopefully I'll have a better idea about how long to spend in certain locations. I'm always amazed by how much my plans tend to change from the initial planning stages to the actual trip itself.

Dec 16, 2013 at 04:14 PM

BryanSwan
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Oregon Trip

garyroach wrote:
Thanks, Tim. Do you know if there are scenic highways between Crater Lake and Timberline?

There's really only one efficient option for traveling between Bend and Mount Hood (Highway 97 to Highway 26). You'll pass Smith Rock and the Crooked River Gorge, and Lake Billy Chinook isn't too far off the highway either, but other than that it's a fairly bland corridor unless you get some distance off the highway. The Painted Hills are well worth a detour if you have time, but it's a solid 90 minutes each way from Highway 97 in Redmond. Bend to Mount Hood only takes about 2 hours though, so it should be manageable to get there and back and still have plenty of time to get up to Hood for sunset.

If you wanted to detour over the mountains and then back to Hood from the west side, you're looking at a drive that will take easily twice as long, but the scenery will be arguably better. Something like this for example would route you past Proxy Falls, Sahalie and Koosah Falls, Detroit Lake, and through Silver Falls State Park en route to Timberline. Much longer drive, but many more options.

Dec 18, 2013 at 12:04 AM

DejanS
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Oregon Trip

Make sure you understand the OR State Park beach hrs...you can be locked in if doing sunsets.

Dejan

Dec 19, 2013 at 08:07 AM

Side1Cincy
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Oregon Trip

I'd add Trillium Lake to the list. That is definitely a place to go while in Portland (or Mt Hood, depending where you are)

Dec 19, 2013 at 09:45 AM

c5gowin
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Oregon Trip

garyroach wrote:
Thanks, Tim. Do you know if there are scenic highways between Crater Lake and Timberline?

Gary, there are some good photo ops around the Bend, OR area (between Crater Lake and Timberline). See some of Mark Metternich's recent posts. I did a similar trip last June, but included a trip out to the Palouse. We did 2201 miles from Saturday to Saturday and I had to work 2 1/2 days of that week in Portland. It was an awesome trip. One that I want to do over with more time for shooting at each location.

Mark

Dec 19, 2013 at 08:59 PM

Dustin Garrett
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Oregon Trip

Anyone want to back me up with cape kiwanda? In my opinion, that place smokes cannon beach outta the water (ocean). But I'm also easily annoyed with tourist towns like cannon beach, hehe

Dec 19, 2013 at 09:32 PM

DCJ50
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Oregon Trip

geezfools wrote:
Anyone want to back me up with cape kiwanda? In my opinion, that place smokes cannon beach outta the water (ocean). But I'm also easily annoyed with tourist towns like cannon beach, hehe

Pacific City/Cape Kiwanda was my favorite stop. Beautiful and quiet. The Pelican Pub Brewpub was worth the stop, great beer.

Dec 20, 2013 at 09:11 AM

gdanmitchell
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Oregon Trip

Tim Knutson wrote:
Your driving past proxy falls...

When that happens to your driving proxy, just stand it back up again... ;-)

Dec 20, 2013 at 10:53 AM

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