A life long friend and I will set out on a short road trip. We first met in the 1970’s with fixation on 8x10 view cameras and now we share a fondness for the Leica M11 Monochrom. I’m still partially fixed in the film realm in that I’ll be taking a Mamiya 7ii, 45mm & 150mm lenses and a Fuji GS645. Once we are in Oregon, we will be taking day trips to the coast & Columbia River. Any suggestions as to where to stop along the way would be appreciated.
If you have time for some detours between Denver and SLC, there's the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Colorado National Monument that are both worth stops. Likewise all the amazing stuff in southern Utah. I'm biased there though, I keep going back to Utah at least twice a year for hiking and photography.
The Rat wrote:
If you have time for some detours between Denver and SLC, there's the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Colorado National Monument that are both worth stops. Likewise all the amazing stuff in southern Utah. I'm biased there though, I keep going back to Utah at least twice a year for hiking and photography.
We thought that Utah might be special.. Where would you suggest visiting from Salt Lake/Ogden? Thanks in advance…
bwcolor wrote:
We thought that Utah might be special.. Where would you suggest visiting from Salt Lake/Ogden? Thanks in advance…
I'm not that familiar with the SLC area, but can vouch for Timpanogos Cave (if you're passing through during seasons when it's open) and Antelope Island.
If you have a little more time, I recommend getting off I-70 towards Hanksville, then driving through Capitol Reef national park. From there go down Highway 12 through Boulder and Escalante, which is the most beautiful paved road that I've ever driven on. After that you can make your way back towards the interstate.
Other options along that drive, if you have extra time: Goblin Valley state park, Grand Staircase Escalante national monument, Kodachrome state park, Bryce Canyon national park, Zion national park, and Coral Pink Sand Dunes state park. That's just scratching the surface though. You can take as much or as little time as you want, maybe make notes for your next visit.
I used to live a few miles from Hillsboro. Right where highways 12 splits from 26 west of Portland there are marshlands that are (were?) rarely visited. You may need rubber boots to explore them effectively.
Sauvie Island during the fall color season is great.
Skyline Road above Beaverton has several patches of clearcut logging that open direct telephoto views of Mount Hood.
Washington Park in the West Hills can be very rewarding on cold days when there is frost on the ground.
The Saint John bridge can be photogenic at sunset when the sun is in the right position.
Years ago all the crowds went to Ecola State Park and completely ignored Cape Kiwanda, which IMO is the most photogenic location on the northern 1/3 of the Oregon Coast. But I hear that it is a mess of people these days.
There is always the Japanese maple. I never bothered to shoot it in the 14 years I lived there. It felt like taking a picture of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, done thousands of times per day.
During fall color season driving through the Willamette Valley can yiked interesting opportunities when the color of the vines turns.
I share The Rat's opinion on southern Utah. That is a place where you can spend months in perhaps the densest area of photographic opportunities in the United States.
Well, lots of time spent driving both ways. The government shutdown made air travel more questionable. The end result..I’ll never again do a long road trip. On the positive side, I got to hang out with my friend and he lives in a beautiful area.. worth seeing. I think the next trip will be back in Asia with most days spent walking.
