Tag: Oregon

Damp and Moldy Dreams. But Still, Hope Remains.

Damn and moldy wishes attached to the Wishing Tree

I took this picture in December to reflect my mood after a national election I still can’t wrap my head around. After a wet fall the wishes attached to the Wishing Tree were damp and moldy and fading, dreams dashed. But then I got home and read the messages and I could see the hope that couldn’t be repressed, the light that would not yield to the darkness.

Some people break my heart, others heal it.

I wish for poems like sparklers or even night constellation fireworks. Kisses. I wish for love kisses.

I wish my sister gets everything she truly deserves. She is my everything. Please!

I wish I could live here so I could see my daughter every day!

I wish to level up!

I wish I wood have a dog

Spelling is not important at the Wishing Tree. You need hope, and hope I will cling to.

First Hike

Upper Latourell Falls

I spent this lovely spring morning on my first hike of the Latourell Falls loop in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge. I wasn’t familiar with this waterfall even though it isn’t far from the others I visit as the trailhead is past where I normally turn off to go back to Portland. They featured the waterfall during an episode of Oregon Field Guide on Oregon Public Broadcasting and I was hooked when they showed the lichens and basalt of the main falls, so I had some fun photographing them this morning with my 100-400 lens. I then took the loop up to Upper Latourell Falls (shown here) before heading back down to the main falls. The return loop takes you down to the base of the falls where a group of photographers was huddled with their tripods around a small bridge. I didn’t stop for pictures and just admired the view instead, I’ll head there first on my next visit.

An absolutely lovely morning, I don’t know how I missed out on this hike having been in Oregon for 20 years now but I’ll be back soon. I’m always a little nervous about new hikes in the Gorge as some of them I can’t do because of my fear of heights, but this one was easy (I’d give it a 2 out of 10 on the Boolie Utter Panic Index). There is an optional loop that takes you onto a little outcropping above the main falls, which I would rate a 10 out of 10, but you don’t have to go anywhere near it if you don’t want to (and I didn’t).

Me & the Pup

Our dog Ellie poses in front of a tree on a sunny spring morning in Portland, Oregon

I was up earlier than normal for a Saturday so Ellie and I headed out for our walk in the beautiful light of a sunny spring morning. At Irving Park I took a self-portrait with her even if one of us is only represented in shadow. The dog park is on the other side of the tree, and when we leave it to head south into the neighborhood we head out to my left and her right, down one of four streets of her choosing. She gave me a nice long walk on this morning, a lovely start to the weekend.

A Sidewalk Conversation

Tiles mark on address on 12th Avenue in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon

“What would you like to know?” asked the Oracle.

“What year will I die?”

“The answer is at your feet,” she said.

I looked down as numbers suddenly appeared in the concrete. “2146? Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure!”

“It’s just that it’s 130 years from now, and I’m already 50.”

“Ah, well, you’ll be mostly robot by then.”

“I see. Will my death be peaceful?”

“For you or the dinosaur?”

“What?”

“I’ve said too much!”

A Surprise Visit From an Old Friend

An American pika peeks out from a moss-covered rock in a talus field near Upper Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge

I left early this morning to hike in one of my favorite spots, the short trail in the Columbia River Gorge from Horsetail Falls to Upper Horsetail Falls and on to Oneonta Falls. I was mostly interested in shooting video of the waterfalls, with some photos too, but stopped to shoot this moss-covered rock in a talus field. My heart filled with joy when I noticed a familiar face looking back at me, an American pika that I hadn’t seen when I stopped (it’s on the far left edge of the frame in the middle, looking straight at me). The location might seem surprising if you know much about pikas, as I was close to sea level and pikas normally live high in the mountains. But there is a population here in the Gorge, they live at the lowest elevation of any pikas in the United States.

I had seen them in the Gorge several times before, once near Multnomah Falls and a couple of times on the way to Angel’s Rest, but I had passed by this spot a number of times and never seen (or heard) them. I always look when I pass a talus field, I can’t help myself, pikas are always a treat to watch. I hadn’t even brought my 100-400mm lens on this hike as I don’t usually see much wildlife on this trail and I was just taking a quick hike while it was still cool (it was unusually hot today and is going to bake tomorrow). I wouldn’t have had time to get out the lens anyway, I didn’t see the pika for long, but I did hear it calling out several times as it moved about invisibly under the rocks.