Saturday, November 28, 2015

Skinning is Winning


I got out for a tour yesterday and was fortunate enough to be able to skin up the East side of White River to about 8000'.  The East wind was honking and I was more or less driven back down a little bit to where I could tuck in below the ridge and wait for the Golden Hour to capture a few shots of the Sunset and the commanding view that you get from there!  The spindrift that was being thrown over the ridge felt like being sandblasted with tiny ice pellets, but it was getting caught up in the setting sun and was casting an incredible halo.  By using the flash and directing it with my hand and goggle lenses I was able to light up the ice crystals, giving it the strange appearance in this photo, almost looking like meteors or star stacks.  I stayed until the sun actually dropped below the horizon, scrambling from spot to spot in the waning moments of light trying to get as many perspectives as were possible before it disappeared.
Once it was gone, I put my skis on and started down, surprised by the pockets of super fun windpack that were available here and there, slashing a turn or two wherever I could.  The runnels from the rain on snow event of last week were mostly dried out and made for a fun, consistent surface all the way down to the bottom of Mitchell Creek where I could duck back into the resort and head back to the truck to end a great day! 

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Fly Fishing at Detroit Lake

Fly Fishing is an excercise in patience.  Ryan and his dog Big Head excercising some patience at Sunset at a much depleted Detroit Lake.  Hopefully with some of the recent rains, it will begin to help refill these reservoirs.  Amazingly the "boat docks" at the State Park were hundreds of yards from the feeble flow that passed for a river trickling into the Lake.  The advantage of a low water year is that you can check out the holes you would normally fish, and understand the actual topography of them and know just how deep they actually are.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Sandy River Valley


 
This time of year is often about changing weather.  These shots are from Sandy looking across the Sandy River Valley.  I sat in my puffy coat and drank coffee from my thermos, waited for the light to change, for the fog to lift, and for the feeling to come back into my fingers so I could take these shots.  A cold and foggy morning eventually broke into a sunny day which was pouring rain by the end of the day.  Gotta love Oregon.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Triple Falls

The waterfalls in the Gorge are again thumping away with all the recent fresh snow and rain.  After such an incredibly dry Summer it is so good to see water back in the system.  Take a little time out of your day to be grateful for our ample water in this region.  This is Triple Falls in the upper Oneonta Gorge...go see it for yourself!