Two friends and I made a trip to Bend, Oregon last weekend, a Pacific Northwest outdoor mecca I had never visited before, which is weird, because that North Central Oregon locale is My Kind of Place. There are a b'zillion trails and beautiful, snowy peaks in the Bend area, so that one can hike, mountain bike, or climb by day. And by night, Bend has enough brewpubs to keep a thirsty outdoor guy or gal smiling for a lifetime.
It is a six-hour drive from Seattle to Bend, so the area is much further afield than I prefer to travel when I have a hankerin’ to play outside. I try to be aware of my carbon footprint, you see, so North Central Oregon is not a place I’ll visit too often. But, if you look at the pictures I’m posting today...well, you’ll perhaps understand why this photographer does hope one day to go back.
I shot the above image on Sunday on the rim of the summit crater of South Sister, which, at 10, 358 feet of elevation, is the third highest peak in Oregon. The first picture, below, is sunset that same evening in Bend.
The other images were made Monday morning at Smith Rock, a place that one could spend years and years photographing and still barely do it justice.
What a weekend!
