Pacific Northwest – Playin’ Jazz

For those of you that have read the “Savor the Experience” posts, you have met Bobby. Bobby is an old friend who I reconnected with after 20 years through the love of photography. We are both at a point in life where we have the ability and desire to sneak off for a few days to explore and capture images of what we find along the way.

Part of what makes these adventures work is our common passion for capturing those amazing things around us, but also a willingness to do what it takes to be in “the right place at the right time”. That often means getting up well before sunset, camping wherever it takes to be where we need to be and dealing with less-than-optimum weather which can either make the images spectacular or completely useless. And, our shared sense of humor makes for some truly hilarious moments as we laugh at ourselves and each other. We do hold firm to the rule that stories we tell must at least be 10% true!
What also makes these trips work is our differences. Bobby has the gift of gab, a gene which doesn’t reside in my brain…but I listen well! I am a planner. I research everything about these trips to include the times/locations of sunrises, sunsets, moonrises and moonsets and where we need to be to optimize these natural phenomena. Bobby just goes with the flow. Bobby is naturally creative and artistically/musically talented, I am not…I observe and emulate.

It is Bobby’s musical talent that set the stage for this trip. Despite all my extensive research, the one variable that we couldn’t control in the Pacific Northwest was the weather. So as the rain began to overrun the agenda, we used Bobby’s term and just decided to just “play jazz”…go where the song took us and see what we can find.

Prior to picking up Bobby in Seattle, I had a few hours to kill. So, a detour into Mount Rainier was in order. The road that passes east to west through the southern part of the park is loaded with water flowing off the mountain. The canyons are lush with vegetation and spectacular outcrops. With only a few hours to play, I picked an area and made the best of it. This was the last week in October, the park was starting to close down sections for the winter so I only saw a handful of cars and had this area I chose to capture to myself.

Bobby arrived in Seattle that night. We spent the night just north of Seattle and caught an early morning ferry across the Puget Sound from Edmonds to Kingston and headed west. What is amazing about Olympic National Park and the Washington Peninsula is the ability to watch the ferry depart Port Angeles for Victoria B.C. and 30 minutes later stand at the top of the mountain near the tree line and eye-level with glaciers.

After capturing a few shots around the visitor center at Hurricane Ridge, we headed back down to sea level to grab some lunch in Port Angeles. With plenty of daylight left, we continued west along Highway 101 for a couple quick roadside stops to enjoy Crescent Lake then on to Rialto Beach, near Mora, Washington.

The hopes of capturing an amazing sunset at Rialto beach were quickly dispelled by overcast skies but that didn’t prevent a great walk north along the black-sand beach to find some great driftwood deposits and interesting rock formations.

The national park campground near Mora was pretty much a ghost town as the season wound down. I modified the truck for camping with a platform/mattress in the bed of the truck and another in the back seat. While not quite a four-star hotel, listening to the rain on the truck going to sleep is a treat, and staying dry was much appreciated!

Day two can only be described with three words…rain, rain and more rain! So, forget the beach sunrise at Ruby Beach and head to the Hoh Rain Forest. Why not, it’s supposed be raining there anyway, right? While we expected to find the lush forest, rich vegetation and plenty of moisture, we didn’t expect to find a small herd of Roosevelt Elk right along the road and happy to pose for the pictures.

As we worked our way down the coast, we got a small break in the rain and found a roadside turnout with a short trail down to the beach. This turned out to be a nice find with the forest going down the cliff to the sand. The tide was up limiting beach access but created a memorable moment!

We had big plans to stop at several locations along the coast and spend the night at Cape Disappointment, WA and hit sunrise at the shipwreck in Fort Stevens State Park, OR. The rain, however, was relentless with no real hope of relief in sight so we cruised down to Tillamook for dinner and ice cream. Then we decided to play jazz and ventured inland and away from the coastal rain to spend the night east of Portland to preposition for an early morning in the Columbia River Gorge. It didn’t disappoint!!

Day Three…the overcast skies which had plagued us up to this point provided a nice even light to capture the falls. Summer wildfires forced the closure of many of the falls along the south side of the Columbia River Gorge but fortunately we were able to get to Latourell Falls and Bridal Veil Falls early before the crowds arrived. Another unexpected treat was finding the autumn leaves on the trees and starting to fall.

Multnomah Falls was accessible, but the crowd had grown by the time we got there so we decided to “play jazz” and press on for a journey around Mt Hood. A turnout of opportunity lead us to a stop at Starvation Creek…another wonder waterfall and photo opportunity!!

We enjoyed the drive around Mt Hood. Funny, with the cloudy skies, we never actually saw Mt Hood but happened upon Trillium Lake…bucket list item for a clear day in the future. We also found an eclectic BBQ joint for an early dinner.

Day Four, the final day, was an early morning venture back out to Multnomah, the granddaddy of falls in the Gorge, this time without the crowds. It is everything you read about!

One final note. Photography is a sport of opportunity and focus. I think we are all a little guilty of losing track of things going on around us. I have a mental checklist to remember to put the truck in park before getting out to capture a shot…yes, I have forgotten! With all the time along the coast, it wasn’t a matter of if, but when, someone got wet. The beauty is capturing those special moments!! 😊