Hood River Marina

Another view of the marina, also from last week. I had given up on photographing this marina after multiple attempts last year, but was drawn to the marina on Thursday by the lack of blue in the sky or water, which I thought was an improvement on the scene. I've got an ideal photo view of the marina in my mind, and I figure that if I drive out here often enough, I'm bound to see it in that perfect light one of those times!

Also, a blog format note:'Next month is shaping up to be a very busy month with our move starting on Monday. We are only moving a few miles away, but I know I'll be too busy to blog daily for a while. Right now my goal is to get back to daily blogging in January, and to post when I can in December. We are heading back through Hood River this weekend, and up to Gifford Pinchot National Forest for a Christmas tree. Hope I'll have some photos from that trip to share next week. 

Clouds and Mist

 Another of my stops in the gorge, this time at Viento State Park. I love driving through the gorge in the winter months because it's often so misty like this.  Last year we stopped at a Starbucks for a cup of tea, and they had just switched their tea brands.  The new green tea was called Emporor's Clouds and Mist, and we thought that was the greatest name, because it was a cloudy and misty day, just like this one.  So somehow Clouds and Mist has stuck with me as a description of the gorge. 

Misty Falls

Continuing with my photo pit stops as I made my way into the gorge last week. Wahkeena Falls are just west of Multnomah. I've read there are 77 falls in the gorge, mostly on the Oregon side, and I believe it! Very pretty on a misty day like this, and actually much more vibrantly colorful than my camera captured, especially the golds and reds.

Wet Leaves

We dried out over the weekend, but on Thursday in the gorge it was still pretty wet. This photo of big leaf maple leaves was taken from the same location as yesterday's Multnomah Falls shot: the parking lot.

Multnomah Falls in the Mist

A very misty drive into the gorge this week to finish setup of my photos at North Shore Cafe. I took a short detour on Hwy 30, including a stop at Multnomah Falls.

Cafe Scene

My 2016 calendar photos will be on display at North Shore Cafe in White Salmon, Washington through December.  If you're in the gorge, and looking for a place to eat, stop in here (across the river from Hood River).  Great organic food, fresh-pressed juice, and homemade chai with fresh-pressed ginger.  If you do stop in, I highly recommend the chai!  For a chai blog and photo, click the link here.

Avast, Me Hearties!

A cool old sailboat docked at Hood River Marina yesterday, 

and the waters were reflection still...almost. 

Linking to Weekend Reflections

A Dark and Rainy Morning

Such a dark, drizzly morning today, but the water droplets were glowing
on the little tree outside my kitchen window.

Old Farmhouse Orchard

I know I've been on a fall tree theme for a while now, and really want to switch to another subject, but I can't seem to keep away from trees! Not likely to change themes in the near future since I'm heading back out to Hood River and White Salmon later this morning. For today though, another view of the overgrown orchard at the old farmhouse near Woodland. It's a nice counterpoint to yesterday's photo. I appreciate the crispness and composition of today's view.

Through my Rainy Windshield #9

I took a wrong turn yesterday, and pulled into a drive to turn around during a spell of heavy rain. The drive led to an old farmhouse with overgrown orchard. Very colorful in the rain. I turned off the wipers and tried a rainy windshield photo for my series. I think it's too blurry, but I like the dark glow of a rainy fall day. Lucky to happen upon such a pretty spot for a turnaround.

Woodland Wonderland

Beautiful, glowing scene coming down the backside from the grist mill in Woodland over the weekend.  So many layers of leaves, and so much moss!

Fall in Washington State

When people think of Washington, they usually think evergreens, and we have our share.  But a typical fall scene here often includes moss, fog, and big leaf maples.

Deep in the Pear Orchard

Late afternoon in Trout Lake.  

Cascade Locks 2

East-facing view of the Columbia near Cascade Locks. The stretch of river between Cascade Locks and Hood River is often the border between weather patterns, because the river bends here and it's right at the thickest part of the Cascade range.  Calm in one direction, choppy in the other; blue sky in one direction, clouds in the other. Dramatic clouds today reminded me of an impressionist painting.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Wake

Wake on the Columbia, calm waters, and a very hazy day.
(Full color photo, believe it or not!)

November Sky

A red, white, and blue theme for today to showcase some fabulous November clouds.

Variety

Such variation on a single branch.

Forest Bathing

Shinrin Yoku, as it's called in Japan.  There are health benefits to spending time in the woods, according to Japanese studies; it reduces stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, and depression.  I've been super interested in the concept of Earthing this month, and wonder if this "forest bathing" benefit isn't partially coming from the fact that the trees are grounded and create an umbrella of grounding for us as we walk through the woods.  Synthetic shoe soles don't ground us to the earth, but walking barefoot, especially at the beach, does. I always feel so great after walking along the beach. Walking in the woods feels good too, but for me not quite the same as barefoot at the beach.

Bridge View

A slightly different view of the mill; usually I'm photographing from the bridge,
but for today a view of the bridge as well.

Abandoned

I walk past this property every day with Clover.  An old abandoned house and barn on a beautiful lot. The house has all the stickers usually associated with a foreclosure, but nothing has ever come of it, which seems strange to me, because it's a good location and nice sized lot. I suppose it's the added cost of removing the rundown old home. The driveway is lined with overgrown apple trees, but they are quite healthy and produce and abundance of apples each year.  Earlier this year I saw a lady park in the drive and get out with a laundry basket to collect the apples.  I've considered doing something similar myself, but I think I missed my chance for this year.  Unfortunately the old barn got some graffiti a few weeks ago, the emperor Zorg from Buzz Lightyear; an unlikely graffiti subject! So for the time being, Zorg will watch over this property too, and see if anyone buys it and fixes it up. 

Cascade Locks

Calm waters on the Columbia near Cascade Locks, 

along with a nice break in clouds, 

made for an interesting framed reflection.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Mt. Adams from Hood River

Working my way around a panoramic view from my afternoon in Hood River.  Pear tree facing south, rainbow facing west, and now Mt. Adams facing north.  This also came as a surprise to me.  The elevation changes so much that at any given time you could see no volcanoes, one, two, three, or on rare occasion four.  From this view in the hilly blueberry field, you can see Mt. Adams to the north and probably see Mt. Hood to the south, but the southern view was completely clouded over, so I'm not sure. Love all the snow on Mt. Adams!  I'm sure Hood and St. Helens will look the same once we get a clear day.  I missed seeing these snow peaks during out hot summer.

Hood River Valley

I took a little ribbing yesterday for not eating that pear, so I feel like I should put my location in context.  I was heading up the foothills along the edge of the Hood River Valley (aka the fruit loop), on a tiny named road that was really a driveway to what looked like a family compound at the top. Pear orchard to my right, and blueberry field to my left, slowly scanning the orchard for photos.  When I got to the top and turned around at the family compound, what a surprise to find a patch of bright rainbow in the valley!  One of the things that makes rainbows so wonderful is their unexpectedness, and especially at a time like this, when it wasn't even raining where I was.  I spend a good bit of time on this rainbow, and also another scene which I'll probably blog tomorrow.  So when I drove down the hill, I had forgotten all about the pears, and felt completely full from the great luck I'd just had finding a rainbow in a valley.  A rainbow photo has been on my bucket list since moving back to the Pacific Northwest, and even though rainbows are more plentiful here, I had never been in a photo worthy location when one popped up.  Hopefully someone will eat that pear though.  It did look pretty yummy! 

(One technical side note on this photo.  I used my polarizer, and it made a huge difference in how vivid the rainbow looked.  This is how it looked to me, but without the polarizer the camera captured it more washed out.  I was not imagining I'd get such good results, mainly because I don't like using it in water reflection shots, since it takes away the reflection.  So this was a learning photo for me.  Polarizer and rainbows: good)

Left Behind

One lonely pear, 

still on the tree.  

Looking really ripe, too! 

Meandering Creek

Cedar Creek meandering back toward its natural path just after the grist mill.  The water is surprisingly lazy-looking at this point.  The white path is a little deceptive; it's not white water, but actually is caused by some sort of foam that develops in the chute.  I was wondering why the foam would be there at all.  The mill is in a very rural location, and I can't imagine much upstream that would cause any sort of soapy foam.  Maybe it forms naturally, but I had always assumed it was soapy pollution.  Anyway, the white foam took a path, which I decided to highlight with the long exposure. 

Rainy Day at the Grist Mill

We headed out to the grist mill yesterday for the annual cider pressing event. (Grist mill photo just to the right of this post...it's the cover for my 2016 calendar.) I was expecting scant crowds because of the weather, but boy was I wrong! The line for cider extended from the mill across the covered bridge, shown in background of my photo from under the cedar tree. We got 2 inches of rain, which is a lot for one afternoon in drizzly Washington. An umbrella rain, as we say. We wimped out, skipped the cider, picked up the fresh ground winter wheat for our long-ferment, gluten-neutralized sourdough, and headed home. I'll pick up some cider at the store later on today.