Beatty, Oregon between storms (February 2015)

I have posted photos from Beatty before here and here. Our friends have a ranch in Beatty so we have been there several times, but the last couple days were our first visit in winter. The weather was all over the place. Sometimes below freezing, sometimes sunny and almost warm–snow, hail, and rain all fell from the skies. Today’s photo comes during a sunny interlude between a snow storm and a hail storm. There was no wind at the moment I took this, but there were extreme winds less than a half hour before.

Posted on February 28th, 2015 under Oregon. Tags: beatty, clouds, Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Lens, Nikon D750, Oregon, skywatch. Comments Off on Beatty between storms

@BLMOregon @TravelOregon

I went back to finish what I started back in January, reach Boundary Springs. This time I didn’t start in the Mazama Viewpoint parking lot. Instead, I followed Google maps which sent me down a forest road for several miles. The road is called “Old Diamond Lake Road” or NF-281. The road gets really sketchy after a couple miles. You probably don’t want to be on this road in a normal winter. Even in summer it probably isn’t smart to take this road without 4WD. I stopped a hundred yards or so before crossing Mazama Creek as the snow started getting pretty deep. I walked from there.

After passing West Lake (which was completely frozen in the morning, but mostly not frozen when I passed it on my way back in the afternoon) I saw a trail sign for Boundary Springs. A couple hundred feet before reaching the springs I took today’s photo.

Once I got to the springs (which is where the Rogue River begins, straight out of the ground) I saw a trail of sorts on the other side of the Rogue River. I started to take it, but it soon disappeared. I don’t really like out and backs as much as loop trails so I continued (mostly bushwhacking my way north on the east side of the Rogue River) hoping the trail would appear again. Big mistake. There is no trail (that I could find) on the east side of the river. A couple hours, bloodied hands, and torn clothes later I made it back to Old Diamond Lake Road which crosses the Rogue River so I could get back to my car.

Despite the blood, it was an awesome adventure. I didn’t see a single person the entire time. In a normal winter you will definitely want snow shoes. I could have used them in several places, but for the most part I was on dry ground or only an inch or two of snow.

Posted on February 18th, 2015 under Oregon. Tags: hiking, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D750, rogue river, rogue valley, waterfalls. Comments Off on Boundary Springs Waterfall

@OregonSB @CourtneyCeo22 @USSSAPride

The Ducks are looking for their third consecutive Pac-12 championship this season. They opened their season this past weekend in Arizona with a 6-0 record. Oregon won’t have Courtney Ceo this season as she has moved on to the professional USSSA Florida Pride team.

My Raiders are scheduled to play today in Ashland after going 4-0 on their road trip last week in California.

Posted on February 11th, 2015 under Oregon. Tags: eugene, Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 EDIF AF-S VR, Nikon D600, Oregon, softball, sports photography. Comments Off on Softball season begins

@OregonFlock

Someone has been having some fun with my photo.

Posted on February 10th, 2015 under Oregon. Tags: softball. Comments Off on Sharkduck

Crater Lake’s Discovery Point on the West Rim Drive in winter

A week ago, this happened. The approach to this location looked like this.

Posted on February 1st, 2015 under Oregon. Tags: crater lake, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 VR G lens, Nikon D750, photomerge, snow, winter. Comments Off on Crater Lake in winter