A Western Odyssey (very photo heavy)

[my_wild_dreams_]

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Northern Oregon Coast
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Well, I’ve made it to the coast! I drove out west from Portland to go on a hike with a guy I know from the internet. He took me along a river he fishes regularly. We did quite a bit of wading through the river and got back to a waterfall that is only accessible by doing the wading. Then I continued west to the coast and stopped first at Cannon Beach. I did very little research and was heading down towards Oswald West State Park, but I saw the huge haystack rock from highway 101 so I stopped in Cannon Beach.

ASTORIA

I also went up to Astoria. These are near/from the Column in Astoria:

A Chinook canoe.

While in Astoria, I went to the place where Lewis and Clark’s Corp of Discovery spent a winter. They built a fort here but the one in the picture is a recreation. There is a small museum there with info, movies, and some period or recreation objects similar to what the expedition team had with them. I suspect not a single thing is from their actual trip because they didn’t make any effort to save any of the gear and actually sold or gave much of it away.

A picture of one of their journals

They carried powder to make ink with

MANZANITA

CAMPING WITH FRIENDS

My friends (an old college buddy and his wife) came out for the weekend.

We went to the beach near the campsite in the morning, and my buddy didn’t change from the warm clothes he’d slept in. :-D

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

HIKING

We went for a hike in Oswald West State Park - on the Falcon Cove trail. It was a pretty nice trail with very nice views at the end.

Then we went to the beach! There’s a really nice beach in Oswald

 

[97grandby]

Some great pictures and amazing story. Looking forward to seeing more updates of your travels. Just wondering what camera and software are you using? They look fantastic


1990 Ford F-250
1997 fwc grandby

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

Some great pictures and amazing story. Looking forward to seeing more updates of your travels. Just wondering what camera and software are you using? They look fantastic

Thank you :-D

I use a Nikon D90 (which is about ten years old now), with mostly a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye lens. I use Photoshop for processing, but the changes I make in there are really simple and can be done on lots of other less complex programs.

I've started thinking about buying a newer camera body, a Nikon D7200, which is basically the newer/current version of the D90, and is WAY WAY better in low light. I also want to get a normal super-wide lens to replace the Fisheye because I don't have any desire for the fisheye distortion.

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

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PORTLAND
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I spent about a month in and around Portland. I have some old friends that live in a suburb. I spent most of the time with them, barring three or so stints in the city during the week while my friends were mostly busy working.

I haven’t spent this much time with these friends for ten years. It was great. We did a lot together - day trips, going out in the city, bike rides, hikes, a trip to the coast, to a hot spring, to a casino, home/van projects, Monopoly games, etc.



THOUGHTS ON PORTLAND
On my first night inside the city, I met a girl to go on a bike ride together. We were meeting at an intersection, and one of the streets had a significant bike lane in it. This was a Monday, around 5-6pm, so it was rush hour. There were SO MANY people riding by on bikes. There were about 50 people riding by per minute. I’ve never seen so much bike traffic on a normal day, in any city I’ve been in. I did learn that this bike lane functions as sort of a bike freeway, so a lot of bike traffic is funneled through there. But still, it’s a lot. I saw a lot of other people bicycling around town. There are also just a lot of people out and about, walking around. Also, most of them are young. I would’ve guessed that there are a lot more people ages 20-40 in Portland than in other major cities. I did a quick check and it looks like that age range is about 40% of Portland, and 30% of the U.S., so there’s a difference, but not particularly huge. I guess the young people in Portland are just out and about more than other places. Probably part of this phenomenon is that the city is very walkable. There are not wide major roads in the city. There are not strip malls. There are basically sections of streets that have a lot of businesses along them. There are a lot of these little business areas spaced out around the city. People who live near these walk there a lot. In other cities, people get in their car and drive to the Store/Bar/Restaurant that’s in sort of a strip mall.

I like Portland. I was more surprised by how much I like Seattle. I connected with people quicker and deeper in Seattle than Portland. That could just come down to chance, but I have a feeling it’s not.


SO MANY VANDWELLERS
Portland and Seattle have a LOT of people living in vans. Thousands, I believe. They’re all over the place. At each sizable park, there will be 5-10 on the street around the outside. At one intersection in a normal residential area, I looked around and saw 4 vans that look like people may live in them. Parking is super easy in these cities, especially in Portland. If you’re in the city (as long as you’re not in the areas you have to pay, or in certain specific congested areas) it seems you can park however and for however long you want. The direction your vehicle points doesn’t matter. How long you stay parked there doesn’t seem to matter either. Many of the van dwellers appeared to be doing so partly or entirely out of necessity rather than choice.


BUILT SOME SHELVES
There is a vertical wall that makes up the back side of my bike box. The top half of this wall (the outside of the bike box) has been empty so far. I’ve been thinking about adding some more storage either here, or along the top sides of the walls. My buddy helped me, and here’s how it turned out:

We basically build wooden crates that are attached to the wall. I made them as wide as I could without them getting in the way of putting up the curtains (on the left side) or me moving around in the van (on the right sides).

The top 2 are the same depth, and the bottom one is deeper. There is less of a vertical gap between the bottom and middle shelves, so it being wider also helps with reaching in there.

Here you can see the widths:

They currently hold most of my clothes

This freed up other storage space in the plastic shelves. So far, I’ve just thrown my boots and sandals into the drawer that emptied out. One of my rubbermaid containers that’s under the bed is only about 1/3 full right now, so I have some spare room for whatever else I decide to acquire.


MORE PICTURES
I added wax to my cotton jacket to make it a more water resistant:

A short hike on some island:

I took very few pictures in the city. Portland has some really cool bridges. Maybe next time I’m there I’ll take some good cityscape pictures including the bridges.

Oh, also I bought a used Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens. Got it for $300. I’ve been using it almost exclusively and for most landscape pictures, it’s better than the fisheye. I was thinking I would sell the fisheye and 24mm, but I’m not so sure now. There are specific pictures I want to take every now and then that can only be done with the fisheye (or that would take something like a 5mm lens). I’ve also started trying to improve my landscape photography skills. I’ve been reading online and listening to podcasts, and I’m trying to get some books and Lightroom/Photoshop tutorial videos. I figure my mobility and time freedom give me incredibly good opportunities for landscape photography, and I enjoy it, so I might as well get better at it right now.

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

to add... since Portland, I've driven south through Oregon and Northern California quickly. I stopped in Bagby Hot Springs, Bend, and Crater Lake. I start out along the California coast at Crescent city and made it past San Francisco a couple days ago. I've gotten to warmer weather, so I plan to take it pretty slow between here (Santa Cruz) and Los Angeles.

 

[hoyden]

to add... since Portland, I've driven south through Oregon and Northern California quickly. I stopped in Bagby Hot Springs, Bend, and Crater Lake. I start out along the California coast at Crescent city and made it past San Francisco a couple days ago. I've gotten to warmer weather, so I plan to take it pretty slow between here (Santa Cruz) and Los Angeles.

Thanks for all your great posts!

How did you like Bagby Hot Springs? I will be in that area soon-ish....

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

Thanks for all your great posts!

How did you like Bagby Hot Springs? I will be in that area soon-ish....

I wasn't too big on Bagby. Mainly because it's in these wooden bathtubs in a partly or mostly enclosed wooden buildings. It just didn't feel all that special. I think I might enjoy hot springs with a natural pool more than Bagby. A note: you're supposed to pay $5 to use the spring/tubs. When you pay, you're given a wristband. Most people don't. I paid and then regretted it later when it seemed like very few others had paid, and when the lady who takes the money came up to check on the area, she didn't check if anyone had wristbands.

 

[GroovyDad]

I added wax to my cotton jacket to make it a more water resistant:

Oh, also I bought a used Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens. Got it for $300. I’ve been using it almost exclusively and for most landscape pictures, it’s better than the fisheye.


I'm curious about waxing your jacket and how well that works and how well it stands up to the washing machine. I've never heard of waxing, but it seems like it'd be a great technique. I've heard of the old technique of oiling canvas, but this is new to me.

I just bought the same Tokina lens the other day and it is awesome. I bought mine used as well and the auto focus doesn't seem to be working. Did you have any problems with the AF? I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong. Other than that, I love the lens. I was inspired to buy that lens after seeing some incredible photos of the Alabama Hills/Bodie/Laurel Lakes, CA photos on the Explore Desert website. You should check out their website: http://www.exploredesert.com/

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Groovy, I sent a PM, but in case others have this issue... The Tokina AF clutch is push-pull, not twist. I cussed my lens until I read the manual. Hopefully, this is what you have going on.

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

I'm not sure how well the waxing works yet. Applying the wax caused a significant improvement in water repellence - just testing it by dropping a little bit of water from my hand onto the jacket. But you'd have to ask me again in a year to see how well it really works. As for washing, I have no idea. I don't expect to wash the jacket very often though.

From what I've read, this method works very well for water resistance, but it reduces or completely eliminates the material's breathability.


For the lens, as Wandering Sagebrush mentioned - make sure you're using the auto/manual focus selector on the lens right. It's weird. The lens has it's own auto/manual focus toggle. The focus ring, in addition to twisting for actual focus, slides forward or backwards to select auto or manual. I think pulling it back (towards the camera body) sets it to manual and pushing it forward is for Auto. For autofocus to work, you need to have the lens set to auto as described AND you need to have your camera set to auto focus.

 

[GroovyDad]

For the lens, as Wandering Sagebrush mentioned - make sure you're using the auto/manual focus selector on the lens right. It's weird. The lens has it's own auto/manual focus toggle. The focus ring, in addition to twisting for actual focus, slides forward or backwards to select auto or manual. I think pulling it back (towards the camera body) sets it to manual and pushing it forward is for Auto. For autofocus to work, you need to have the lens set to auto as described AND you need to have your camera set to auto focus.

I just learned that the Tokina 11-16mm f 2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX will NOT auto-focus on most of the D-Series Nikons because this lens doesn't have a focus motor on it. The newer version of the lens, which is the Tokina 11-16mm f 2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX II, has an auto focus motor built in and will work on the D-Series.

Thankfully, I purchased mine from Amazon and I can return it for a full refund. I'm ordering the DX II today.

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

ahhh, yes, I was aware of that difference in the older vs. newer one but it didn't come to mind when I was writing my post

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

DRIVING SOUTH THROUGH OREGON



I stayed in Portland until the end of September, and it was colder than I liked. I’d planned to make my way slowly south through string of National Forests, and make a few stops in hot springs, Smith Rock, Painted Hills, Bend, Crater Lake, etc. But as I checked what the weather would be like, I saw that if I took my sweet time, it would be “too cold” all the way until I got to Southern California. So I drove through Oregon in just two days and skipped all of the planned sites that weren’t right on the way.

In those two days I saw that Oregon has a huge variety of landscape. There is the coast, the lush and heavily treed areas near the coast, the Columbia river gorge, the high desert stuff once you get inland a bit, and I believe some more full-on desert further east. I could easily spend an entire summer exploring Oregon and instead of wishing I was elsewhere, I’d be wishing summer was longer. So… maybe some other time..

Most of my pictures from this point on are using the Tokina 11-16 that I bought in Portland. (The exceptions are some of the Crater lake pictures in this post, and going forward just specific photo types: like the pictures taken inside the van looking out the window, and probably the pictures where I’m sitting down with some view and you can see my legs/feet.). I was thinking I’d sell the fisheye and my 24mm lens right after getting the 11-16. Those two would more recoup what I spent on the Tokina. But I think I’m going to wait. The good thing about these lenses is they go long stretches of time without getting outdated and hold value very well.


On the way to Bagby Hot Springs:

BAGBY HOT SPRINGS
My friends from Portland met me there (and one of them took this)

This was the first hot spring I’ve been to where it’s common to get in the water. It was…. ok. Bagby is a little spring with no natural pool. A wooden building was made with wooden tubs. The water from the spring runs into pipes that go through the building and can be used to fill the tubs. It cost $5 go in. I paid and discovered later that I could’ve easily gotten away without paying, as many people did. For me, it wasn’t worth the $5. It’s a little weird going in tubs where you know thousands of people have been, and it didn’t feel like connecting with nature any more than just sitting down on the ground somewhere.





BEND
Bend seemed really cool. There are a lot of outdoors enthusiasts there. Just outside of town are a TON of biking trails. There are also a lot of Forest Service roads - roads that look like they’d have really good places to camp.

One strange thing about Bend is that while I was there, it smelled bad. The whole city. It smelled the same way cloth does if it has been sitting wet too long and a lot of bacteria has grown. I have no idea what it was from. As I was driving into town I was like “What the hell? Is that me? Is that something in the van?”. Nope. This whole ****ing town stinks! (I like Bend though)





CRATER LAKE
I took a nice scenic route out of bend - along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. It goes west out of Bend past Mt. Bachelor, and then south passing by a bunch of lakes.

Some information about Crater Lake:
- It was formed when the insides of a big volcano collapsed about 8,000 years ago. All the sort of capillaries and paths the lava took left a many open voids in the earth and it all caved down on itself.
- It filled up with rainwater. There are out inlets or outlets. The water level stays pretty consistent now. Given normal evaporation and rain, the rate of water replacement would turnover all the lake’s water every 250 years (though surely it doesn’t mix entirely so some of the water sitting in there has been there for nearly 8,000 years.
- The lake is basically circular with a diameter of 5 to 6 miles.
- The deepest part is nearly 2,000 feet.
- It holds 5,000,000,000,000 (5 trillion) gallons of water. That is a lot of water! But in the U.S. alone, so much fresh water is used that if the lake was suddenly supplying all the US, it would be emptied in about ten minutes! (The U.S. pulls 355 trillion gallons of fresh water per day).
- The water is as clear as any lake in the world because it is filled only by direct rainwater (and only a little bit of runoff from the inside edges of the volcano/crater). So there is very little sediment coming into the lake.
- It looks so blue because of how deep it is. Blue light passes through water much better than other colors, so because the light is traveling so far in the lake, all you get is blue coming out. The banks of the lake are really steep so it’s pretty much blue edge to edge.

I didn’t stay long. Just enough to take pictures at a tourist spot and hike up along a nearby ridge. It’s hard to photograph the lake when you’re near it, because it’s so wide. Even my fisheye lens couldn’t really fit it all in. If I come back and spend more time here, I should hike down to the lake surface. You can also ride a boat out and get dropped off on the island. The lake is basically all there is to this National Park.

Driving - just outside Crater Lake National Park:

Here is the route I took from Portland to Crescent City

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

A question - I've started uploading larger pictures because the size I was using would be pretty small for people with large monitors. For big monitor people - do these work better?

(They show up in the post as if they are hyperlinks and when I click them it shows the full size version, but it shows it at 100% and on my little laptop screen instead of it going full screen, just a one little corner of the 100% zoom image fills up my entire screen.)

 

[GroovyDad]

Ahhh, those Bagby Hot Springs looked inviting.

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

(Note - I often have slow internet. When I do, posting in this thread is difficult. I'm going to start breaking my posts up into multiple posts, in order to not have a crazy amount of pictures on one page)


Northern California, Part 1


I covered this stretch in just a few days:

I’d hurried to Crescent City, CA - which is basically the northernmost town along the California coast. From there, I would start my meandering down the entire California coast. This is the most popular and desired road trip in America. The most beautiful highway. The exclamation point on the western edge of the United States. The manifest destiny fulfilled.

Climate-wise, I got down to Crescent City later than I should’ve. It was cold. So I moved south to and through San Francisco quickly - in a week or less. Once I got past San Francisco, I stopped to pause in some towns - mainly Santa Cruz and Carmel-By-The-Sea. But basically, I went quickly down to Carmel and then paused for about 5 days before going through Big Sur.

The California coast is a difficult place to live in a van. There are some long stretches without towns big enough to blend in or even park off the highway. From the border to Big Sur there are no National Forests. I’ll cover Big Sur in a future post, but the National Forest at Big Sur is closed entirely because of a big fire. Normally that would be a great place to pause for quite a while and go between the coast and campsites in the Forest.

Many days I drove south in chunks of about 150 miles. That would take me a long time because I’d stop a lot to walk around, relax, and take pictures.

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

AVENUE OF THE GIANTS

This is a really cool stretch of 20 or 30 miles. The original highway 1 was rebuilt at some point. Avenue of the Giants is a stretch of the original Highway 1 that was kept and is still maintained (and is now highway 258). The new highway runs basically parallel to the old, but the old passes through a number of redwood groves:

 

[my_wild_dreams_]

COASTAL PICTURES

Crescent City:

 

[my_wild_dreams_]