Smith Rock State Park

Smith Rock State Park is probably best known as a world-famous rock climbing area, but actually offers some incredibly beautiful scenery as well. Here near the town of Terrobonne, the Crooked River meanders through this canyon at the base of Picnic Lunch Wall and the Smith Rock Group.

I awoke at 3:00 am and left my campsite near Painted Hills for the drive to Smith Rock State Park and the hope to catch sunrise.

Coming from the east in the dark of night was challenging at best as there were no signs. Even the entrance to the park is signed for westbound traffic only, and it was only after seeing a glimpse of it in my rearview mirror that I realized I had missed the turn!

I arrived in plenty of time for sunrise, and awaited the arrival of Long Nguen, whom I had met at Painted Hills. He had scouted the park the day before. For me, this was a last minute bonus addition to my trip, and I had no opportunity to scout it.

I set up for first light near the picnic area, and immediately noticed the full moon working its way toward the Smith Rock Group to the east. Being in a canyon, it was hard to sense where exactly the sun was going to come up and to understand where first light would hit. When Long didn't arrive, I knew I likely wasn't in the best spot.

After making the best of the situation, I jumped back in my truck to scout the park. As I pulled into the bivy area, I saw Long walking thru the parking lot on his way back to his car. He was glad to see me. He shared his sunrise spot with me and I headed out to scout it for a future trip, agreeing to meet up with him later down along the river. The spot was nice indeed. I returned back to my truck and drove back to the picnic area.

I descended down to the river, crossed the bridge, and enjoyed the scenic stroll along the trail in both directions. Rock climbers slowly began to arrive on the scene.

The park is well signed with warnings about rattlesnakes, and I stepped carefully - especially off trail and in tall grass. I didn't come across any.
After a while I retreated back across the bridge to wander the other side of the river. I figured I would likely run into Long again here as he had some pools in the river picked out that he hoped to get some reflection shots in. I took my time with a few more compositions as I made my way west. Soon, I found a Singh Ray lens cap on the ground and new Long must be close!

Sure enough, Long had found a nice composition of the Smith Rock Group at a bend in the river and was relaxing along the hillside, absorbing the scene as much as he was photographing it.

We hung out here for a considerable amount of time talking and enjoying the scenery before us. It was quite nice to know that in such a popular park it was possible to still experience some solitude - at least in the early morning hours it was!
It was time to wrap up our morning. Long had to catch a flight back to Seattle, while I had a long but scenic drive back home ahead of me. We said our goodbyes, and looked forward to looking each other up once we arrived home.

The drive home was very scenic under blue skies, and well worth it.

I do plan to visit Smith Rock State Park again very soon - maybe next spring? I highly encourage you to visit it too.

Painted Hills Unit - John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

The Painted Hills Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is one of the most popular subjects in Oregon for landscape photographers. It is also the most well known of the unique formations within the monument.

Located near Mitchell, Oregon, the Painted Hills are a photographer's dream. They are colorful, patterned, contrasting, unique and extremely fascinating. Their colors change throughout the day and with even the most subtle change in light. They consist of stratifications of yellow, gold, black, and red as a result of layers of fallen volcanic ash from ancient volcanoes.

I had planned my trip for early May in hopes of hitting the flowers at their prime. But it has been a strange year with flowers running about two weeks late in many areas, and I missed out on the show. Next time!

I did not miss out on some special light and memories however. My first evening photographing the Painted Hills was under a cloudless sky. I was mostly alone. I focused on isolating various patterns and shapes in my compositions. It was a lot of fun!

My second night was not by design. I was actually photographing in the Sheep Rock Unit when clouds and scattered showers moved in. When late light looked doubtful, I jumped in my truck and raced back to the Painted Hills Unit in hopes of having dark storm clouds above my subject as rays of light breached thru. Well, the clouds had come and gone by the time of my arrival - it was a quick storm. But some clouds did linger and made the evening light very interesting. There were more photographers present, and all were fun to talk with.

I made friends with two photographers in particular; Jeff Chen and Long Nguyen. Jeff is a very successful medium format panoramic landscape photographer from San Francisco. Long is a local photographer from Seattle with big asperations and much talent. I hope to connect with both of them again in the future.

The small town of Mitchell is very close to the Painted Hills and offers gas, food and lodging. The locals were as friendly as could be to me and I made a point to gas up and do my shopping there rather than making the longer trip to Prineville. It feels good to know you are helping the local economy, as well as saying Thank You for their generous hospitality and helpful recommendations on the area.

Camping is available in the city park - which offers nice picnic tables and barbeques. Just pitch your tent next to the table you wish and you are good to go!

There are also several National Forest Service campgrounds in the area, though they are a bit longer drive and as such, not as convenient.

I found the best camping to be along the road to the entrance of the Painted Hills Unit. They offer nothing more than a fire pit (no immenities), but are convenient and relatively private. By the way, there is no camping allowed within the Painted Hills Unit - despite what some locals might tell you.

This is my last entry on my visit to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, though not from my trip (yes, there is more to come!). The John Day area is certainly a destination, not just a stop-over. Plan to spend 2-3 days there to get the most from your visit!

In closing I would like to give another shout to Greg Vaughn and his book Photographing Oregon. The book really helped me with my photography planning, and he personally volunteered additional information in hopes of making my trip even more successful.