Our summer trip took us to the spectacular Wallowa Mountains of Eastern Oregon. It’s hard to describe the scale of the mountain range which rises directly out of Wallowa Lake, leaving a small plateau just large enough for the state campground and a seasonal village.
Early one morning I layered the cold gear and took the Fuji XE-1 out on the Hobie to watch the sunrise play across the mountains in spectacular fashion.
I found myself watching bald eagles fish around me, bringing their catch up to their young. A curious duckling swam out to me, his parent swimming out to re-fetch him multiple times. It seemed that just as the campers began to stroll along the shore after breakfast the animals were already finishing up their own chores and heading back for rest.
Over the remainder of the summer we camped and sailed on the Columbia, Lake Merwin, and a few points along the Willamette including Portland’s waterfront.
A fascinating Civil War reenactment at the Powerland Heritage Park in Brooks, Oregon provided good photo fodder.
I did happen to drown my iPhone SE in the Wallowas. It barely limped along for the rest of the summer, but with Apple’s iPhone announcement it became clear the first camera purchase in over five years was going to be an upgrade to an iPhone 11 Pro. It’s a bit incredible, having skipped directly over four generations of iPhones - my thoughts on Apple’s latest camera-in-my-pocket will be the next post!