The Pacific Northwest...

I found myself being able to make a trip to the Portland, Oregon area so, as you might suspect, I packed up my gear and headed north. The last time I was in Oregon, it involved a Coast Guard helicopter and a traumatic head injury, as I was the subject of a medevac off the USS Chandler back in 1984. That's a story for another time, though. This visit, thankfully, would include neither the head injury nor the helicopter.

 

I arrived in Portland before 11:00am, and was met by friends who quickly whisked me away to their house. We sat and talked for only a brief period of time before deciding that the "photo ops jones" had gotten the better of us. We would head out, cameras in hand, for the remainder of the day.

 

I'd looked around online and saw some really cool waterfalls which were out along the Columbia River Gorge. We hopped in the car and headed out towards Multnomah Falls.

 

This whole region is unlike anything you're likely to find anywhere else. Pines reach seemingly for miles into the sky, and there's water everywhere you look; around every bend in the road.

 

Our first stop was at a park/overlook area known as Portland Women's Forum. Now, I guess the jury is still out as to why it's called that, because we still don't know the origin of the name. What we do know is that from Chanticleer Point, located within the park, you can get an amazing view of the Columbia River and Crown Point:

 

Crown Point, center-right, overlooking the Columbia River, as seen from Chanticleer Point...

Yours truly on a rock wall at Chanticleer Point. Yours truly was blown off the wall twice...
 Photo by Carrie Warlaumont

The one thing I noticed, rather quickly, I might add, is how ridiculously windy it is here. It's times like this when I'm glad my instructions to my hair stylist are simply "Just gimme' a #3 blade over the whole thing".

 

In another life, with hair down to the middle of my back, this place would've spelled disaster. Now, the wind just combs my continuously disappearing hair.

 

We had wanted to visit Crown Point (shown in the photo above), but the road was closed for maintenance, and would be through the end of October. Since I wasn't going to be here that long, I had to come to grips with the fact that Crown Point would simply not make it onto my itinerary.

 

Multnomah Falls, however, definitely would.

 

The falls are actually located near the town of Bridal Veil, which is a virtual ghost town these days. All that remains is a cemetery and a post office. There's actually no "population", as the post office is the only building that's still standing and, insofar as I can tell, nobody lives in it.

 

The reason the cemetery still exists is probably obvious. The post office? Probably a bit less so. Every spring and summer, the post office fills up with wedding invitations awaiting the "Bridal Veil" postmark. Every time the post office threatens to shut down the Bridal Veil branch, it's believed that both the support of locals and of the wedding industry helps to keep its doors open. Regardless the reason, it's nice to see something like this withstand the test of time and what some would consider "progress":

 

The United States Post Office in Bridal Veil, Oregon...

 

Not far from the post office, we happened upon what's know as Shepperd's Dell. Shepperd's Dell is an area which is difficult to photograph due to the topography, or so they say. Personally, I just don't think the photographers who said that were industrious enough:

 

The falls at Shepperd's Dell...

The bridge of the Historic Columbia River Highway, which runs over Shepperd's Dell...

 

After Shepperd's Dell, it was off to Multnomah Falls. This is what I'd found online as "the place" I wanted to visit.

 

The falls have a total height of 620 feet, although that's divided into two sections. The falls drop in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet and a lower falls of 69 feet. There's a gradual 9 foot  drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet. However you slice it, though, it's impressive. It's also the highest waterfall in all of Oregon:

 

620 feet of Multnomah Falls, with the Benson Footbridge shown, as well...

We spent some time walking along the trail and across Benson Footbridge, which is named for Simon Benson, who financed its construction in 1914. We opted against hiking to the top of the falls, primarily because of the time factor. With the other stops we'd made, we didn't make it to Multnomah Falls until late mid-afternoon. Given the distance of the hike, and the fact that we'd have to deal with weekday traffic during rush hour, we decided to forego the hike and make an early departure back to Portland.

On the way back to Portland, though, we still managed to make a few stops here and there to satisfy our photographic urges. We did find some cool stop-offs to shoot:

 

 

If you're someone who enjoys shooting creeks, rivers, rock formations; what have you, the Columbia River Gorge offers more ample opportunity than you could hope for anywhere else. This was a photo op from the dark side, and I'm glad I had the chance to take advantage of it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

There Be Ghosts In Them Thar Hills...

Not far from the post-apocalyptic water park was the town of Calico. Now, back in the late 1800's, Calico was simply the place to be.

 

Calico is an old west mining town that has been around since 1881, which was during the largest silver strike in California. With over 500 separate mines, Calico produced over $20 million in silver ore over a 12-year span. When silver lost its value in the mid-1890's, Calico lost its population. The miner's packed up, loaded their mules and moved away abandoning the town that once gave them a good living. Hence, it became a "ghost town."

 

Walter Knott (of Knott's Berry Farm fame) purchased Calico in the 1950's, and architecturally restored all but five of the original buildings to look as they did in the 1880's. Why did he not restore five of the buildings? Who the Hell knows? What I do know is that Calico received its status as State Historical Landmark 782, and in 2005 was proclaimed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.

 

We were fortunate enough to be there on a Saturday evening. Most people stop here while either going to or coming from Las Vegas, and those are usually Fridays and Sundays, respectively. Being a Saturday, though, the town wasn't nearly crowded, and parking was plentiful.

 

And, while the term "ghost town" may conjure up images of, well, ghosts, that's not what it denotes at all. What the term means is simply that the town was, in pretty short order, abandoned. That said, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that the town, or at least some of its buildings, are haunted.

 

Enjoy:
 

Welcome to Calico...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





The town has a lot of events which take place throughout the year, and you can expect the the town to fill up with tourists during those weekends. You can find a list of those events here. And, if you're so inclined, this "ghost town" also does, in fact, have a "ghost tour" that takes place after nightfall. Maybe one day I'll get back for that but, until then, I'll be content with what I got to see after my daughter made an impromptu right turn off the interstate ramp...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



A Cautionary Tale...

I love abandoned buildings. From a photography perspective, a good abandoned building can offer up some rather unique photo ops, as evidenced by the photos from the post-apocalyptic water park. You just don't find stuff like that just anywhere.

 

One thing about the desert, especially the Mojave, is that a lot of people used to live here. Surely, some still do, but most definitely not in the numbers they did 50 or 60 years ago.

 

As we left the water park, we came upon a lone abandoned building. It was really trashed, and was just begging to be photographed:

 

An old abandoned building; probably a business of some sort, along the service road on the southbound I-15...

 

The long, barren service road along the southbound I-15...

Sometimes I find myself trying to imagine what life might have been like here "back in the day". What was it like to live here before the drywall rotted away and the roof collapsed? Behind the building show above was something that actually looked like some sort of boat dock, although I'm sure it's been quite some time since these timbers have seen water:

Maybe a boat dock? Maybe, maybe not...

Now, I said this is a cautionary tale, so let me get there.

 

The stops we made at this building and the water park weren't planned before we left San Diego. During our drive out to Las Vegas, we'd decided to make these stops on our way back to San Diego. So, for that reason, we may not have been perfectly outfitted for these stops, and that's what I'd like to touch on real briefly.

 

During the stop at the water park, it was hot; probably mid-90's or so, and a little humid. Naturally, that equates to sweating and the need to hydrate. I'd left my bottle of water in the car. I really wish I hadn't. Of course, getting back to the car would've been easy enough, but do yourself a favor and carry your water with you.

 

The other aspect I'd like to touch on is apparel, specifically footwear. Now, had I known we were going to make these stops, I wouldn't have been wearing a pair of Nikes. I would've been wearing my Vasque boots for both their support and their protection. The support is because it's easy enough to twist an ankle.

 

Protection? Well, have a look:

 

Danger lurks. And it will mock you...

 

I made it to the building before Jessy and Dom, so I was quick to point out to them what I'd seen: A lot of wood with a lot of nails sticking out all over Hell and creation. My admonition to "Watch where you step and where you lean" was heeded, as they both ended up enjoying the stop without incident.

 

I, on the other hand, stepped down on the piece of wood pictured above not two minutes after I told them to be careful. And, wouldn't you know it, my heel came right down on that nail sticking straight up.

 

It took me about a nanosecond to determine that I really wished I'd been wearing those Vasque boots, as the nail easily passed through the sole of my shoe. I was fortunate, though. I most certainly felt the point of the nail on my foot, but it didn't break the skin. That really would've capped off the weekend as we would've gotten to play the "tetanus shot game".

 

So, when you go out exploring, just remember that a small amount of preparation can save you a lot of heartache. I was lucky.

 

But I easily could've been unlucky, too...

Post-Apocalyptic Water Park...

My daughter and I are both photographers and, as such, I think we may look at things a bit differently than most, dare I say it, "normal" people. We see something with an idea of how a printed image might look, or how a certain type of processing might benefit an image of a scene laid out before us.

 

I've driven out to Las Vegas a number of times, and each time I took note of what appeared to be a closed waterpark on the southbound side of Interstate 15. On the drive out to Vegas, we decided that we would stop there on our way back to San Diego.

 

The Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark was actually in operation until 2004. An accident involving an employee, and a $4.4 million dollar judgement against the park, helped expedite the park's closing. I think it would've closed eventually, anyway. People long ago stopped visiting Newberry Springs and nearby Lake Delores for vacation and leisure. Nowadays, anyone who happens to find themselves out here is, in all likelihood, either driving to or driving from Las Vegas.

 

So, stop we did, and I'm glad we did.

 

The place is absolutely surreal. It's amazing to me that the entire park is accessible to the public. I'd always thought something like this would be fenced and posted with "NO TRESPASSING" signs. But there's none of that. Pull into the parking lot, lock up the car, and enjoy your day. A lawsuit helped close the place down in 2004. Now, eight years later, it seems to me that the place is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

During the entire time I walked around the park, I just couldn't help but get this feeling that there were people living there. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. It wouldn't have surprised me to learn of people living in attics or basements of the dilapidated buildings. There aren't, I'm sure, but I really wouldn't be surprised to learn anything to the contrary. In fact, the only other people we encountered were a man and woman who, like us, stopped to check it out and take some pictures.

 

At one time, years ago. It was a popular playground. Now, the park has fallen victim to both time and vandalism.

 

I've been trying to steer away from shooting high dynamic range (HDR) stuff but, in all honesty, I couldn't bring myself to not do it here. The place begs for it. Nothing about Rock-A-Hoola looks normal.

 

Things are a little different these days:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know... Just in case you were wondering...