A Weekend in Newport, Oregon
Thanksgiving day in Canada is now permanently on the second Monday in October each year (and has been since 1957). The celebration has been around annually since 1879 but the date of the event was not formalised until 1957. The purpose of the celebration was initially to give thanks for the harvest but it has become a general day of thanksgiving now, with people seeing it as a day to visit distant family and have a good turkey dinner.
Sarah and I don't really have time to visit family on a three day weekend and we feel that omission every year, particularly when everyone is talking about the big family get together. We often find ourselves taking a little break and this year we chose Newport, Oregon. There are a couple of reasons for the choice, firstly we stopped there once for one night only and liked the look of the area, secondly it's a fairly easy drive down there from here for me and a chance to make some more photos along the way.
Unfortunately the predicted weather didn't play along and instead of a lovely scenic drive with photo stops along the way I had something else. I began my drive at 7pm on Wednesday 5th Oct. It was my intention go go via Crowsnest Pass and stop at the Burmis Tree there and shoot a night image I'd been planning for a while, all was well until reaching the area when snowfall prevented me making the shot. I drove through the snow for a couple more hours having decided to aim for the town of Creston close to the Canada/US border and stop for the night, this would cover one third of the 1400 km journey; I arrived at midnight and found a little motel where I fell asleep planning photo stops for the US leg of the trip on Thursday morning.
I rose early on Thursday and found myself 'fogged in' so the camera stayed in the bag again as I passed through some beautiful areas in northern Idaho on US highway 2. I passed through Spokane, Washington and picked up I-90 and killed some distance with the higher speed limit. I dropped south to Kennewick before crossing into Oregon and picking up I-84 through the stunning Columbia River valley and into Portland where I arrived in time to check into our hotel on the airport there and wait for Sarah to arrive. I was a little disappointed not to get any shots at all on the way down but my phone shot of Sarah with 'Famous Daves' dustbin lid at least gave us a great memory of our first night of the trip.
Sarah and I don't really have time to visit family on a three day weekend and we feel that omission every year, particularly when everyone is talking about the big family get together. We often find ourselves taking a little break and this year we chose Newport, Oregon. There are a couple of reasons for the choice, firstly we stopped there once for one night only and liked the look of the area, secondly it's a fairly easy drive down there from here for me and a chance to make some more photos along the way.
Unfortunately the predicted weather didn't play along and instead of a lovely scenic drive with photo stops along the way I had something else. I began my drive at 7pm on Wednesday 5th Oct. It was my intention go go via Crowsnest Pass and stop at the Burmis Tree there and shoot a night image I'd been planning for a while, all was well until reaching the area when snowfall prevented me making the shot. I drove through the snow for a couple more hours having decided to aim for the town of Creston close to the Canada/US border and stop for the night, this would cover one third of the 1400 km journey; I arrived at midnight and found a little motel where I fell asleep planning photo stops for the US leg of the trip on Thursday morning.
I rose early on Thursday and found myself 'fogged in' so the camera stayed in the bag again as I passed through some beautiful areas in northern Idaho on US highway 2. I passed through Spokane, Washington and picked up I-90 and killed some distance with the higher speed limit. I dropped south to Kennewick before crossing into Oregon and picking up I-84 through the stunning Columbia River valley and into Portland where I arrived in time to check into our hotel on the airport there and wait for Sarah to arrive. I was a little disappointed not to get any shots at all on the way down but my phone shot of Sarah with 'Famous Daves' dustbin lid at least gave us a great memory of our first night of the trip.
We only had the overnight in Portland because of flight times and we were soon heading out to start our mini road trip on Friday morning striking out to the north-west and the picturesque town of Astoria where we could pick up the pacific coast highway (US 101). When we first entered Astoria we saw an area of jetties and piers with ample parking so we pulled in to stretch the legs and maybe have a cuppa. We had only just stepped out of the truck when continuous barking of seals drew us to a nearby jetty and a thronging mass of seals squeezed on every inch. At one point a guy with a clipboard walked the jetty causing them all to jump in the water for a few minutes but as soon as he passed they jumped back up and got to fighting over places, until he returned from the end of the jetty and the sequence was replayed.
It was great watching the seals play out their lives with hardly an acknowledgement of the human presence lining the pier to watch, their movement away from the guy on the jetty was more of a reluctant acceptance of his passing by than fear of any kind, it looked like a scene that has played out frequently.
We left the noisy seals and went a little further until we spotted a pier you could drive onto so we traversed the rickety platform and parked up on Pier 39 (not quite as impressive as it's namesake in San Francisco) On the pier we found a lovely little coffee shop that was previously a canteen for staff at the old cannery there. There's also a museum and a couple of little shops making their own bespoke items such as handbags made from old sails.
We left the noisy seals and went a little further until we spotted a pier you could drive onto so we traversed the rickety platform and parked up on Pier 39 (not quite as impressive as it's namesake in San Francisco) On the pier we found a lovely little coffee shop that was previously a canteen for staff at the old cannery there. There's also a museum and a couple of little shops making their own bespoke items such as handbags made from old sails.
We went a little further along the columbia riverfront road before stopping again to walk the riverfront path. After walking a little way we saw this old cannery on stilts out in the river, it was obvious that there was a nice shot to be made here so we walked back to the truck and got out extra lenses, tripod and filters and returned to the spot. I wandered up and down the riverbank taking shots trying to 'find' the one I wanted. Low with a wide angle, high with a wide angle, low with a telephoto, high up on the pathway with the telephoto, filters on, filters off and every other combination of equipment and location to try and get the image. Finally, as I stood on the pathway higher up, with the sun hitting only the cannery and just touching the grasses on the top of the poles in the foreground I got the shot I wanted. A 5 stop ND filter with a polariser in front of that, on the 70-200mm lens compressed the scene (removing the boat traffic) and gave me a 4 second shot that smoothed the water just enough and caught that wonderful splash of light. I've added some of the other shots below to show differing perspectives...Sarahs favourite is in the gallery below too.
From Astoria we picked up the Pacific Coast Highway and headed south to Newport. The weather still wasn't playing along and there were few shots to be had along the way. We had a nice lunch in a small town and walked out onto this atmospheric pier where we talked to a couple from Washington state who were also taking a short break and trying to catch Dungeness Crabs from the pier. The chasing of the Dungeness Crab was a theme of the holiday with everyone doing it at every location...it's a wonder there's any of them left.
We arrived in Newport at 4 pm on friday after a lovely trip from Astoria and checked into our hotel overlooking the beach and ocean just north of Yaquina Bay, before bed we had dinner at the on site restaurant which was excellent. Saturday morning we were up and at 'em again heading first to Yaquina Bay State Recreation Area very close to our hotel. I had hoped to see sunrise over the harbour bridge but all we saw was mist.
Undeterred we hopped over the bridge to to South Beach State Park and took a walk along the inlet there, we also found a little pier which was full of folks chasing those Dungeness Crabs again.
Undeterred we hopped over the bridge to to South Beach State Park and took a walk along the inlet there, we also found a little pier which was full of folks chasing those Dungeness Crabs again.
After roaming the two parks on either side of Yaquina Bay we went down into Newport Harbour and had a walk through the town. It was still early so much of it was closed but we enjoyed it nonetheless. We found more seals and crab fishermen and a nice little coffee shop to top up our breakfast.
After coffee and a breakfast 'top up' we headed north to Yaquina Head Lightstation on a prominent point within the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. The sky was still doing it's best to kill the images but we were enjoying every minute by the sea. We dropped down to the black cobble beach and saw harlequin ducks, pelicans and the ubiquitous seals, some of which took up great poses. I tried out a few long exposure shots but the truth is that although the images are OK, nothing was working in the available light.
From the lightstation we made our way further north to the small town of Depoe Bay, we had seen it as we were coming in on Friday and thought it looked worthy a visit. There are numerous things going on in Depoe Bay normally, whale watching, fishing, water spouts caused by the sea forcing it's way through old lava tubes etc, it's a fine little town. We walked the stores and watched boats charging through the narrow channel into the harbour and disturbing a small seal who was trying to rest on the rocks close to the water level. When boats passed he lifted his head and tail to avoid the water. From a landing under the bridge deck we were able to look down on some of the fish preparation stations in the harbour which made for some interesting photos.
After Depoe Bay we finished the day back in the Nye District of Newport where Sarah found a few things in the stores. We finally got back to the hotel and couldn't be bothered to venture out again for dinner so we ordered in from the on site restaurant and watched our only sunset of the trip right outside the window.
Sunday was to be our last day in Newport and the weather was terrible so, determined to find at least a bit of beach life, we headed south toward the sunshine. On the way we stopped in at 'Thors Well' which is a huge volcanic 'blowhole' located at Cooks Chasm about 30 minutes south of Newport. We also stopped to shoot Heceta Head lighthouse in the state scenic area that bears the same name.
We stopped at a small cafe in the town of Florence for lunch where an old lady treated us to tales of salmon fishing and backed up her stories with photos to prove it. From there we went just a little further to Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area where we walked the dunes and beaches in a few areas and saw more people chasing those Dungeness Crabs. At last we found some sunshine on the beaches of the dunes area and thanks to the endless supply of driftwood there we were never short of a seat, lastly we had a short paddle to bring a lovely 'close' to the holiday.
We ended Sunday with a nice chinese meal in Newport and on monday morning I drove Sarah back to Portland airport for her flight home, I found myself wishing I'd flow with her. The drive down to get some pictures along the way was a washout and the drive home very similar. I had to double back form Crowsnest Pass owing to an accident blocking the highway, then after taking the road to Radium and through Kootenay National Park the TransCanada highway was closed between Canmore and Cochrane so I had to take the snowbound 1a through Exshaw...a non-stop 17 hour drive since leaving Newport saw me falling into bed at 1am, still happy with our 3500 km mini road trip.