Tag Archives: mountains

My Road Trip To Lake Tahoe: An Unforgettable Adventure in Photographs

Hello Friends,

In early November of last year, I found myself having to take some time off from the work duties and not being able to spend time on any golden shores (i.e., Hawaii). So I decided that I should just get in the car and head somewhere that I haven’t been. I thought, if I head east towards the Rockies I would probably quickly face winter weather, North I’d end up in Canada (which I didn’t want to do), West would quickly put me into the Pacific Ocean, so south it was. I had always wanted to see Lake Tahoe. It was one of those places that I had always dreamed of visiting but never had the chance. This was now my chance.

So some quick booking for accommodations, a tune-up for the car, camera gear packed up, off I went.

The first portion of my drive was in driving rain and wind with snow in the mountains. The weather cleared up a bit as I made my way through the Yakima Valley and drove down towards the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge to cross the Columbia River. I stopped at the Maryhill Stonehenge War Memorial to take some pictures and fly the drone around, but the wind was relentless and not safe to fly.

After that brief stop, I crossed the Columbia River and drove into Oregon. From there it was a straight shot to overnight in Bend, and up early the next day to make the final push into California and Nevada.

The drive was long but it was so worth it. The scenery through southeastern Oregon was incredible even though the views of Crater Lake were obscured by clouds. And driving through some of the northern California minor highways brought me through Modoc National Forest, Adin, Susanville, and finally through Reno and up into the Sierra-Nevada’s towards the condo I was staying in. It was quite the drive, but I made it in one piece and was all set to enjoy the views of the snow-capped mountains from the comfort of my temporary home and the day trips I planned to take.

The next day, I woke up early and went for a drive around the lake. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was incredible. I stopped at a few different spots to take some pictures and just enjoy the views. One of my stops was at a place called Eagle Falls. I was looking forward to this stop since I love to photograph waterfalls and get in a little hike while I was at it. Turns out, the falls were dry so not much to look at. The stop was a disappointment but I met a few interesting people along the way and enjoyed the conversations I had with them so it wasn’t a complete waste.

Returning to my drive, I found my next stop at Sand Harbor Beach on the opposite side of the lake. I found that this was much more picturesque than the dry waterfalls I visited earlier, but the weather was taking a turn for the worse and it started to cloud up and snow a little. And with that snow came a drop in the temperature so my stop here was only long enough to snap a few photographs.

Following the full day of navigating around the lake, I returned to my condo to relax for the evening, catch up on some football, and prepare for upcoming adventures. However, unbeknownst to me, Mother Nature had different intentions; an early winter storm was supposed to roll in and possibly blanket the area in light snow.

As anticipated, the storm arrived in full force overnight and hung around for the next 3 days. Snow was strewn all around and I found myself unable to leave the condo. Unfortunately, I had not prepared to be cooped up like I was so it was an effort to keep myself fed and entertained until the storm broke and I could get leave.

After 3 days of being stuck inside, the storm finally subsided and the roads were cleared. With a more attentive ear to weather forecasts, I became aware of another storm brewing that was anticipated to bring even more snow. In response, I made the decision to pack up, depart, and just return home rather than try to salvage anything on this trip.

Since most of the mountain passes through California were still not very good to drive on I followed almost the exact same route I drove to get to Lake Tahoe on the return. I overnighted again in Bend, Oregon and took another day to complete the final leg going around Mt. Hood and down the Columbia River, making some stops along the way to snap some photographs.

Regardless of how my trip unfolded and the disappointment I felt as my plans fell apart, I believe I still managed to get a few good photographs. I am hopeful that you will enjoy what I am sharing with you now and come to the same conclusion: even busted plans can yield some good photo opportunities if you allow them to.

Blessings to you all.

Chris

Posted in Drone Photography, Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , , |

Bald Eagles of Seabeck 2020

Hello friends,

I just realized that I had never posted anything about one of my highlights from last summers lockdowns.

I managed to sneak away from work for a couple of hours and drove to Seabeck, Washington to check out what I was hearing about the eagles that show up every year. Well I was a little bit late in my timing of a visit, but not to disappoint there were still a few of them hanging around. There were a couple of mature eagles in the area and a few of juvenile ones flying around. And I managed to get a few photographs before they moved on!

I even was able to capture a couple of photographs of a raccoon that decided to swing by and give us a show. There is also a few other photos in this gallery from some of the scenery as I continued to drive around that day. You know, waterfalls, mountains, Hood Canal, and hummingbirds.

Enjoy the photographs.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , |

Around Washington, Part 1

Good day Friends! And happy Leap Year!

Well, I’ve been working on several projects lately, including an album (quickly turning into 2 albums) of Iceland. One of which is trying to accumulate some of my favorite various pictures from around Washington State. One of the challenges I’ve had is that I have pictures spread across 3 different computers using 3 different versions of Lightroom (which reminds me-another great big thank you to Adobe for making Lightroom and Photoshop subscription-based, I say very sarcastically). And trying to compile them to one spot without reworking a slew of pictures has become very problematic. But I digress. Another is that I haven’t really taken much landscape photographs in Washington State in the last few years (that should change this year). Most have been in Iceland, Nevada, Oregon, or somewhere in between.

Nevertheless, I post here for your enjoyment a few photographs from around Washington that I have taken in the last 2 years.

And now for the shameless plug, all photographs are available for purchase. Please email me or visit what I have on Fine Art America – Chris McKenna.

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming up with a few weeks.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Architectural, General, Landscape and Nature Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , |

Bend, Oregon Photo Trek

Good morning friends.

I hope that y’all (like what I did there?) had a good week. It was a busy week for me, but am managing.

So last month, before my trip to Mt. Rainier, the family and I took a little road trip to Bend, Oregon for a soccer tournament  of all things. I don’t think Bend is known for soccer tournaments, but here we were in the middle of Oregon at one. Anyway, with the close proximity to a couple of the mountains, Lynette and I decided to get up real early one morning and take a hike into them for a few early morning shots. We found ourselves marching around Sparks Lake in the dark to a spot with a view of the south sister (of the 3 Sisters) and Brokentop. After the sun rose and we got our shots, we then went to Todd Lake and marched around that to get a few shots of that lake and Mt. Bachelor. And finally, we ended up on a short hike around Tumalo Falls.

In this gallery, I start with a couple photographs I took on the trip down. The first two are of Mt. Hood, the other a shot of the Sisters from outside a farm in Redmond. The gallery also contains a couple of “portraits” I tool of a couple of fishermen around Todd Lake and a few shots around Tumalo Falls and Tumalo Creek.

Enjoy the photographs.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , |