camping – Deanne Dements Photography

A trip to the Metolius River area and Robins challenge.

Last week my Friend Robin asked me to go with her and another friend to collect greenery for wreaths. I did my last blog on that trip the with her and her husband. It inspired me to think about going out and picking some greenery for photographs. I don’t need much and don’t want to get too much because I would not be able to use it before it faded. Plus, I would not be able to go out again to another place and get something different. As life goes though thinking about an idea and going out and doing that idea, doesn’t always happen.
So Monday, Robin asked me if I liked challenges. I love photo challenges…. Her challenge was for me to go out with the dogs and take 5 photos. I modified it to taking the trolls and the dogs. Especially since the German Shepherds are too busy checking things out to be good photo subjects. Then she said “Oh and no Juniper.” Well Shoot…. I guess I have to go back to Camp Sherman / Metolius river Area. I decided that we would start as far out as we could go at Candle Ck Campground. Normally we cannot get there this time of year because of snow. This year no problem good dry road all the way…
I love worn out picnic tables in the national forest and this table had a lot of character.
So Robin…. Challenge photo #1

Poppa T, Pinx, Aqua and their little brother Blew brought several of their pet lizards to play in the forest. We wandered around the campground a bit then headed back towards the main road. Collecting nature and greenery on the way back.

We stopped at Abbot Ck bridge because the kids wanted to check things out.

And then we hear a squawk from the car…. Thomas Turkey thought this might be a good place to find some of his family

Challenge photo #2
We did a search but didn’t find anything not even a feather. So, we continued back to the main road and lower bridge campground Bridge 99. Where there was this beautiful reflection on the river.

The trolls wanted to get out and take photos of the river from the bridge

Challenge photo #3
It wasn’t long before they moved along the bridge railing to a better view

Challenge shot #4
Just after this shot was taken Aqua, (on the right) decided that he wanted to go swimming and dove off the bridge into the freezing Metolius river. I hoped that he would catch the swirl and end up against the shore at the campground but no he went for the rapids and around the bend. After that the photo session was over for the day. I do hope that if he decides to swim with the fishies he has a good time.
However we still have Poppa T, Pinx, and little Blew. I convinced them that we needed to set up the photo area and use the greenery and branches we collected.

Challenge shot #5

And so, another personal challenge begins, Making floral arrangements with Christmas in mind.
We love a good challenge….. and maybe Aqua will figure out how to join us again….

Fall colors along the Deschutes River Bend Oregon

I have lived in Central Oregon for just over 30 years and for some reason I have not taken the time to photograph the parks along the Deschutes river. There is an incredible series of parks along the river that are all connected by easy to moderate walking trails. Fall is probably the best time to enjoy those trails with the fall colors reflecting in the water. I figured that this Sunday would be the best day to hike along the trails in town. Bend Parks and Rec and the city of Bend have spent the last several years working on the trails that runs along the river and through the city of Bend. It is a series of trails that run from South Bend down river to north Bend running about 25 miles. I wanted to walk and photograph the Drake park area and along the river going down river with no set stopping point. Of the 4 pool pals, two were unavailable and that left just Robin and myself. Since Robin lived a couple blocks away from Drake Park, she was an excellent guide, and I would not have seen as much beautiful scenery as we did. I admit I would have simply done a quick photo shoot around Drake Park and then walked as far down stream as the Newport bridge then turned around.

We did a loop around Drake Park, and I took photographs and more photographs gathering impressions as I went.

I looked up, I looked forward, I looked down.

There were reflections everywhere along the river

We made our way down river towards the Newport bridge on the new trail

towards the first street area and on to pioneer park.

We continued till we ran out of pavement and turned around, the trail continued on north but we really didn’t need to go further. Save that for another day.
I was fascinated by the kayakers navigating under the bridge and thought of my niece Sarah, wondering if she had kayaked this section of the river, thinking yes, she would have.

on our way back to Drake Park we went through the old down neighborhood and enjoyed even more vibrant colored foliage.

Along the way there were always places to stop and reflect, places to sit and even a bit of whimsy with cookies for your pooch

I am so glad that Robin and I took this hike and hope that we can share it with the other two gals in a different season. I also hope that you enjoyed my impressions of this hike.

In search of Fall colors along the Metolius River

I love tracking down the reds and yellows of the fall leaves, one of my favorite places to go is the Metolius River. I found a spot down river from Camp Sherman that never disappoints.

Candle Creek Campground is at the end of a dirt and gravel forest service road. It is a quiet campground and this time of year not usually filled with campers.

I really love to concentrate on the leaves and plants on the ground

My other goal was to find the trail I had spotted the last time I was at this campground I wanted to know if it went to Bridge 99/ Lower bridge campground. However, the best color was the opposite way…. So I concentrated on that, then worked my way upriver finding the trail head. My house mate Susan and I had decided that it would be a good idea to move the car closer to the trailhead. We found a spot that was a boat ramp and parked there. The trail I was looking for was the West Metolius River Trail 4018 and the furthest down river leading up to the bridge.

The goal was to see how good the trail was and to see if there was good color.

The trail was good where we hiked, a few logs that had fallen and were chopped away but easy to navigate. Soon we came to a small log bridge crossing a creek

I have to admit I had no issues with the bridge. Susan was not as agile as I am, so she came across much slower than I did.

We went a few feet further and then decided to turn around and head back to the car. Neither of us have been doing much hiking lately and there was no need to go to the end of the trail. I had an idea where it was at the bridge.