In September Bend Parks and Recreation District and the Bend Senior Center at Larkspur Park, started a weekly walk / hike. A shout out to Leah for organizing this program and another shout out to Lauren who is the volunteer, that brings up the stragglers and makes sure nobody gets lost.
Mondays hike was the trail along the Deschutes river Starting at Pioneer Park. It is a beautiful park this time of year. I think my favorite time of the year to photograph because of the leaves. I love colorful leaves
I really, really love colorful leaves, and I photographed these before we started gathering for this hike.
We gathered at the covered picnic area and signed in for the walk. There were about 15 + people on this walk the plan was to walk along the river heading north from the park.
I didn’t take many photos in the beginning but when we got to the bridge I was fascinated… That is when I found out that Lauren was also a photographer.
I grabbed a quick shot of some of the ladies crossing the bridge and then concentrated on the cool shots it could provide….
I really need to go back and photograph the fun details of this bridge.
However the walking group had moved on and I was straggling, but Ohh what photographs to be taken….
We traveled on the west side of the Deschutes River the reflections on the water were incredible. I admit I took over 126 photos on this hike, and narrowed the photos to process down to 40+ then from those chose some of my favorite shots for this blog.
It wasn’t long before the rest of the group out paced us, we were enjoying the day, the walk, and the photo opportunities. Reflections everwhere.
A few ducks floating and foraging along the river.
One of the few times I was wishing I had brought my telephoto lens with me. I rarely use it, but I admit I missed being able to photograph the river otters because I didn’t have it.
I was fascinated with the different colors along the river banks and the reflections.
I admit I saw a face in this shot so decided to crop it in my processing
The group walks for about half an hour one way and then turns around and comes back so it wasn’t long before the group came back to us stragglers…. I mean photographers….
We turned around with the group and enjoyed the photo opportunities, that presented themselves because we were walking back the way we came. Things always look different on the way back…
I really like this shot, because while I had photographed it earlier I saw it differently and was able to take the time to get a better shot…. this time I was able to get some of our hiking group crossing the bridge, which I couldn’t do earlier.
One thing I will admit is I am not a good people photographer so, these are not the best shots…But the trip was so much fun….
Sorry gals …. I tried…. Hopefully Lauren got a better shot in focus….
Back at the bridge the river bank was showing off the colorful plantings of the houses and I admit I woke up thinking about this shot this morning. Totally wishing I could have those red and orange maple trees in my yard…. A plan to do so will be noted on my calender.
back on the east side of the Deschutes I was enjoying walking through the yellow maple leaves, picking out a batch to photograph.
Enjoying the reds the golds and the little bit of green.
The Mountain Ash against the dark Ponderosa Pine trunk, the dark rock wall and then looking up at the branches and berries against the trees on top of the rock wall area.
After about an hour of walking from the start of our trek at the covered picnic area to the finish at the same location we were enthused and looking forward to our next week’s hike at Riley Ranch.
Also, my favorite photograph from an earlier hike at Shevlin park.
I know it is not an official parks and rec sign but it is So True….
