I have long wanted to explore Colorado’s aspen color in the autumn and this pandemic year seemed the ideal time. So, I headed out on a planned 2-3 week trip when color was reported happening. Unfortunately, I found the color to be spotty & subpar and returned home after only a week. See the trip’s details, panoramas and images in the Colorado Autumn Color Gallery
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Neowise Comet from Sparks Lake
Comet Neowise’s heavenly appearance in mid-July gave me an opportunity for a Covid-safe photography outing in Bend’s neighborhood. So, on a clear night I made the short drive to Sparks Lake and spent 3 fabulous, star-filled hours waiting for the sky to sufficiently darken and the comet to set near South Sister. See the resulting panorama and image in the Neowise Comet Gallery
Virus-Shortened Roadtrip
In early March, Martha and I headed out in Starr for 1-1/2 weeks of visiting folks in Santa Fe and Tucson. She was then to fly home while I would continue on for another 2+ weeks of photographic explorations in the SW. And we had a fabulous time catching up with Berkeley & Marie & Santa Fe’s art scene, followed by a lovely time with family & friends in Tucson. But the covid-19 pandemic worsened the entire time — so, when it came time to separate, we instead decided to drive straight back to Bend together. Obviously that was the right decision!
We did visit a few great locations on the various legs of the trip: Canyonlands’ Island in the Sky, Canyon de Chelley, Gila Cliff Dwellings Nat’l Monument, and Ha Ho No Geh Canyon.
Full trip details, with pictures, can be found in the Virus-Shortened Roadtrip Gallery
Southwest Roadtrip
In early December I took advantage of Martha’s 3 weeks in India to take Starr on a 2 week trip to southern Arizona and western New Mexico. My itinerary was a long list of candidate locations and a desire to “go with the flow.” After a wonderful family Thanksgiving stop in San Francisco, I continued south and ended up visiting the following locations:
* Joshua Tree Nat’l Park
* Kofa Mountains
* Tucson’s Saguaro Nat’l Park & Mountain Park
* Dragoon Mountains
* Chiricahua Nat’l Monument
* Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Nat’l Monument
* White Sands Nat’l Monument
* Bisti Badlands area (King of Wings, Valley of Dreams, & Bisti)
* Shiprock
* Valley of the Gods
For the most part, the weather was conducive for photography – lots of cloudy to stormy skies. I did experience two days of rain between the Dragoons and White Sands stops, and this later became an issue when driving & hiking on NW New Mexico’s slippery-when-wet clay. And, in the end, the trip was cut short a few days when a large cold & wet storm moved into the western U.S.
Full trip details, with pictures, can be found in the Southwest Roadtrip Galleries
Autumn at Silver Falls State Park
I can’t believe that in my 40 years in Oregon I had never visited Silver Falls State Park. The Willamette Valley’s peak autumn colors, together with a forecast of heavy cloud cover, were the impetus to drive over the mountains and right that wrong. Over an afternoon and morning, I hiked to 9 of the park’s advertised 10 falls. I found most of them extremely photogenic, helped by recent rains. In fact, the night’s storm forced nearby tent campers to abandon their stay, and made me thankful for Starr’s weather tightness.
Here’s the photo gallery link: Autumn at Silver Falls Gallery
