Scenes from Eastern Oregon

One of my favorite places in the U.S. is Eastern Oregon. Some people find the landscape boring, but I’m definitely not one of them. There are so many interesting, hidden little places to see, especially on some of the lesser-traveled roads. Abandoned buildings and barns from better days make great photography subjects.

Ghost Town

Along the Interstate, there is an endless succession of odd industrial buildings – sawmills, mining operations, and who knows what else. Many of them are no longer in use, and you could spend hours photographing them from all different angles.

Factory on I-84 in Oregon.

When you leave the Interstate, the landscape becomes more and more barren. This road, which runs through the John Day Fossil Beds, cuts through some amazing gorges. Be sure to look in the rearview mirror from time to time!

Eastern Oregon

One imagines what the original settlers must have felt when they came in on the Oregon Trail (pictured below). Other than a thin ribbon of asphalt, many places have little else to show that the state is now home to millions, as most Oregonians live in the western part of the state, where rain is much more plentiful. If you do visit Oregon, be sure and visit the Oregon Trail interpretive center near Baker City.

Oregon Trail

Finally, a shot from the Snake River, as the (not quite) full moon rises over Farewell Bend State Park – so named because this is where the state’s original settlers left the Snake River for the last time. We can say from personal experience that it takes about 16 minutes (one way) to swim the Snake River at this point. The birds would hover about 10 feet above us, probably wondering what sort of odd fish we were and what we must taste like.

Moonrise over the Snake

This entry was posted in Home Leave in USA and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.