Fall Journeys 2013 (In Progress)

Below were places I visited in October 2013 to Oregon, Washington and Utah. Click each link for more detailed information about each place, including information about how to get there, and photographic observations. For the impatients, here are Highlights of Fall Journeys in 2013, and since 2005 (to be added later).

Oregon and Washington Journey

After almost a year without a major photographic journey, I felt the urge to get on the road. One unique challenge facing me this time was the unnecessary bickering in Washington DC that threatened a government shutdown as I was preparing for the journey. Having spent weeks getting ready to rough it in the wilderness, I was not going to let the government shutdown get in the way (big mistake!). So, at the beginning of October I left the house without a clear notion of which way I'd head, debating with myself about risks/rewards associated with when the shutdown would end and thus whether Utah/New Mexico, Eastern Sierra or the NorthWest would be most suitable. Decisions were made as I approached freeway exchanges :). Finally, I decided to head to Oregon and Washington given the relative proximity to California and the abundance of natural beauties beyond national parks. I may yet head toward Utah again when the color changes at lower elevations. As it turned out, I was not able to visit any national parks due to the lingering shutdown, but ventured in national forests and state parks. In a way, the shutdown gave me the opportunity to see places that I would not typically visit. In all, I visited Proxy Falls, Silver Falls, Mount Rainier outskirt, Mount Hood and Tumalo Falls.

 

   

Proxy Falls, Willamette National Forest

  Silver Falls State Park, Oregon   Mount Rainier National Park and Mt St Helens
   
McKenzie Scenic Byway   Mount Hood Region   Tumalo Falls
       
Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway        
         

Utah Journey

By late October and thanks to the dissatisfaction of the inability to visit national parks in Oregon and Washington, I made another camping trip to Utah to revisit parks that I loved, as well as explore new ones. Places I visited: Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park at the Island In The Sky district and The Needles District, Indian Creek Recreation Aera including Newspaper Rock, Natural Bridges National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park, Calf Creek Falls, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Bryce Canyon National Park outskirt, and Zion National Park. Highway 12 leading to Bryce is also breathtaking as it traverses sections of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

   
Arches National Park   Canyonlands National Park   Indian Creek Recreation Area
   
Natural Bridges National Monument   Capitol Reef National Park   Calf Creek Falls
   
Escalante Petrified Forest State Park   Kodachrome Basin State Park   Grosvenor Arch
         
   
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area & Highway 95   Mossy Cave (Bryce Canyon National Park)   Zion National Park