July 2003 Oregon Trip Panoramas
The Panoramic photos on this page were taken during my trip to Oregon and Washington in July 2003. All were taken with my Canon PowerShot G1 digital camera in "panorama-assist" mode and were stitched with the PhotoStitch software that came with the camera. Most are comprised of 4-6 images. These low-resolution versions really don't do justice to the photos though; catch me sometime when I have my laptop or one of my large-format prints of these handy sometime. I took a tripod with me all the way out there from Florida, but didn't feel like lugging it around so all these were hand-held too.
Crater Lake, July 21, 2003
How do you like this picture of Mom, at right in blue, fiddling with her camera at the visitor's center near the lodge just after lunch?
I call this my "top of the world" picture. The blues really draw me in to this photo.
This was shot at the first place where you can park and see the lake.
This photo, and "top of the world" above, were both shot on the north or east side of the lake.
"Look Ma, how many suns do we have now?" I know I could shoot with a hood to get rid of all those lens flares, but they're so much fun, and this isn't the greatest anyway.
Mt. St. Helens, July 24, 2003
Looking into the crater of Mt. St. Helens from the Johnston Ridge Observatory. It's five-and-half miles away and about 4,000 feet of elevation below the rim of the crater. This is as close as you can drive to the volcano. That's snow-capped Mt. Adams peaking out behind the ridge on the left side of the photo.
Just before you get to Johnston Ridge, you can stop at the Loowit Viewpoint.
Looking the other way from the parking lot at the Loowit Viewpoint, you see this very cool switchback in the road and the hills in the background are still covered with fallen trees 23 years later.
Farther away still is the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center. That's Coldwater Lake in the foreground.
This is shot from a fairly high vantage point at the Weyerhaeuser Forest Products Learning Center. That's Mt. St. Helens peaking out behind the one ridge. The river is the North Fork Toutle River, which is mostly filled with ash and mud, but has a ribbon of water flowing roughly down the middle of the old bed.
Oregon Coast Day Trip, July 19, 2003
Our first stop at the coast, after a pit stop at the Ginger Bread House, was in Florence. This is the waterfront along the Siuslaw River.
On the way up the coast from Florence, we stopped at the Sea Lion Caves. The brown-gray blobs at the water's edge are sea lions basking in the sun.
Newport from the bridge to the end of the jetty. The Yaquina Bay lighthouse is directly behind me. I found out from the family sitting next to me on the plane that one of Newport's claims to fame is that most of Free Willy was filmed there.
All Photos and descriptions Copyright (c) 2003. Craig R. Lee, all rights reserved.