Opal Creek - Oregon Cascades

A Sunday or so ago my wife, daughter, myself along with our dog went up to the Opal Creek area for a day hike. We ended up doing a seven mile loop which was a little more than we should have for the seven year old and our dog who was dragging too by the time we got back to the car. This area is a little over an hour of travel time East of Salem, and is kind of busy on the weekends, as it is rather an easy hike overall. Still a very wonderful area and to remain intact for years to come.

Anyway, this is a protected "Old Growth" area which used to have a little mining village so along the road/path you see some of the old mining equipment that was used and left behind. Further up the road is the community area of 'Jawbone Flats' which is where there are cabins that can be rented and they do learning camps for the area teaching of the ecosystem and what the old trees still do and the value to the system.

Of course there was the Little North Santiam River, which was flowing rather well from a tremendous snow pack and the spring melting. So the roar of the river stays with you as you pretty much hike/walk along this old road cut.

One of the little critters that can be found there is the 'Western Red-Backed Salamander'. The one I shot here happened to be working its way across the parking area so hopefully it did not get squished from a car later on.

Thanks for reading!

Tim

Long Time No Blog & Horsepower!

Hey ya out there!

Keep meaning to get to this blog site but have been passing it up even while at work! Can you believe that I would rather work at a real job then post something out here? Anyway......

Things have been moving along the past month, have put out about 5 photos per week of just regular stuff to 'Smugmug' and recently posted a few shots of the 2008 Silverton Road Race which was held June 1st. I was really out there to sell off some wheels I had but took the cameras to catch some action and/or shoot some of the local countryside! You can check out my smugmug area and get into sports photography/OBRA racing where there are several galleries.

Here is a shot of my newest Bike in the stable....2006 Ducati Multistrada 620. I bought it back in late February (had 73 miles) and got my safety courses and endorsement done by mid-march. Since then have been using it to commute when I do not ride a bicycle and do some scouting rides for future bicycle training, etc. Got out today with a couple of friends and rode the back roads up to Woodburn (60 miler round trip) to look around at the outlet mall. Good will power as I bought nothing even though I was very tempted in a few stores. I meant to ride my bike today, but have to have priorities and there will always be time to pedal.

I am for hire for shooting teams, events, etc. I am currently pretty cheap at $50 for the first hour then $40/hour after that which also includes any computer time if you want some photos to be checked. Of course I have to unload them from the camera and be able to cut them to CD or DVD. Anyway that is a plug for my small company TRE Photography.

Have a great rest of the weekend! Tim