The first day of our Columbia River Gorge 5 day private tour included the fantastic Eagle Creek Trail. We hiked to the Metlako Falls viewpoint and captured the beauty of Metlako with the two trees hanging on the cliff side and the fog that sites right above the falls. Next stop involved climbing in a stream and bushwhacking our way to a unique viewpoint of Metlako Falls, from the top of an opposite waterfall. It’s a sketchy scramble, but well worth the effort! A rainbow made an appearance in the shot as well. Last stop on the Eagle Creek Trail – Punchbowl Falls, an absolute classic in the Gorge. We suited up in our waders, made our way to the middle of the creek and spent the next hour nailing the shot. If you haven’t been, keep in mind that you cannot photograph the falls without standing in the water, and it’s cold, really cold! Waders are highly recommended! The afternoon of Day 1 took us to Gorton Creek, probably the most pristine creek in all of the Gorge. Perfectly spaced moss-covered rocks lead you into an S-curve around the bend. There are infinite possibilities in Gorton Creek. You need waders to take full advantage of the creek, but it’s calm enough to take your time and experiment with multiple compositions. A fantastic start to the tour!

Rest day! After sleeping a long time, I made my way to Pig ‘N’ Pancake for my usual sourdough pancake breakfast and made my way to Hood River, stopping at Walmart for supplies. I setup camp at Viento State Park Campground and had an entire loop to myself. I made my way to Hood River and hung out at Doppio Coffee and Lounge to grab a tea and coconut chocolate cookie and catch up on my emails. My client arrived just in time for a sunset shoot in Hood River and we were treated to fantastic light! I felt rejuvenated and ready for the next adventure, a 5 day comprehensive tour of the Gorge!

Sunrise at Dalles Mountain Ranch was decent, and my client was able to get some keepers. From DMR, we stayed on the Washington side exploring the incredible and relatively unknown waterfalls on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. We were able to accomplish a lot and still had an afternoon to fill, so we were able to cross back over to Oregon and see 3 more waterfalls before sunset! For sunset we arrived at the Women’s Forum Overlook but the light fizzled out. The celebrate the incredible and intense 2 day tour we went to dinner at Pok Pok, an incredible Thai restaurant in Portland. After dropping my client off at the airport and crashed hard and prepared to reload for the next tour.

What a whirlwind it’s been! I work 15 hour days on average during a tour or workshop, so blogging and social media is the last thing on my mind. I had hopes of blogging during the actually tours, but the reality is it has to wait until after.

On to Day #2… I picked my client up from his airport hotel at 6am and we spent the entire day exploring off trail waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. For sunset we made it to the Dalles Mountain Ranch to photograph the balsam root and lupines. It was a solid year for flowers, and my client was blown away by the incredible carpets on the hillsides. After sunset we made our way to a nearby hotel to get some sleep before a 4am wake up call for sunrise!