Salmon River – (Reposted from Pinhole Obscura*)

Photography
river watching

Zero 4×5 + Arista 100 @ 2 min 32 seconds

Have you heard the expression “thin place?” I first heard of this 4 years ago when a Buddhist friend told me about them. Described as places where you can reach out and touch Heaven (whatever that is to you).

The Salmon River is my thin place. I first encountered this place a month after I moved to Oregon. As I hiked along the river I became mesmerized by the salmon spawning. Through the clearest of alpine waters I could see salmon laying on the bottom of the riverbed and I was touched when I thought about what it took for them to get all the way up here on the mountain so they could spawn. What a life they lived. There was something beautiful and also tragic about their story. I come back every year to this spot to watch them spawn and it never ceases to amaze me.

Salmon River 1

Zero 2000 + Ektar 100 @ 12 seconds

 

One day in the summer, A year after we’d been coming here regularly, we were hiking along the trail and a woman we ran into said, “Have you been to the secret island? You should go to the secret island! Turn right at the hollowed out tree.” So we went in search of a hollowed out tree and we found it! And we turned right. And there was, indeed, a secret island where, if you are lucky, you will have the best campground on Mt Hood with your own beach for fly fishing. It quickly became my my most favorite spot on the planet. Everytime we hike here I have to visit the Secret Island.

The secret island

Zero 4×5 + Portra 160 @ 5 seconds

Here are some other photos from along the trail, taken with various cameras at various times of the year.

Salmon River 4

Zero 4×5, 25 mm (graflex 23 roll back) + tri-x film @ 38 seconds

 

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Salmon River 3

Zero 4×5, 25 mm (graflex 23 roll back) + tri-x film @ 38 seconds

 

Salmon River 2

Zero 2000 + Ektar 100 @ 6 seconds

 

This is my favorite place in the whole wide world. It is where I go  when the craziness of life gets to me. This beautiful place slows me down and makes me see what is most important. Sometimes the river will tell me its secrets, if my mind is quiet enough.

Pinhole Obscura is the other blog I write for, along with three other friends from around the world. Do check it out!

12 thoughts on “Salmon River – (Reposted from Pinhole Obscura*)”

    1. Thank you! I love living here. There are lots of beautiful spots 🙂 it’d be cool to see the covered bridges in your part of the country!

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      1. I’m pretty sure lazy blogging was not my idea first 😛 – That word should have been “under appreciated” and not “undedicated” BTW joking aside we should make an effort to get more people to visit the other site – the posts tend to languish there a bit un-viewed and unloved – something to think about before the great pinholing buzz surrounding WPPD2015

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        1. I agree totally. We keep getting steady FB likes on our page – for whatever that’s worth. But I’d like so see more visits to the blog. Also, we should post Danny’s great WPPD idea on there to help spread the word.

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  6. Pingback: A beautiful sadness – Blatherskite

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