It rained Sunday.
It rained all day.
It rained all day.
I was East of Salem, trying to hike the Opal Creek trail. Here, you can see rain clouds settling into the North Santiam River watershed.
I tried the rubber band and plastic sack rain shield that I used last February in the Columbia Gorge (http://thenarrativeimage.blogspot.com/2007/02/rain-water-and-digital-cameras.html), but for best results, you need to at least start with dry equipment.
It was raining so hard that I was reluctant to take the camera out, and I didn’t until I reached the Opal Pool. By that time, my rain jacket had proved that it wasn’t very water resistant anymore. I was essentially soaked to the skin, and when I opened up my backpack, I discovered it wasn’t that water resistant either. Every dry cloth I brought to wipe off the camera and lens wasn’t dry anymore. The best I could do was smear water drops around on the lens and create an uneven diffusion effect which only became more pronounced as condensation set in.
Since it is probable that the rain isn’t going to stop until next May, I’ll be researching solutions to this problem in earnest.
I tried the rubber band and plastic sack rain shield that I used last February in the Columbia Gorge (http://thenarrativeimage.blogspot.com/2007/02/rain-water-and-digital-cameras.html), but for best results, you need to at least start with dry equipment.
It was raining so hard that I was reluctant to take the camera out, and I didn’t until I reached the Opal Pool. By that time, my rain jacket had proved that it wasn’t very water resistant anymore. I was essentially soaked to the skin, and when I opened up my backpack, I discovered it wasn’t that water resistant either. Every dry cloth I brought to wipe off the camera and lens wasn’t dry anymore. The best I could do was smear water drops around on the lens and create an uneven diffusion effect which only became more pronounced as condensation set in.
Since it is probable that the rain isn’t going to stop until next May, I’ll be researching solutions to this problem in earnest.
The waterfall that feeds into what I presume is the Opal Pool, (I couldn’t verify this with my guidebook because the pages were wet and fragile and stuck together) passes through a narrow cut in the rocks where this migrating rock got trapped. Since the rock looks more polished than the walls, I figure it is evidence of the power of past high volume hydraulics.
Here and there along the river bank, isolated trees explode into fall colors.
It’s becoming a trend.
The Opal Creek trail is a photo opportunity rich location with old abandoned mining equipment waiting to be discovered in the forest. But this is the last picture I took before I initiated emergency measures to protect the camera from further exposure to water.
Next dry day, I’m going back.
