Winter sun pattern ~ old barn
When I posted photographs of a sagging, but with character, old barn,
just outside the small town of Shaniko, Oregon...I got a surprise
comment on the photo. The lady said that the barn was built by her
great great uncle Leslie Payne, and then she gave me a little history
about her uncle. Truly one of the joys of sharing photographs on
flickr.
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My wife and I took a similar mini road trip to Central Oregon in
Ocbober of 2008. Here are the photos from that trip, which include the
Leslie Payne barn and a few shots of downtown Shaniko, Oregon (the
hotel is still in good shape and still for sale:
www.flickr.com/photos/12150532@N04/sets/72157608460304381/
Oct 2008 Leslie Payne’s early 1900’s barn outside Shaniko, Oregon
www.flickr.com/photos/12150532@N04/2982511932/in/set-7215...
Got this nice comment from a flickr member, who knew well, the history of this barn. Here is her comment (on the barn photos I posted in October of 2008):
“You're the 1st to get it right, it's a barn. It was built by my
great-uncle Leslie Payne in the early 1900's when he was Water
Comissioner for Shaniko. Every else guesses wrong. Uncle Leslie was a
farmer by trade and knew how to construct his barns well.” comment
from: Kathy
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“Smith Rock State Park” Oregon Road Trip - Dec. 7th - 9th, 2011. These
photographs were taken on a three day looping road trip through
Eastern Oregon. The winter weather was perfect, with sunny clear
skies.
DAY ONE: We drove through the Warm Springs reservation and on our way toward Redmond, Oregon we visited Peter Skene Ogden state park to gaze straight down at a narrow canyon of the Crooked River Gorge (Downstream it the Crooked River joins the Deschutes. Upstream is where we hiked along the Crooked River in Smith Rock State Park). We walked across the old highway bridge for views up and down the river canyon. Next, we drove to Smith Rock state park, near Terrebonne, Oregon, to check out the trailhead for the day hike we had planned the next day.
DAY TWO: We got up early and there was a freezing fog all about. Fortunately it burned off on our drive to Smith Rock state park, where we intended to hike. It was cold but beautiful when we hiked down “The Chute” trail to cross the Crooked River. We then hiked the Wolf Tree Trail to enjoy the lovely warm morning light as the last of the morning freezing fog blew away.
Retracing our hike the mile back to the footbridge on the Wolf Tree trail, we started up the Misery Ridge Trail. In the heat of a summer the trail’s name would probably fit, but the cold air felt great as my wife and I hiked up the ridge, with spectacular views changing by the moment.
We stopped for a water and snack break on top of Misery Ridge and took in the panoramic views to the west of us (the Oregon Cascades). Then above the pillar of rock called “The Monkey Face” (and a challenging route for rock climbers), we started the steep switchback trail back down to the Crooked River.
Enjoying our hike in the sunshine, we took the long route to join and hike the River Trail and eventually hiked counter clockwise, back to the footbridge, where we had started our loop hike. We saw Goldeneyes duck; mallards, Canada geese, falcons, and rock pigeon [Columba livia], the favorite dinner of the resident Peregrine Falcon.
As the sun came out and the cliff faces warmed, a swarm of eager rock climbers began showing up and along The Dihedrals and the Morning Glory Wall, we stopped to watch them climb and rappel. Smith Rock is a well known and popular rock climbing area. The rock is good but many of the faces have no cracks or hand holds so many of the faces are dotted with not only the white chalk marks of climbers’ hands, but the silver ends of protective “bolts”. We saw lots of those.
After completing our day hike we headed out to Cline Falls State Park on the Upper Deschutes River. Didn’t find the falls but enjoyed watching two lovely swans mingling among the resident mallards on the river.
DAY THREE: We left Redmond, Oregon on a sunny morning and drove east toward Mitchell, taking a quick side trip to the Painted Hills unit of the John Day fossil beds. Lighting wasn’t good for photographs, so we drove on. We stopped to check out the Oregon Hotel there for future reference (probably not), then turned north to drive the route north along the along the John Day River (which was trying to freeze over in places). At Fossil we turned west to the Clarno Unit of the John Day fossil beds. A fire had burned all vegetation at this site, but the hike to the cliffs, the fossils, and the intriguing “frozen in time” result of ancient lahars, was fascinating and worth the stop and the short hike.
On to Shaniko from the Clarno fossil beds and I stopped to take some photographs of an old barn, outside of town, that I had photographed a few years back. It has continued to cave in, weather and deteriorate, but is still a worthy photo shoot.
From Shaniko, Oregon we pointed our vehicle north toward home and by the time we reached Moro, we were enveloped in thick fog. That fog bank stayed with us all the way to our home in Eastern Washington. But, aside from the foggy ending, the two of us had more than our fair share of wonderful winter blue skies and sunshine, and we enjoyed every portion of the trails we had hiked.
Winter is not my favorite time of the year but road trips and hikes, like this one, sure help. In a few weeks the shortest day of the year will pass and the days will start getting longer and warmer “poco a poco” and that, for me, is always something to look forward to.
Comments and faves
eddie_tk (5 months ago | reply)
ditto - the lines - patterns and geometric shapes are awesome !
great capture
R. Pahre (5 months ago | reply)
Very interesting geometry of light, shadow, and roof here!
oldmantravels (5 months ago | reply)
Eddie and RP - - I'm glad you like the "pattern" view from inside the old barn. There was a broken stairway leading to a lower level of the barn (I didn't know it had one). An interesting old barn for sure in a community that is small (Shaniko) but still very proud of their town and their history. OMT
brewbooks (5 months ago | reply)
Very nice light and shadow, annd looks like quite a nice little journey.
oldmantravels (5 months ago | reply)
BB - - thank you. We both enjoyed this short but interesting "road trip in the winter's sun" with the hike at Smith Rock state park being the highlight. Back roads, empty this time of year are wonderful to drive and enjoy ... and we did. Merry Christmas and the best to you and yours for 2012. OMT
Wonderlane added this photo to their favorites. (5 months ago)
rovingmagpie (5 months ago | reply)
I really like this one, OMT.
oldmantravels (5 months ago | reply)
Thanks Dick. I like old buildings with "character" and this old barn certainly qualified in my books. Happy travels in 2012. OMT
rooftop65 (4 months ago | reply)
Great capture of a magnanimous portion of light and shadow! This last summer I took pretty much this same tour of central Oregon to show my grandkids what Oregon was all about. They live in New Hampshire. They were most impressed with the painted hills and seeing wild horses on the Warm Springs Reservation, for we traveled home that way. They also enjoyed the ice cream stop at Shaniko.
rooftop65 added this photo to his favorites. (4 months ago)
oldmantravels (4 months ago | reply)
John - - recently finished a book on Eastern Oregon history, written by a couple of "old timers" back around the early 1900s. Found many places I "need" to explore this year. Can't wait to get going. So much to see and do and so little time and money. I try to make the best of both (time and little money). Next time I'm in Shaniko (one of my favorite small towns), I will watch for you. I'll be the befuddled old guy sitting on the bench in front of the brick hotel, talking to the two wooden cowboys. HA. OMT
manywinters (4 months ago | reply)
Wonderful lines , light and shadows!
manywinters added this photo to her favorites. (4 months ago)
oldmantravels (4 months ago | reply)
Thanks Vicky. I know this old barn can't last too many more winters in Eastern Oregon, and when it finally takes its last tumble, a lot of fine memories will fall with it. OMT