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To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely…

by Sandeep Thomas
Smith Rock from Rim Rock Trail
6/17/20186/17/2018, 6:07 AM (46 minutes after sunrise)
NIKON D850 + 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
24.0 mmf/8.0 1/20 s64

  • Edmund Burke.

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After a very cold and windy sunset at Sparks lake we decided to hit the landmark attraction of Bend, the Smith Rock State Park. The sheer cliffs of tuff and basalt are ideal for rock climbing of all difficulty levels. Smith Rock is generally considered the birthplace of modern American sport climbing and is host to cutting-edge climbing routes. It is popular for sport climbing, traditional climbing, multi-pitch climbing, and bouldering (source: wikipedia).

We had been here once before without much planning and got bamboozled by the morning light. It all has to do with the crooked river that snakes through the valley. During both sunset and sunrise, the sun will be behind massive rock formations and hence light can be tricky here. Last time we were here, the clouds were on the opposite side of the rock formations and all the color and texture were on the opposite side. Thankfully this time the cloud cover was much more uniform.