Black Friday | PNW Forest Escape

[Snakes]

Black Friday is an escape humanity day for me. While the metro area wakes up with plans to hammer down on the highways, I try to get tucked away in the PNW rainforest.

Fast forward to this year. The Bronco was loaded. Camera, rifle, gold pan, binoculars, fly rod, camp chair, chainsaw… I was prepared for everything. And had plans for nothing.

My first stop was a low elevation trout stream. I parked, started rigging up for trout…and there it was. The voices of an unexpected hunting party preparing for their day.

The mission flipped.

I dumped the easy access roads and went deep. This was muddy ruts and a suspension earning its keep.

The off-roading didn’t exactly rival you Moab guys…but it sure as hell makes you pay attention. Alternating between staring over a 300’ cliff that’s one tire length away, to overgrown trails grabbing at your paint. Giving you that fingernails on the chalkboard tingle.

I didn’t find gold, I was at an elevation too high to fish, and wildlife photography was elusive. But the drive delivered. I got far enough away to build a small fire, check the zero on my rifle, and FINALLY get some pics of the Bronco in the wild.

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[Scott M]

Misty days in the Northwest recharge the soul. Love how still yet vibrant the forest feels this time of year.

 

[dh57]

Same, Black Friday is escape humanity in the forests of Uwharrie in Pisgah National Forest (NC).

 

[Slick85]

The PNW is the jewel of North America... what forest specifically?

 

[Snakes]

Misty days in the Northwest recharge the soul. Love how still yet vibrant the forest feels this time of year.

Nailed it! Still and vibrant is the best way to describe it. Tons of mushroom life this time of the year too.

 

[Zarasa]

what are you shooting (the pictures) with? smartphone or a camera? great pictures either way.

 

[Snakes]

The PNW is the jewel of North America... what forest specifically?

This trip was in the Clatsop State Forest. Tracked my way from 26 to almost 3/4 of the way to the little towns above Astoria. Eventually hit closed gates and private land on the other side.

 

[swooshdave]

I have mostly stayed away from that part as there is a lot of private lands in that area. You can stay in the Forest from Vinapple to Nicolai which I may try one of these days. Not sure if this is actually possible but I'll find out.

And Nicolai is a fun little park.

Can you share the route you took?

And this time of year (hunting season) I'm sure to wear orange in the woods. I think most of the hunters are out in the early morning so mid-day adventures are somewhat less crowded.

 

[Snakes]

Same, Black Friday is escape humanity in the forests of Uwharrie in Pisgah National Forest (NC).

That truck looks so good outdoors!!!

 

[Snakes]

what are you shooting (the pictures) with? smartphone or a camera? great pictures either way.

This was an actual camera but honestly I think iPhones are just as capable now. A buddy of mine does fishing photography for magazines and online journals and a lot of stuff is from a new iPhone. Haha.

I take an almost 20 year old Canon 5D out with me though for wildlife photos. It gives me a little more wiggle room if I need a longer lens.

 

[EasternSierra]

This was an actual camera but honestly I think iPhones are just as capable now. A buddy of mine does fishing photography for magazines and online journals and a lot of stuff is from a new iPhone. Haha.

I take an almost 20 year old Canon 5D out with me though for wildlife photos. It gives me a little more wiggle room if I need a longer lens.

I have an iPhone and it's great for web images. It's not as capable if you want to blow an image up or crop deeply.

The big advantage of a phone camera is the computational power of the phone, which allows all kinds of tricks (like merging multiple shots) to make shooting in poor light work better. Also, the automatic image processing pumps up contrast and vividness. That makes photos look better with no need for manual post-processing effort.

Pixel counts for phone cameras are misleading, because diffraction caused by the tiny camera size makes details at full size pretty mushy. You're not getting the full advantage of all those pixels. However, once an image is scaled down for viewing on a website or handheld device, that mush disappears and you have a sharp photo.

Mobile phone cameras are unrivaled for convenience and my iPhone is now my most-used camera. Still, for serious photography beyond the web you still want a much larger sensor and better lens choices.

 

[Sitruc_btb]

Sounds like a great getaway. I miss the PNW. Foggy woods, mossy trees. Frigid Pacific in the back yard.

 

[jrollo7]

Black Friday is an escape humanity day for me. While the metro area wakes up with plans to hammer down on the highways, I try to get tucked away in the PNW rainforest.

Fast forward to this year. The Bronco was loaded. Camera, rifle, gold pan, binoculars, fly rod, camp chair, chainsaw… I was prepared for everything. And had plans for nothing.

My first stop was a low elevation trout stream. I parked, started rigging up for trout…and there it was. The voices of an unexpected hunting party preparing for their day.

The mission flipped.

I dumped the easy access roads and went deep. This was muddy ruts and a suspension earning its keep.

The off-roading didn’t exactly rival you Moab guys…but it sure as hell makes you pay attention. Alternating between staring over a 300’ cliff that’s one tire length away, to overgrown trails grabbing at your paint. Giving you that fingernails on the chalkboard tingle.

I didn’t find gold, I was at an elevation too high to fish, and wildlife photography was elusive. But the drive delivered. I got far enough away to build a small fire, check the zero on my rifle, and FINALLY get some pics of the Bronco in the wild.

Good for you. Enjoy Bronco life (without people)!

 

[jtgensler]

Nice. I'm interviewing for a job in Seattle right now & one of the big selling points for me is the ability to explore all the great forests & parks in the region.
Hopefully it goes well & I'm spending a lot of time in them next year!

 

[RobWTX]

Nice pics, trip looks like a great time!
I went to the Amazon for black Friday, errr, I mean I spent time shopping on Amazon.

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