Just out of the frame to our right, there were nearly three dozen pelicans bathing - Arch Cape #OregonExplored

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The fields were packed with huckleberries, leaves fiery red - Umbrella Falls #OregonExplored

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Put to pasture - Cottonwood Canyon State Park #OregonExplored

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A little like how I feel some days - Yaquina Head #OregonExplored

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We could hear a train coming up behind us as we walked - Freebridge Road #OregonExplored

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A soft, muddled sky - Dalles Mountain Ranch #WashingtonExplored

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Looking back toward home - Mosier #OregonExplored

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We drove down to see the old road and also took some time to stand by the water - Hug Point #OregonExplored

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The ranger wasn't sure how big of a show we'd get that afternoon - Yellowstone #WyomingExplored

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There was a light rain - Kentucky Falls #OregonExplored

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The sun shone hard - Leslie Gulch #OregonExplored

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A sheltering oak - Mosier Plateau #OregonExplored

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To look through - Arch Cape #OregonExplored

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We gathered dried flowers, feathers, rabbit grass, and sage - Cottonwood Canyon State Park #OregonExplored

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The platform near here was rotted and wet, the trail mostly underwater - Kentucky Falls #OregonExplored

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We shared the trail with at least half a dozen other travelers - Eagle Creek #OregonExplored

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In the afternoon, we walked along the Mosier Plateau, but we spent our morning here - Horsetail Falls Loop #OregonExplored

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Our first day in the gulch - Leslie Gulch #OregonExplored

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Purpose - Arch Cape #OregonExplored

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It was cold up there - Tom Dick and Harry Mountain #OregonExplored

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The moss glowed yellow-green - Silver Falls State Park #OregonExplored

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There was evidence everywhere of the 2018 fire - Eagle Creek #OregonExplored

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A strong but quiet place - Pillars of Rome #OregonExplored

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The wind had mostly died down, and there were still some signs of summer - Mosier #OregonExplored

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Water rushed by beneath us - Kentucky Falls #OregonExplored

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Stages of flight - Arch Cape #OregonExplored

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It held on to the edge - Little Zigzag Falls #OregonExplored

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Fall foliage was just beginning to show around the lake - Mirror Lake #OregonExplored

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Just enough damp to capture the morning light - Silver Falls State Park #OregonExplored

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It was mid-morning in May and already well over 80 degrees - Steens Mountain Wilderness #OregonExplored

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We looked out over the water - Beacon Rock #WashingtonExplored

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The waves had washed the insides of the rocks smooth along this section of beach - Hug Point #OregonExplored

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We only got glimpses - Umbrella Falls Trail #OregonExplored

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They always know when you're carrying snacks - Mirror Lake #OregonExplored

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The three brothers and their cats had farmed not far from here - Steens Mountain Wilderness #OregonExplored

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These prefer to scout out the ground for whatever food they can find - #MurmuringPines #OregonExplored

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The water was cool and calm, the perfect place to wait a while - Thomas Lake Trail #WashingtonExplored

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The kind of place that helps me feel at home in the world - Kentucky Falls #Oregonexplored

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The trail was dusted in loose, light-colored sand - Rooster Rock State Park #OregonExplored

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We walked among giants - Kentucky Falls #OregonExplored

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The air was fragrant with the smell of summer grass, tree sap, and ripening blackberries - Milo McIver State Park #OregonExplored

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Mountain maple - Mirror Lake #OregonExplored

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The mud clung to my boots, and everywhere, dribbles of water dropped down from the rocks above - Ponytail Falls #OregonExplored

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The rhododendrons were fully in bloom - Cast Creek Trail #OregonExplored

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A break in the fence, wild carrots, and in the distance, a bridge - Hoffstadt Creek Bridge #WashingtonExplored

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The sky is always moving - Umbrella Falls Trail #OregonExplored

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The way through - Mirror Lake #OregonExplored

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This was half an hour before we ran into an elk on the trail - Fort Stevens State Park #OregonExplored

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The trails all intersect here, and it is unusual for there not to be at least a dozen people - Forest Park #OregonExplored

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Every place has a kind of personality, a temperament - Cottonwood Canyon State Park #Oregonexplored

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