OMHT Lake Project: North Fork Lake
In November 2015 I worked with Oregon's Mount Hood Territory (OMHT) to explore seven (and a half) lakes south of Mount Hood in 48 hours. This post is on North Fork Lake, a reservoir at the western edge of the Cascade Mountains, near Estacada, Oregon, and where the north fork of the Clackamas River splits off from the main.
North Fork was the last of the lakes I visited on my trip; and despite its mountainous terrain, it has the lowest elevation. (See all my posts from the lake project.)
It was a crisp, cold but otherwise perfect, late autumn day. Cloudless skies. The various boat launches were all closed for the wintertime, but we pulled off the road where we spotted a trail leading down to the shoreline. The light was very bright, but so autumnal to be still fun for photography. Everything looked like Fall; it was in the air. As I stood there taking photos of the beautiful scene, it occurred to me how close I was to Portland (this was the closest of the seven lakes I visited) but how different, wild, serene, devoid of city life it was. I will certainly return here in 2016 to escape the pressures of Portland, and after some fun at the lake I'll swoop onwards up the road, the lovely, lovely Oregon highway 224, to Ripplebrook ranger station and beyond. What took me so long to discover this place?
Model: Meghan Sinnott
I shot with an iPhone 6 Plus and a Canon 6D with an 85 1.2 lens. None of the images is edited, except the first one, which was adjusted slightly in Photoshop.
Nice person in Portland, Oregon, and beyond.
