The Eastern Columbia Gorge and the Oregon / Washington Rain Shadow

I’ve been falling in love with the eastern Columbia Gorge for about a decade, so one would think that the falling would be done by now. I grew up in the deciduous forests of central Pennsylvania, where summers were lush, and the thunderstorms rolled in at the end of the hottest days, and the grass there stayed green until the cold of December made the landscape white. The great, arid expanses of the American west, specifically Oregon for me, are like an alien planet. I’m fascinated by the undulating hills, devoid of trees, and teeming with grasses that turn golden in mid June. There’s a stark beauty that dryness creates. It’s alien to me because I’m an an east coast boy, but it’s familiar and evocative as a “Roadrunner and Coyote” cartoon (yes, it’s in my blood because of Looney Toons). The old west beckons from the 19th century in the American Psyche via western movies, but the windmills are ushering in the 21st century. I’ll take both centuries. I’ll take the landscape. I’ll take the dry grasses and White Oak trees. Throw in Google, wind power, and a camera from 1946, and I’m in heaven.

Horsethief Butte, Washington, April 2021

Horsethief Butte in Dallesport, Washington, in April 2021 by Gary Quay

Post update 12/25/24.

Here are some examples:

Overlooking the Columbia Gorge and Vineyards

This is from a Columbia Gorge trip from a few years back. I finally had a day off, and was dying to get out and do some photography. Gaia and I drove out to the Mosier area, which is 6 miles past Hood River, and visited Rowena Crest. I saw the light on this hillside on the way back down the hill, so I stopped to take a picture.

I used my Cook Anastigmat: an uncoated brass lens that I picked up in 2011. It’s an excellent lens to use when a modern lens would give too much contrast. I sent that lens to SK Grimes in 2024 to have it mounted in a modern shutter. The ancient pneumatic shutter was only marginally functional despite frequent repairs by yours truly.

Camera: Super Speed Graphic 4×5.
Lens: 8″ Cooke Anastigmat.
Film: Kodak T-Max 100 developed in PMK Pyro.

White Oak Forest, Rowena, Oregon, May 2023

I was in the eastern Columbia Gorge in May in some absolutely gorgeous weather. I happened to have the infrared camera along.

Camera: Nikon D300 (infrared conversion)
Lens: Vintage 20mm Nikkor

Rowena Rocks! November 2024

I have been trying to get this picture right for a few years, and I may have done it. I love the eastern Columbia Gorge in the Fall. There is no place like it.

I’m learning to not make my pictures so dark. This picture represesnts the direction I am moving.

Camera: Hasselblad 500CM
Media: CFV 100S Digital Back
Lens: 80mm Zeiss Planar

The eastern Columbia Gorge, especially the area around Mosier and Rowena, is my favorite spot for photography. The spring brings wildflowers and green hills that slowly turn golden in the summer. In the autumn, the white oaks and maples prepare for winter with a flourish of orange and yellow. The winter is cold and windswept.

Farther east, the trees thin out, and seclude themselves to valleys, while grasses clothe the rolling hills.

Here are some of the places I go to whenever I get the chance:

In Oregon
Mosier
Rowena
The Dalles
Biggs Junction
Rufus

In Washington
Bingen
White Salmon
Lyle
Wishram
Dallesport
Murdock
Maryhill

These places have plenty of space between them in which to take pictures. There is almost always interesting light, even when the Portland area is soggy and overcast.