Photography is my hobby and my job, so it commands a good portion of my attention. Even though it is strictly a hobby, bicycle racing is a close second. One day I hope to travel in Europe during the racing season and be a spectator at some of the classic world-famous races. Until then, I am very glad that the Amgen Tour of California offers a week of professional cycle racing with some of the best riders and teams in the world, just a few hours drive from where I live.

This year, my brother Ian, Owner of Flywheel Bicycles in Talent, Oregon, and I followed all eight days of the Tour, camping in Walmart parking lots, eating burritos, cheering on our favorite riders and just being general bike racing geeks. We also had some fun making very low quality videos which we posted on his website for the southern Oregon cycling community to enjoy. If you want to see what the life of die hard cycling fans is like you can see the videos HERE. The videos are posted in reverse chronological order.

In Just three years, the Tour of California has become the biggest and most prestigious bike race in the US. It draws the biggest European pro tour teams such as Astana, CSC, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner and Credit Agricole, as well as top US teams such as Slipstream Chipotle, Rock Racing and Toyota United. This year’s roster included the Road World Champion, Paolo Bettini and the Time Trial World Champion and Paris Roubaix winner, Fabian Cancellara, as well as many national champions and other top pro riders such as Tom Boonan, Stewart O’Grady, George Hincapie, David Millar and Mario Cipollini. Levi Leipheimer, who was last year’s overall winner and third place finisher in the Tour de France, defended his title with a convincing second win.

I managed to take a few photos of the racers, but someday I’ll have to work on getting a press pass so that I can access the press areas, support cars and photo motorcycles, which is where the best shots come from.

Compared to the aspen groves in the Rockies or the large deciduous forests in the north east, Oregon isn’t particularly known for its fall color. However, just because it doesn’t blanket the countryside doesn’t mean that pockets of great fall color don’t exist in Oregon. Many towns have planted maple, ash, birch, alder and elm trees, creating capsules of reds, yellows and oranges within city limits. There are also numerous parks and Asian gardens around the state that are brilliant in the fall. One of the best places to search out fall color is along the banks of mountain streams, lakes and rivers.

In southern Oregon, one of the best shows of fall flare is along the upper Rogue River between Prospect and Union Creek early in the month of October. The conifer forest that lines Hwy. 62 is full of dogwood which turns pleasant but subdued hues of red and orange. The real show is to be found right on the river banks where the vine maples can make it look like the forest is on fire. The Rogue River Trail follows the Rogue River along this entire section and makes for excellent hiking in the fall when the temperatures are cool and the air is crispy. However, keep in mind that fall color season is also deer hunting season, so wear bright colors, announce yourself as you hike and be prepared to see camouflaged sportsmen toting rifles coming out of the underbrush.

To get to the upper Rogue River, take Hwy. 62 from Medford. You can also get there coming the other way on Hwy. 62 from Fort Klamath or on Hwy 138 which runs between Roseburg and Hwy 97. Accessing the trail is easy. Several side roads along Hwy. 62 between Prospect and Union Creek provide access to the river and the trail. Traveling from Prospect the river is off the left side of the highway. The roads that will take you down to the river are River Bridge, Woodruff Bridge and Natural Bridge. On each of these roads the river is two miles or less from hwy. 62. Where each road meets the river there is a parking area and access to the Rogue River Trail. The distance on the trail between each of the three roads is about four miles. The distance from River Bridge all the way up to Union Creek is between 15 and 20 miles, but it is very easy to day hike shorter sections of trail. For shorter hikes or with a single car it is great to make one or two mile, out-and-back treks. In this way it is possible to hike a section of trail from each of the bridges in a single day, covering a fair portion of the river. With two cars you can also leave a shuttle and hike point to point as far as you like.The trail is mostly flat as it follows the river and never strays far from the river bank.

My favorite section of the trail is upstream from River Bridge where it ducks through glowing tunnels of vine maple and stands of large fir trees. Along sections that have a view up and down the river both banks are fringed with reds and oranges bright enough to hurt your eyes. After about two and a half miles you arrive at Takelma Gorge. At more than a mile long and, in places, only 20 feet wide and 80 feet deep, the gorge is a fantastic geological feature. Take care along this section. The trail follows the rim of the gorge, there are no railings or signs and many of the rocks are moss covered and slick. A fall into the rapids below would be nearly impossible to survive. In most places the water carved canyon is so deep and narrow that it isn’t possible to see down to the bottom. Along the gorge itself the fall color isn’t particularly dense, but there are some great patches close by.

One of the most visited spots on the river is Natural Bridge. As the name implies, the entire river flows through an underground lava tube which forms a natural bridge. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per minute disappear into a large hole in the riverbed and then come bursting from the rock again a hundred feet or so down stream. There walls of the canyon at Natural Bridge are mostly basalt rock, so there aren’t many trees with color growing near the river, but a short hike upstream or downstream will reveal more crimson and yellow lined banks.

Just past Union Creek is the Rogue River Gorge viewing area. While not as long or as deep as Takelma Gorge, the Rogue River Gorge is very dramatic, with steep basalt cliffs and a series of waterfalls entering the canyon where the terrain drops radically. The parking for the Rogue River Gorge is only a few feet off the highway and there are paved paths, railings and viewing platforms, making it an easy stop even if you are just passing through.

Past Union Creek toward Diamond Lake there is a pretty good gain in elevation and the color producing deciduous trees mostly give way to high altitude confiers and the color becomes much less intense. However, the hiking is still great and the river becomes more rugged and cascading. National Creek Falls is worth the short drive back into the woods and Muir falls makes a great five mile round trip hike.

Galen Rowell was one of the best-known photographers of the last 30 years, and he has been a major influence on me and my photography since the 1990’s. However, before I knew of him as a photographer I was aware of his exploits as a climbing pioneer, first in Yosemite Valley, then in the high Sierra and eventually in the greater ranges around the world. In July my long time climbing partner, Chuck Porter, and I ventured down highway 395 to the east side of the Sierras to try our hand at climbing a classic Galen Rowell route, the North Arete of Bear Creek Spire (5.8, 10 pitches).
Galen climbed the North Arete in the early 1970’s after he decided it was time to take the climbing skills he had developed in Yosemite to the higher reaches of the backcountry.

To get to Bear Creek Spire we took the Tom’s Place exit off of Hwy. 395 south of Mammoth Lakes and followed Rock Creek Road up to Mosquito Flat. At 10,200 feet, the trailhead is one of the highest in the entire range. Chuck and I began our approach at 4:15 AM hoping to be back at the car in the mid afternoon. The first three or four miles of the hike follows flat trails along numerous lakes in the Rock Creek Valley, a popular backpacking destination. The second half of the approach was more difficult, and involved traversing a couple of miles of steeper talus slopes. All along the approach we had excellent views of Bear Creek Spire sitting in its lofty location at the head of the valley.

We reached the base of the North Arete at nearly 13,000 feet by about 8:00 AM. From here we roped up and began climbing the arete from its lowest point. We had hoped to complete the climbing portion of the day in four or five hours, but quickly ran into sections of the climb that were too narrow to climb easily with packs on. This necessitated climbing some short pitches and hauling the packs past the narrow areas. These delays combined with the affects of altitude stretched our time on the rock to eight hours. However, the rock was excellent and the position on the steep buttress was amazing. The weather was warm and stable, so we were not too concerned about being behind schedule.

Further up we were able to simul-climb the 4th class and easy 5th class ridge to the top. The summit of Bear Creek Spire consists of a small pointed block with only enough room for one person to perch on at a time. Chuck carefully made the last few moves and pulled himself up to stand on the highest point in this portion of the Sierra.

Safely down on the lower angled west side of the mountain we ate our lunch and began the descent, which would prove to be the most strenuous part of the day. The upper part of the descent requires steep down climbing on dangerous loose boulders covered with dirt. Further down the angle lessened and the boulders became more stable, but there was still another three miles of rugged scree fields to cross before reaching the trail. We trudged back to the car right as the last light of the day was fading after 17 hours on the go.

My best landscape photography is often captured in a slow and thoughtful process, spending time finding the right composition and waiting for the right light, as many of Galen’s classic Sierra images were. However, for this trip it was Galen’s love of adventure and climbing that provided inspiration more than his photos. I was more than satisfied with documenting the climb in photographs as best I could while enjoying a day in the mountains with a good friend.