Valley of the Giants

I went on an excursion to the Valley of the Giants today with some friends. It's a relatively short drive from home, up into the Oregon coast range west of Monmouth. The last stretch is approximately 20 miles of gravel road, winding through the hills and patches of clear-cut forest. It is a beautiful area where loggers had dared not go because of the rough terrain. So, there are a fair amount of original growth trees standing tall, with trunks as wide as any I have seen in this part of Oregon. We hiked a trail that took us deep into the forest to a spot where one of these massive trees blew over in a wind storm. It was raining most of the time and it was difficult to protect the camera and lenses from the water. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of this massive tree. However, on the way in, we crossed a bridge over a small stream and I risked the camera and myself (slipping on the rocks) to take some long exposure HDR shots. The best of which is posted below. I did take a few more pictures along the trail that will be up on Flickr soon.

Update on Monday, May 21, 2012 at 6:21PM by Anthony Sheler

This image is now available as a free wallpaper here. Or, buy a print from the store under Oregon Scenery!