Tom McCall Point

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:59:59 -800

If you head east out of Portland on I-84, after about 75 miles you reach Rowena
Crest, just outside the town of Rowena (= Cherries!). Above Rowena Crest is a
sort of ugly spear of rock named Tom McCall Point,
after the governor who got Harbor Drive in Portland turned into a park. I had
started up this trail the last time I was out at Rowena Crest but it was hot
that day and I never made it. Not so this time; for the price of a minor
sunburn I hiked to the top and then further back into the trees until I reached
some farmer's field. It was a good day for this sort of thing, as I had taken
my camera and new tripod, and set about using them to record 360-degree
panoramas. Regrettably it was a bit hazy, so the panoramas had to be cleaned
up a bit before I could post them, but other than that I captured some
marvelous views from the top of McCall point! After I was done with that trail
I decided to follow the photography students who were embanked atop Rowena
Plateau, and recorded some more pictures of green rocks and grey creeks.
There was a girl there trying to take pictures with what looked like about a
fifty year old camera that she had to peer into the top of to frame the
picture. I sometimes wonder what I miss having forsaken the film age, but
to be perfectly honest a digital SLR with hugin has enabled the sort of thing
that is a major pain in the real world.