Tag: United States

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Old Trail Town

Michael Rappa

During my long drive across the entire state of Wyoming I stopped in Cody for a visit to Old Trail Town, a recreation of an old west town using authentic buildings collected from around Wyoming and Montana. The buildings were disassembled, moved and reassembled at Old Trail Town. Among the buildings here are original cabins used by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a saloon frequented by Cassidy’s “Hole-in-the-Wall Gang,” and the home of the Crow Indian scout who led Custer to Little Big Horn. There are also tons of historic Old West artifacts and grave sites of several notable Western figures.

It’s a nice little diversion on the way to or from Yellowstone for fans of the old west; I think the entry fee was $10. There weren’t many people there so I pretty much had the run of the place and was able to get some nice shots. I chose high-contrast processing for a lot of the photos to give them a more vintage feel. I considered going all out and converting them to black-and-white/sepia but decided it would be too much work. Perhaps I’ll convert a few of them at a later date.

Click on any photo to open a gallery.

Hole in the Wall cabin used by Butch and Sundance’s gang.
More graves.
Grave of Buffalo Bill’s grandson.
Saloon frequented by Butch and Sundance.

View More Photos from This Trip

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Needles Highway

Michael Rappa

These photos are from my drive along Needles Highway, a scenic, sometimes treacherous road winding through granite “needle” rock formations in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The road has a number of one-lane tunnels cut through the rock, wherein you have to be careful and make sure nobody is coming from the other direction before driving through them.

Needles Highway was the first leg of a grand loop scenic drive I took through Custer State Park that also included the Wildlife Loop and Iron Mountain Road before ending at Mount Rushmore. If you’re planning a trip to Rushmore, I highly recommend taking this loop if you have the time as the landscape is often spectacular.

Click on any photo below to open a gallery.

Needles Eye Rock
Looks like some sort of beast sitting at the top.
The final tunnel of the route when traveling north to south (single lane like the others).
Needles Eye Tunnel. All of the tunnels on this route are single lane, so you have to be careful when driving through.

View More Photos from This Trip

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Multnomah Falls

Michael Rappa

On my way from Portland to Mount Hood I decided to take a detour to view the majestic Multnomah Falls. It was well worth the trip, though I narrowly avoided a situation that could have left me stranded there all day. As one of the photos below shows, a pair of RVs got themselves stuck together on the narrow road leading to the main parking lot, creating a massive traffic backup in both directions. Had I arrived earlier, I might have been stuck on the wrong side of that jam. Luckily, the RV crunch happened before I arrived, so I parked further away near a smaller waterfall and hiked to the main falls. I didn’t have time to hike up to the bridge but I got a few nice shots from below.

Click on any photo below to open a gallery.

These two RVs got themselves stuck together on the narrow road leading to the main parking lot, creating a massive traffic backup in both directions. If I had arrived earlier I might have been stuck there all day, but luckily I parked further away near a smaller waterfall and hiked to the main falls. It was still a chore getting back out because traffic was backed up past my car when I returned and I had to wait for someone to let me out, but it would have been so much worse if I had been stuck on the other side of those RVs.

The RVs were still stuck together when I left, causing traffic to back up past my car, so I had to wait for someone to let me out before I could turn the car around and leave, but it could have been much worse. I felt sorry for everyone who was stranded there because it did not appear that those RVs were getting unstuck anytime soon, but I made it back to the highway and was soon on my way up to Mount Hood.

View More Photos from Oregon

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Mount Hood Magic Mile

Michael Rappa

These photos are from my ride on Timberline Lodge’s “Magic Mile” ski lift toward the summit of Mount Hood, a trip for which I was woefully under-dressed with just a windbreaker to protect me from the frigid winds. At the top I had a spectacular view of Mount Jefferson peeking above the clouds, as well as great looks at Timberline Lodge in the mist below. It’s definitely worth the ride if you’re visiting the lodge, or you can choose to hike up to the top. Had I had more time, I would have at least hiked back down from the top, but I needed to get back to Portland to catch my plane to Montana, so I rode both ways.

Click on any photo below to open a gallery.

This photo captures Timberline Lodge beneath a blanket of clouds with Mount Jefferson peeking through the top of the cloud cover.
I wonder if anyone was at the summit of Mount Jefferson looking across at us and enjoying a similar view of Mount Hood peeking above the clouds.
Like a beach meeting an ocean of clouds.
In this photo you can see skiers in the snow above the house.

View More Photos from Oregon

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Mount Hood

Michael Rappa

One great aspect of Portland is its proximity to both mountains and beaches, either of which are just a day trip away. Although I didn’t have time to visit the Oregon coast on this trip, I did make the 90-minute drive up to Mount Hood, where I spent my final night in Oregon at Timberline Lodge near its summit. The lodge was made famous by The Shining (more on that in a later post). These photos are from my drive up to Mount Hood and my hikes around it.

Click on any photo below to open a gallery.

View More Photos from Oregon

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Portland Japanese Garden

Michael Rappa

Here are some photos from my hike up to Washington Park in Portland, Oregon to visit the Japanese Garden last summer. It was a long uphill walk to the park, and then again to the garden, but it was worth it. In addition to the beautiful Japanese aesthetic, the garden also offers some nice views of Mount Hood. You almost forget that you’re in a major city.

Click on any photo below to open a gallery.

View More Photos from Oregon

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Downtown Portland

Michael Rappa

Last summer I stayed in Portland for four days as part of my two-week eclipse trip. These photos are from my walks around downtown. Fans of Portlandia may notice some landmarks from the show, such as the Portland Theater and the Portlandia statue, which is the second largest copper statue in the country (after the Statue of Liberty).

There is a lot of natural beauty and interesting architecture in Portland, and it often feels more like a small city than a major one, which is a compliment. In fact, of all the cities in America I have visited, Portland is my favorite.

Click on any photo below to open a gallery.

View More Photos from Oregon

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Devils Tower Prairie Dogs

Michael Rappa

There is a giant field beneath Devils Tower that is entirely covered with prairie dogs. I was so mesmerized by the little critters with their cute screeching noises that I almost forgot I was there to visit the tower.

Click on any photo to open a gallery.

View More Photos from This Trip

American Northwest Trip, 2017: The Movie

Michael Rappa

This compilation of the videos I shot on my trip last summer includes footage of Mount Hood, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Devils Tower, and drives through Shoeshone and Bighorn national forests, Spearfish Canyon, and Custer State Park. I sped up the driving videos for effect and time—I wasn’t really driving that fast. 🙂

View Photos from Yellowstone

View Photos from Grand Teton

View Photos from Oregon

View Photos from Wyoming and South Dakota

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Devils Tower

Michael Rappa

A lifelong dream sparked by Close Encounters of the Third Kind was finally realized when I visited Devils Tower last August–40 years (and many plates of sculpted mashed potatoes) after I first saw the tower on film. Alas, I didn’t find any facilities for hosting spaceships during my hike around its base, but had I made my visit two days later, I could have enjoyed a 40th anniversary screening of Close Encounters at the base of the tower itself. That would have been an amazing experience.

Devils Tower is a sacred site to Native Americans. You can find prayer offerings tied to the trees around the base of the tower (I included a photo of one of these below). Native American names for the monument include “Bear’s House” or “Bear’s Lodge” and it is likely that the name “Devils Tower” came from a mistranslation of the Lakota word for “bear.”

A couple of the closeup shots below feature climbers scaling the tower. Pretty soon, climbing will no longer be necessary because, according to a sign I saw at the site, they are apparently installing an elevator to the top. Although it would be neat to see the top of the tower, I think it’s unfortunate that they are going to ruin its appearance with an elevator apparatus. I’m glad that I was able to see Devils Tower in all its natural glory before this happens.

Click on any photo to open a gallery.

Climbers on the tower.
Native American prayer offerings tied to the trees.
Climbers on tower (lower right).

View More Photos from This Trip