Murali Narayanan Photography

My friend from the Bay Area and I embarked on a 4-day trip from Seatac Airport to the southern coast of Washington State and the northern coast of Oregon. On our return, we made a stop at the Lower Lewis River Falls in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, approximately an hour’s drive east of Cougar, WA.

March 31, 2024

We left Seatac Airport at around 11 and stopped at Curry Corner near Olympia to take out our lunch. There was a park nearby where we ate and then hit the road. Our first stop was at the Cape Disappointment State Park at around 330pm. Contrary to its name, it is a terrific area to do landscape photography. During this visit, we explored two sites: Waikiki Beach and the North Head Lighthouse. Waikiki Beach features a mix of sandy stretches and rocky outcrops, creating a picturesque landscape where the forest meets the sea. The best spots in the beach are around the parking area. We spent about two and a half hours photographing the rugged coastline and the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse using the trees and logs as a foreground.

From Waikiki Beach, we drove to the North Head Lighthouse for the sunset shoot. Perched on North Head, a rocky promontory about three miles north of Waikiki Beach, the 65′ North Head Lighthouse first lit in 1898 stands on a 130-foot cliff, directly facing the Pacific Ocean. Mariners requested this lighthouse in the late 1800s because the existing Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was obscured to ships approaching from the north. As the area is undergoing extensive restoration, our options to photograph were rather limited.

As we patiently awaited the sunset, we were captivated by the majestic Pacific Ocean waves, visible from the elevated vantage point near the lighthouse and we grabbed a few shots of the waves.

Sunset was at around 8PM. We drove south to Astoria, OR for dinner but unfortunately all the restaurants were closed. It appears they keep late hours only during the bustling summer and early fall tourist season. We continued our drive south to arrive at Cannon Beach, our final destination for the day at close to 930pm. Most restaurants here close at 8 but Pelican Brewery was just closing and we sneaked in. I ordered their Hefeweizen and the house salad. The Hefe was terrific and the salad was impressive as well. We then checked into the Inn and called it a night.

April 1, 2024

We woke up at 530am and headed to Ecola State Park for the 650am sunrise. The short trail at the Ecola Point Viewpoint was closed due to a landslide and so we had to shoot from a spot about 200 meters from the parking lot. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy morning and the sky lacked colors. But, there was some mist around Haystack Rock. We took a few shots of the rock and the beach.

Lucky for us, about fifteen Roosevelt elks were grazing near the viewpoint and a few of them were accommodative and gave us the opportunity to capture a few shots.

We left the park at around 9am and headed to Oros Fireside Restaurant for a sumptuous omelet for breakfast. I highly recommend the place. After breakfast, we headed to Cannon Beach to scout the area to select good spots for sunset shoot that evening. It was 11am and the tide was low. We walked around the tide pools near the Haystack Rock. As the light was rather harsh, we decided not to carry our camera gear and I grabbed a few shots of the sea stars on my phone.

We got back to the hotel at around noon and took a shower. We left the hotel to scout for more shots the next day. The first spot was Hug Point. It was crowded and after a few minutes of waiting, got a parking spot. We checked out the waterfall there but were not impressed. The next stop was at the South Beach Access Trail in the Oswald West State Park. We hiked the Necarney Creek Trail until the intersection of Cedar Crossing Trail.

We then drove further south to the popular Tillamook Creamery for a scoop of an ice cream. The ice cream line had 30-40 people and we estimated it would take about 45 minutes to get a scoop. We decided to punt and returned to Cannon Beach for an early dinner at the same place we had dinner the previous night, Pelican Brewing Company. This time, I ordered a spicy black bean burger to go with the Hefe.

After dinner, we hit the beach for the sunset shoot, We walked to the front of Haystack Rock and setup our equipment. Although there were dark clouds over the horizon, there were some decent colors a few minutes before sunset. There was some alpenglow but unfortunately it was in the wrong direction.

We left the beach at around 8pm and returned to the hotel.

April 2, 2024

We got up at around 6am and went back to the beach for the sunrise. It was totally cloudy, and the fog was rolling towards the Haystack Rock. My friend spent his time photographing the gulls and I was looking for a good-looking log to use as a strong foreground to shoot the rock. After locating one, I sat down for about 20 minutes waiting for the rock to be at least partially visible. Finally, I got a short two-minute window to photograph the log with the Haystack Rock in the background.

We left the beach at around 9am and went directly to our breakfast place, Oros. After consuming an omelet, we returned to the hotel, took a shower and checked out. We drove straight to the tiny town of Cougar, WA, the gateway to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We reached our hotel for the night, the Lone Fir Resort. We were lucky to get hold of the manager as there was no cell phone coverage in town and the office was closed. We checked into our room and unloaded our stuff. At around 2pm, we decided to drive around to see any good spots nearby to shoot sunset. Only good spot we located was on Forest Road #83 that had a decent view of the southern side of Mt. St. Helens. Although it was not as photogenic as from the northern side, you take what you get.

On our return journey, we made a stop at the Trail of Two Forests. This ¼-mile-long boardwalk trail leads you across a 2,000-year-old lava flow originating from Mount St. Helens. Imagine this ancient spectacle: molten lava surged through the forest, encircling trees in its fiery grasp. As the lava cooled and solidified around the trunks, the wood decayed, leaving behind tree wells—impressions of bark etched into the rock. Today’s forest, adorned with fir, hemlock, and vibrant green moss, thrives atop this ancient volcanic landscape.

In the town, there exists only one restaurant, and it promptly closed its doors at 7 PM. Arriving around 5 PM for an early dinner, I faced limited options. The only vegetarian choices were a garden burger and a pizza. Opting for the former, I savored my meal. Post-dinner, we were on a mission to capture Mt. St. Helens at sunset. Alas, just before the sun dipped below the horizon, the entire mountain was veiled in dark clouds, devoid of vibrant hues. Undeterred, we sat in our car, gazing at the enigmatic cloud cover. Eventually, we returned to our hotel at around 8:30 PM.

April 3, 2024

This was the last day of the trip, a waterfall day for us. We had checkout the weather the previous day to reconfirm that it would be cloudy. It is tough to photograph waterfalls on a sunny or even sometimes partly sunny days due to sunlight reflecting on water causing all sort of issues. The main destination was to visit the Lower Lewis River Falls in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, an hour’s drive from our hotel @ Cougar. We checked out and hit the road at 7am after consuming a few protein bars and an apple. The road was rough but passable. Along the way, we stopped at a few streams.

We reached the Lower Lewis River Falls campsite at 830AM. We had not encountered a single soul since getting into the car at the hotel an hour and a half ago. We did the short hike on the Lower Falls trail. The Lewis River water flow was a bit too much for photography. We realized we were a few weeks too early to visit the falls. Last week in April would have been better. But you take what you get. There were numerous spots with different compositions. It is easy to spend two to three hours on the trail.

It was about 10AM when we were done with the waterfall and we had another 45 minutes before we wanted our drive back to SeaTac airport. We decided to check out the nearby Middle Falls and the Copper Creek falls. We parked the car at the Middle Falls trailhead and started the hike. We crossed the bridge over Cooper Creek and stopped to grab a shot of the waterfall. My friend warned the rest of the trail was steep and slippery and we decided to return to the car. Wise move. After grabbing a few shots of the creek we returned to the car to drive back home.

Our plan was to drive back via the Forest Road #90 going east towards Mt. Adams and then turn north on Forest Road #23 towards Mt. Rainier and then take our usual route to get back to SeaTac. The road was in a very bad shape with a lot of fallen trees. After driving about a mile, we realized that it was not wise to continue with the planned route with a low clearance sedan. We should have driven a 4-wheel drive SUV instead. We turned around and drove back to get back on I-5 via the town of Cougar where we had stayed the previous night. We later found out that the Forest Service was going to clean up the road starting April 15. Moral of the story is that late April is the earliest to visit the area in the spring.

On the way back to Cougar, we stopped at a small but cute waterfall along the road and we grabbed a few shots.

Until we got back to Cougar, we never saw a single soul or a car all day. We continued to drive west until we reached the town of Woodland at about 2PM. We had an excellent late lunch at Los Pepe’s. After lunch, it was a two hour drive on I-5 North and we reached SeaTac airport at 5PM. Although we were rather disappointed with one sunset and one sunrise, when it comes to landscape photography, you take what you are given, and it was an enjoyable and a productive trip. We covered 735 miles over the four days. Can’t wait for tulip time!!!!