Oregon Randy

@oregonrandy

Part time Cryptid, Photographer of night skies, Landscapes, and deliciously living. 🤘🏳️‍🌈

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Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· 25d

Ah! A nice display of "The Belt of Venus"! The deep blue line low on the horizon topped by a reddish glow. That my friends is the shadow of the edge of our planet as night advances, at over 1,000mph. Don't blink! Spoiler: it has nothing to do with the planet Venus. 🧪

A photo of a phenomenon know as "The Belt of Venus" seen toward the East in the image, and low to the horizon. A dim and darkening blue color closest to the horizon is the shadow of the edge of our entire planet advancing across the sky after sundown, with it's upper part casting a contrasting gentle pinkish red glow from back scattered light of the Sun. The sky above is much more pale and softly colorless.
Across the belt area are some tall powerlines running from left to right.
Below along the ground are tall trees still faintly colored green, but already darkening.
And in the foreground lit only by growing twilight are some apartment buildings in medium beige with descending smaller regular accent bands of light beige running horizontally. A single tree almost as tall as the apartments dominates the immediate foreground.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· 25d

Do we need #ForestFriday? Yes, yes we do. #Oregon #Forest #Nature #Hike #Sunbeams

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· 26d

Let's name names. Here are the reps that sent this letter.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· 26d

I'm guessing this was AI named since it's a loose word salad. The actual smell is really noxious, and none of the descriptors are evoked by it. Being that this is in a common work bathroom, the scent really doesn't need to be spot on. 🤧 But it's gross.

A can of air freshener with the words "Air Mist Ocean" then a small horizontal graphic and some more word salad, "Hinoki Ginger Water Lily". All on a blue background of some sort of water image.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· 28d

I feel I must bring to your attention, Castle Crags State Park just down I-5 from Shasta... The trail I took is somewhat difficult, but there is a viewpoint that can be driven to, if you make an effort to go early. Limited parking spaces, and windy one lane paved access.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· 28d

So jelly! I tried to throw together a trip to camp up there over this past holiday, but the campsite prices were high, and not a lot of availability that close to the holiday. Also the weather looked iffy at best then. So I went to Mt Shasta!

Blue sky and Mount Shasta peeking over a green conifer forested hill and near foreground trees lining a small reflective pond with the upside down image of the trees and Mt Shasta with the blue sky as well.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 13

Today was a classic #PNW vibe. #MountHood #Oregon #Hiking #Nature #Stunday

A dirt road leading through a green hillside with standing ash grey snag trees from a forest fire years ago.
Above all the foreground of old trees and dirt road, a tall mountain with white glaciers and dark stone cliffs and ridges. Behind the massive peak are banks of scattered high thin white clouds against a blue sky.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 12

The scent of lupine flowers was so strong today on the trail beside prolific blooms of them all over the lower slopes of Mt St Helens.

Small purple flowers of lupine plants scattered fairly densely across an otherwise barren landscape of light tan colored pumice stones.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 12

Mt St Helens was Mount Saint Helensing very well today. (Relax, those are just clouds ☁️) #Hiking #PNW #Nature #MtStHelens

A photo of the South side of Mount Saint Helens, with clouds draped across the top of the crater rim and to the far right, looking similar to an eruption. But it is not erupting.
Snow fields descend down some of the volcanos flanks, mainly toward the top center and to the left on the high slopes.
The rest of the volcano is ash grey and dark rocky ridges. The sky above is brilliant blue.
In the foreground and below the mountain, there are many sub alpine conifer trees in green. The nearby foreground shows the terrain littered with many varieties of scattered volcanic stones. Mainly is shades of grey.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 11

I dunno about possession, but I do love me some Shasta! I was just down there camping & hiking over the 4th.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 10

Hey! #Astrophotography people! 🔭 📷 The skinny Moon (~12%) will be grouped with Mars nearby, The Pleiades, and Taurus (The Hyades) early Saturday morning! I was planning on getting some images, but we'll be clouded out here. I hope someone gets images!

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 9

Sunrise colors paint the slopes of of Mt St Helens, while a foreground mountain is still in the dark.
Clear light blue sky is above, while some windblown ash smudges the sky to the far right.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 8

Good morning Bluesky people! It's #WaterfallWednesday! This is Sahalie Falls on Oregon's McKenzie River! A very popular stop on the river, and one of two big falls on this section. #Hiking #Oregon #📷 #EastCoastKin #Nature #Forest

A photo selfie with me in a blue t shirt and a baseball cap with a big white beard, smiling and looking into the camera.
In the background is a big broad waterfall spilling over a tall cliff with a dense tall forest of green conifers at it's top. The ledge of the cliff is visible with an exposed grey stone ledge that runs right and left of the falls. Below the exposed ledge the cliff is undercut behind the falls with a lot of bright green mosses and ferns.
The falls widens out at it's bottom where it hits the pool of the river below, and spray shoots out all around.
In the foreground to the right are a couple logs covered in moss sticking out at upward angles over the river below.
The sky above the falls, and between the treetops is lightly overcast so that a little blue is visible through the clouds.
The lighting is fairly even and the sun is shining from high above out of frame.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 8

This tree caught my eye. It's gone through some stuff, but has persisted! And grown stronger even. #ThickTrunkTuesday #Hiking

I photo of a twisted pine tree under it's own shade. Instead of having one central trunk, this tree suffered some damage in it's past, and as a result it now has two trunks. One rises in a curve from where the old central trunk was, and grows straight up from there along the left side.
The second trunk grows forward and down from the same old central trunk area, it them twists to the right and goes upward to the center right.
The ground under the tree is speckled with sun and shade, while the brown soil has many chunks of light colored stone strewn around.
The trees trunk has characteristic rough ropey textured bark.
In the background are many brightly sunlit green shrubs and smaller pine trees.
Above and through the main twisted trunk bright blue sky can be seen.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 7

A progression of July 3-4th fireworks from the Sun over Mount Shasta in 1.5 hours. About 11:45 the Moon rose and lit up the mountain, but dimmed the sky show. #Aurora #MountShasta #NorCal #Nature #Scape

A wide photo of the night sky over a darkened landscape in silhouette. But the sky is covered in bright pink, and strong magenta hues of an active solar storm creating Aurora all the way across the sky. From the middle near the horizon to the far right side, bright pink pillars rise into the sky, with a hint of green in the sky near a dip in the landscape toward the right side.
Stars peek through the colorful display, more so toward the top of the image.
Along the black horizon on the left side, a lone peak rises above the rest of the landscape in a lighter tone. That is Mount Shasta, California.

A close up of Mount Shasta jutting into a magenta sky of active aurora. The mountain is centered in the image, it's slopes are lined with both snow and dark ridges.
But above the mountains peak is a strong magenta beam rising into the sky out of frame.
All along the bottom of the image, a saw tooth pattern of silhouetted conifer trees screen the base of the mountain from view.

Another close up of Mount Shasta, but it is catching weak light coming from the far right of the image off screen. The mountains bright snow covered slopes contrast with dark rocky ridges. Areas to the mountains left side are shaded from the light, which comes from a rising moon out of frame.
The sky above has a pink hue as the Aurora fades under the strong moonlight.
Some trees in the distance below the mountain are lot by the moonlight also.
A lone ridge of trees are still in shadow from the middle bottom to the right side where it joins the horizon created by the rest of the foreground trees.

A final landscape photo of Mount Shasta rising above nearby trees that are still partially in shade from the strong moonlight that bathes the rest of the treeline higher up. The big mountains slopes are strongly lit by the moon, creating strong contrast between the dark high rocky ridges and white snow. Above the mountain, a few small stars shine through the sky where the Aurora has been earlier. In this later photo, the is only a hint of the Aurora of earlier in the night.
The surface is a pond in the foreground reflects the image of the mountain, but upside down. The trees are also reflected.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 6

Same for me in the shower at camp this weekend!

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 5

Ok, so... #Stunday In addition to all the amazing scenery around #MountShasta, there are dark skies away from town, full of MORE amazing scenery! 🧪 #M8 #M20 #StarClouds #MilkyWay #Trifid #Lagoon #Astrophotography #DarkSkies #EastCoastKin #📷 #BackyardAstronomy #Astro #Nebula Read alt text for more.

An image of a colorful and densely populated portion of our Milky Way Galaxy in Summer for the Northern Hemisphere.
This closer look details an area right across a section of the galaxy, divide by a darker lane of more opaque gas and dust that blocks all the stars behind it. There are more stars in front of it between us and the dust, so it's not completely black. The lane of gas and dust runs from lower right to upper left. And it is broad, taking up about a solid third of the image, bordered on both upper right and lower left by ultra dense "clouds" of stars that appear as a soft dusky gold glow. It's all stars. Tendrils of the opaque gas and dust weave into them.
The middle of the image, in front of all the gas and dust, is dominated by two very brilliant magenta areas of nebulosity glowing brightly. A large one at bottom middle, and a smaller one above it with a slightly blue glowing part to it. Both have small dark contrasting areas dividing them slightly. The larger one below is cataloged as M8, the Lagoon Nebula. The smaller one above is cataloged as M20, the Trifid Nebula. Both of the intensely glowing areas are hot gas emitting light, with new areas of stars being born.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 5

Not the most 'ribbitting' footage (that's the moon), but it's meant for the audio of the booming from the resident bullfrogs in the ponds at the camp I stayed at. 🐸 (Sound up) They were on from dusk to dawn. Not many mosquitoes owing to the other critters eating them.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 5

A friend alerted me to last night's event as I was having a campout at a distant dark location. That event got upgraded to G3. I was at about 41° N and could see the bright rays, but no color. I was out to do some deep sky photography, so the camera was ready!

A broad night sky photo with shades of mainly magenta across a large amount of the sky, and some red below that closer to the bottom of the frame, and a hint of green at lower right. Two bright magenta pillars of Aurora pierce downward in the sky, one just left of lower center, and another on the far bottom right. At the far left bottom is Mount Shasta riding from nearby smaller forested mountains that stretch all the way across the bottom of the image, and rising a bit on the lower right side.
Stars can also be seen through the colorful Aurora.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 4

Well that was unexpected! 🤯 #Aroura #MountShasta #NightSkyPhotography 🧪 📷

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 4

Well! Today was a lot! This is a phone shot while hiking down (slowly) in 90°f heat (32°c) from today's incredible destination. 🤯 #Hiking #Nature #Granite #NorCal #CastleCrags #Scape #EastCoastKin I can't help but tease because I can't access the images on the big camera. 🤷

A photo of a very light tan trail leading from bottom right, up and between two nearby, tall, granite pillars right beside the trail. The pillars are roughly the same dusky light tan as the trail, but a bit darker and roughly textured. Both pillars have weathering streaks down from their tops and various ledges and cracks.
The trail is moving between the pillars on a steep slope that starts at upper right and goes to lower left. The slope is covered by low growing green native shrubs, except where the trail cuts through. Medium size about 40 feet tall) pine trees grow both up slope and down slope. One small green brushy conifer grows in front of the left hand pillar.
The landscape beyond the pillars is of distant forest covered low mountains, green with a blueish cast from their distance.
There is a bright blue cloudless sky behind and above the pillars.
The light comes from the upper right where the Sun is far out of frame. Everything y'all casts shadows down to the left. The foreground trail is in mild dappled shadow.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 3

The Dragon of Fences Out inspecting the rocks. #Hiking #Critters #WesternFenceLizard #Nature #NorCal

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 2

Hello beautiful! Miss me? Aw.., I missed you too! 😍 #MtShasta #NorCal #RoadTrip #4thofJuly #Stratovolcano #Glaciers #Hiking

A photo of Mount Shasta, California! The huge mountain covers about the bottom 2/3 of the photo. It's upper slopes have long stretches of white glaciers descending from the summit areas, which there are two of. Clouds hug either side of the summit areas to the right and left. The sky above is a clear blue.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jul 1

I keep seeing these very meager attendance videos and images being trotted out. And they do appear cathartic. But just maybe no one wants to go to weekday events in DC weather? 🥵 Let's revisit this on the 4th.., when it will also not be great conditions. 🥵⛈️

A weather chart of conditions in Washington DC approaching the upcoming 4th of July, 2026. It shows the temperatures running between the high 90s to low 100s degrees F and lows at night in the 70s-80s also F. With accompanying humidity between 50-80%
This is in reference to people posting photos of very sparsely attended daytime events for the National Mall celebration for The US 250th anniversary.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jun 29

Good morning! Last night's Full #Moon rising behind scattered clouds. #EastCoastKin #Night #📷 #Trees #PDX #Oregon #PNW 🌕

A pale yellow Full Moon rises behind scattered clouds. Dark silhouetted pointy pine trees reach up from the bottom of the photo.
The rest of the sky also has clouds stretched across it roughly horizontally across the image. The background sky is a very dark blue. Around the bottom half of the full Moon, a subtle nimbus glows.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jun 28

What to do for #Stunday? 🤔 Ah! Tamolitch Falls (Blue Pool). I kept calling it Tamagotchi... Tamolitch is derived from the Chinook word for 'bucket', and was named such by a non-native engineer in 1933. Nothing about it says bucket to me? ANYWAY, the pool IS BLUE. #Hiking #Oregon #Nature #📷 #Blue 🧵/

A view of a crystal clear pool of striking aqua blue color, with light green along it's shallower shores toward the upper left sides where there is a rubble slope of rock with dry yellow green moss. The upper center shore is a small tongue of earth with several people gathered at the banks, or in swim gear getting ready to dive in. Above the people at the very top edge of the image are some green shrubs and vine maple trees. Only part of the whole pool is seen in this image.
Under the water can be clearly seen boulders, scattered tree limbs, and conifer forest debris lying on the bottom.
The foreground of the photo along the bottom of the image is a jumbled rocky outcrop of light grey with some sticks and a small green plant trying to grow.
The people closest to the water in swim trunks are all young men, getting their courage up to dive in. The water is infamously cold! Close to freezing year round. (37 F, or 2.5 C)
I did not get in.
Everyone that did get in, or dove in, stayed in the water for under 2 minutes.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jun 27

I posted this little beauty in a comment thread a while ago, but it's worth posting it again because I love seeing these in the wild! #BlueskyArtShow #Bloomscrolling #Lily #Nature #Hiking #Oregon #Wildflowers #EastCoastKin #Saturday #📷 #Macro

A small native lily with very curled petals of dense orange and deep red speckles on their insides. The pistils and stamens hang down from the downward facing flower, with orange tips and pale green stems.
The flower petals are so curved back that they touch the flowers stem above. The green stem can be seen out of focus behind the top of the flower. The background is so out of the focus plane that no details are visible, but a slightly uneven dull green hue.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jun 26

Sure! Here's one from a string of clear days on the 16th of this month, looking roughly NNE about 21:10.

A view over some apartment buildings tops toward the eastern horizon after sunset, showing a feature near the horizon called 'The Belt of Venus'. A band of reddened sky contrasting strongly with the darker bluer shadow of the earth under it as dusk rapidly advances.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jun 26

#Scape day is here! Here's the trail views through the wonderful mature forest along the #McKenzieRiver in #Oregon #ForestFriday #Friday #Forest #Nature #Hiking #LandscapePhotography #📷 🌲 #PNW #EastCoastKin

A good wide light brown path through dense woods, with dappled sunlight falling on the path and some of the leaves in the trail side bushes in brilliant green. Two or more medium to large Douglas fir trees line either side of the nearby trail with gnarled bark showing deep crevasses, and more of them can be seen in the tall forest ahead as the path curves under them.
The overall landscape tends down from upper right to lower left. The trail is cut out level and descending through this part of the forest.

A tall portrait image of a river running through tall green fir, cedar, and pine trees, forming a living canyon that takes up most of the image on the left and right of the river. The river is centered in the image, and is visible from about the center of the image to the lower edge of the image where it becomes obscured by thicker brush with green seasonal leaves. Small rocky portions of the river send the water tumbling in white turbulence.
There is blue sky overhead with patches of white cloud islands, and some hazy higher clouds.

A view into the middle section of a heavily forested area, with massive trunks of pines and fir trees coming from off frame at bottom to out of frame at the top. Other smaller tree trunks are also visible through the frame as well. Green pine and fir needle bearing limbs jut into view from the trees throughout the image, with both direct and indirect sunlight hitting them from above.
In the center right of the image, and upturned thick mass of an older tree, perhaps upturned roots, enter the frame. And growing out of it at odd angles, but always turning toward the sky, are many small young green fir trees just starting life. The ones toward the top of the old tree catch the sunlight on their tops.

Our light tan forest path gently turns up a small incline from bottom center right, to the middle of the image where it crests the rise and disappears. Either side of the path are many bright green low shrubs and small young conifer trees reaching for sunlight. Further up the small slope are fallen logs lining the path, or cut to allow passage of the footpath.
Atop the slope are many trunks of mature pine trees of moderate girth that all rise up out of the frame at top. Their branches of green needles hang down from higher up. Hidden among them on the right of the path is a massive Douglas Fir tree trunk with it's furrowed dark bark.
Through the trees, the light colored sky can be seen in contrast to the tree trunks and green limbs.

Oregon Randy@oregonrandy· Jun 26

Here also! On a hot days it was 29c in my apartment, before I got this!