A steady light rain continued to fall as I arrived at the parking area above Koosah Falls. I was already drenched after stopping at Sahalie Falls just up the road, so it didn’t really matter. There wasn’t any way I could get any more soaked so I packed up my gear and headed towards the falls. The trail takes you to an overlook right on the edge that lets you look straight down into the pool below. The McKenzie River was flowing fast and furious with the spring runoff and the eighty foot drop over the falls was sending off quite a cloud of mist.
I worked my way downstream in search of somewhere that would offer a good vantage point as well as some relief from the swirling spray. I stopped at the second viewpoint along the trial, but I wasn’t pleased with the composition so I moved on. The river makes a slow bend as it flows through the valley and I wanted to be able to use that in a composition that would lead your eye around to the falls. The viewpoint offered more of a straight-on view. After a while, I came to area where it was possible to work my way down closer to the river. The rain and mist made for a slippery slide down the hill until I reached a tree clinging to the slope. I realized there was no way I wanted to risk going any further and taking a swim, so I set down my bag and scoped out the possibilities. The tree branched out from its base created a mossy perch that looked promising so I crawled gingerly out to take a look. It was the shot I was looking for. Now the challenge was to somehow get my tripod setup for a steady shot. One leg poked through what I thought was solid ground. Yikes. It made me wonder what I was standing on!
I couldn’t chicken out at this point, so after cautiously fixing my tripod in a sturdy position, I framed up the composition and shot away. The spray was still intense even at this distance which meant that I had to constantly lean out to blow the spots off the front of the lens. Oh, and did I mention that it was raining? I felt like I was fighting for my life and as soon as I could I called it quits and scurried out of there. Fortunately, I didn’t end up in the river and I did get my shot!
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