Oregon is home to many waterfalls, rivers, and streams, but none are quite as fun as Triangle Creek Falls. Now, fun is a strange way to describe a waterfall, but what makes the falls so fun is the shallow angle they fall at. Couple that with some super slippery moss and you have a pretty killer natural water-slide! I’ve spent the day here with a group a friends before. It was an awesome time! However, this visit is going to have a different pace to it. Less fun, more tranquil.
Arrival
After pulling up to the parking lot, I grabbed my gear and I was off. To enter the site from the lot, you have to cross the road (not busy in October) and take about a half mile walk. Along the way, there were many makeshift paths leading down to Triangle Creek. I tried my hand at taking some shots at some of these areas, but there was nothing of substance that I could capture. I moved up back on to the main path and kept pushing on to the water-slide.
Once at the spot, I set up and took a few long exposure photos of the falls off to the side. I wanted to capture the main slide, but there was a man made river flow off shoot thing to help divert water that I wasn’t a fan of. I continued to battle with the undesired object in my frame as I made my way down the creek. As I walked down, I stumbled upon another off-shoot, but this one was rather photogenic. It reminded me of some landscaping that I might see at a very wealthy estate.
The Jumping Fish
As I was taking shots of the man made mini falls, I head some splashing in the water. I looked over to the slide and there was a fish trying to swim up the slide! It was really giving it all it had, so much so that the fish looked like it was vibrating! This slide is no joke either. The fish can only stay about half submerged and the slide is about 50 feet long. I rushed over to take some photos and saw that there were about a dozen trout in the little pond at the end of the slide. (Disclaimer: I’m not sure if they are trout or salmon, but I’m sticking to trout for the story.) It only took about thirty seconds for another trout to leap out of the water and give it a go. I was probably sitting there for about an hour or so trying to get a decent photo of a fish leaping out of the water, but I never got it.
Main Shoot
After realizing how late it was getting, I moved on from watching some of the most persistent creatures on the planet. I wanted to get one more shot that I was proud of before I left, so I started pacing around. There was a section of the creek in particular that I liked, but it took me some time to figure out the correct angle. I really wanted some of the fall trees in the mix, but they weren’t extremely prominent in this area. So, I opted to just simplify the color a bit. I got a few angles down and in the end, it became a photo that I would put in my personal top 10. There was a lesson in this photo. Triangle Creek Falls isn’t too far off from my house; in fact, it’s about a thirty minute drive. Planning big trips is great for guaranteed amazing photos, but great photos can come from anywhere.