Meandering Waterways Pt. 1

[AlanLichty]

The larger creeks in Oregon's coast range tend to leave very wide and flat valley bottoms as they approach sea level. The waterways turn from fast flowing creeks into flatwater that has tidal water levels and meandering paths through the bottom lands. These flatlands were homesteaded early on during the EuroAmerican migrations of the mid 1800's and in this example the first settler was a gentleman named Thomas Sweet who proceeded to name the creek after himself.

This is a single shot image from close to where Sweet Creek flows into the Siuslaw River. The slopes of the hills on the left were burned in a wildfire from a few years ago. The maples and alders are the first trees to get a foothold on the slopes but will ultimately get pushed aside by the firs and spruce that dominate the NW forests.

C&C always welcome.

 

[Jon Buffington]

Very interesting and nice capture. Drone?

 

[AlanLichty]

Very interesting and nice capture. Drone?

Thanks Jon - shot with a Mavic 3 Pro using the 24mm Hasselblad camera.

 

[JimFox]

Sweet Creek? Haven't you posted waterfall images from it?

Anyway, that's a neat looking valley.

 

[AlanLichty]

Sweet Creek? Haven't you posted waterfall images from it?

Anyway, that's a neat looking valley.

Thanks Jim - this is 6 miles downstream from the area with the waterfalls. And yes I did spend the morning hiking along the waterfall trail shooting the waterfalls and fall leaves with my DSLR before doing a few flights with my drone on my way back out of the canyon. The waterfall trail has almost 2 miles of nearly continuous waterfalls.

 

[Trent Watts]

Thanks for the history lesson and the image. I enjoyed both.

 

[AlanLichty]

Thanks for the history lesson and the image. I enjoyed both.

Thanks Trent - I find these flat valley bottoms a bit interesting and curious.

The meandering waterways suggest a mature floodplain which in this case is only a few feet about sea level as the water in Sweet Creek in this location is almost at sea level. At the end of the last glacial period (ca. 12,000 ago) this would have been almost 300' above sea level and would be a narrow canyon with whitewater. That's a fairly short period of time for an alluvial floodplain like this to build up. There are several valleys like this that drain into the Siuslaw near here.

As the title suggests there will be more installments of meandering rivers since I was having fun shooting them.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Great start to this 'series' - can't wait for more. Composition is perfect leading one's eye into the distance, and the splashes of tree color add a lot too.

ML

 

[AlanLichty]

Great start to this 'series' - can't wait for more. Composition is perfect leading one's eye into the distance, and the splashes of tree color add a lot too.

ML

Thanks - there are a number of little valleys like this along the Siuslaw River and I flew in a couple of them this last week.