Angry Chasm

[AlanLichty]

Starting to gear up for another season of stormy coastline photography and looking through shots I took last winter for ideas on where to go this year. One of my Oregon coastline haunts has always been Cook's Chasm which is known for Thor's Well and Cape Perpetua. The sunset angle is way far to the south which makes Thor's Well less than an ideal sunset subject but the rest of the basalt ledge around it can still be pretty nice when the Pacific gets churned up from the winter storms. This image of waves at the chasm was taken early last December just in between sets of storms along the coast. Thor's Well is just out of the image to the right.

Angry Chasm

• AlanLichty
• Nov 10, 2017

Winter storm enhanced wave action at Cook's Chasm along the Oregon coastline.

C&C always welcome.

 

[BarryHamilton]

Very nice, Alan! Really places me there!!

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

I totally hear the surf!

 

[Ben Egbert]

I expect that to be a great place. I recall when doing Thors Well, that there was a neat ledge looking north from the well, but that would be away from the sun, so maybe walk north and shoot back towards the well. Hmm, maybe this is what you are doing here.

 

[AlanLichty]

I expect that to be a great place. I recall when doing Thors Well, that there was a neat ledge looking north from the well, but that would be away from the sun, so maybe walk north and shoot back towards the well. Hmm, maybe this is what you are doing here.

The basalt shelf/ledge for getting different angles on Thor's Well gets fully inundated during winter storms like this and is not a safe place to be at all. In this case I was at the bottom of the stairs with a clear path to the steps in case I needed to make a hasty retreat. If a sneaker came in and covered the shelf while you were out on it your chances of survival are not high. I have lots of images of Thor's Well where I would have to tell you where the feature actually is since it not visible at all under the raging surf.

 

[Ben Egbert]

The basalt shelf/ledge for getting different angles on Thor's Well gets fully inundated during winter storms like this and is not a safe place to be at all. In this case I was at the bottom of the stairs with a clear path to the steps in case I needed to make a hasty retreat. If a sneaker came in and covered the shelf while you were out on it your chances of survival are not high. I have lots of images of Thor's Well where I would have to tell you where the feature actually is since it not visible at all under the raging surf.

yes, I have not been to Oregon much in winter. I always went for my moms birthday in April before she died and afterward continued spring trips out of inertia. I had one winter and a couple of summers I think.

 

[AlanLichty]

yes, I have not been to Oregon much in winter. I always went for my moms birthday in April before she died and afterward continued spring trips out of inertia. I had one winter and a couple of summers I think.

This is an image of the same shelf from December 2015. This was a very windy day with some pretty scary wave action. Thor's Well is just below and to the right of the far visible basalt line almost dead center in the image. You don't want to be anywhere on that ledge in conditions like these.

 

[Jim Sanderson]

Nice sharp shot. Looks like a rugged area.

 

[Mike Mancil]

I like how the faint sunset warms up the cold surf. Good shot... Mike

 

[JimFox]

Hey Alan,

This is pretty cool, the conditions are a bit crazy! I think I would go for a pano crop on this and lose the bottom 1/4 of the image.

 

[AlanLichty]

Hey Alan,

This is pretty cool, the conditions are a bit crazy! I think I would go for a pano crop on this and lose the bottom 1/4 of the image.

I will take a look at that crop suggestion. Thanks.

 

[lightsgood]

Almost like two different worlds Alan. Good stuff.

 

[Kyle Jones]

Hey Alan,

This is pretty cool, the conditions are a bit crazy! I think I would go for a pano crop on this and lose the bottom 1/4 of the image.

I was thinking much the same thing. Wonderful light in the clouds and some great surf.