This is a unique tour that isn’t offered by any other tour company. It explores the exquisite green world of the incredible Northwestern US traveling through Washington State and Oregon, with a quick dip into northern California to capture the redwoods in all their majesty. This tour will take us into these beautiful landscapes over 16 days to allow a wonderful pace to visit the best venues and have the time to work with the natural landscape to maximize our experience. It will be a trip you will seldom ever be able to make without professional guidance and a great deal of knowledge and enthusiasm from someone who has been to all of these beautiful and often undiscovered places. Join us in July for the journey of a lifetime!

Highlights: Mount Rainier National Park, Columbia River Gorge, Silver Falls State Park, Cascade Waterfalls, Mount Hood, Crater Lake National Park, Redwoods National Park, Bandon Oregon, the coastal sand dunes of Oregon, a sea lion colony, historic Fort Clatsop, the Washington State coast, Lake Quinault, two hidden waterfalls, Olympic National Park, two rain forests, Cape Flattery, Hurricane Ridge, Victoria British Columbia, a butterfly aviary, Butchart Gardens, Seattle Washington, the San Juan Islands, Art Wolf’s Photography Gallery, and much more!

We will assemble in Portland, Oregon for our 16 day adventure through the emerald green world of the Pacific Northwest. Our first objective will be to journey north to Mount Rainier national Park and some late day photography of this icon of the Cascades. We will stay in the area at a select motel and then journey the next day up into the forest to capture beautiful reflections of the majestic peak and the wild flowers that will be near their peak during our trip. We will then head south to the Columbia River Gorge to stay the night and prepare for the next day photographing some of the most pristine waterfalls found in the US! As the day passes, we will then head to Mount Hood for some later day photography and a broad view of this other landmark spire on the Oregon side of the great river. From there it is on to the great road south and a good night’s stay in comfort before leaving early for our day at Crater Lake. This beauty is the second deepest fresh water lake in the world with no inlet or outlet and reportedly the clearest water on earth. We will spend the day stopping at all of the best photographic spots as we explore this incredible blue world.

At day’s end we will be in southern Oregon enjoying the pine scented valleys of this green state and preparing for our push to northern California the next day. Today we will be visiting the very best parts of Redwood National Park and the tallest trees in the world – another superlative in our journey. Knowing where to go and when to be there is critical to the success of every photographic expedition, and we will use our experience to get you there every day. By day’s end we will have traveled back into Oregon and will stay the night at one of the best places along the coast to view the setting sun and see a picturesque lighthouse in the bargain. In the morning we will be back up early to get pictures looking out to sea, and may even be blessed with a visit by the Marine Layer bringing fog into the shore to enhance our photography. Then back on the road for another day of adventure visiting the famous Oregon sand dunes, a sea lion colony and some of the best Pacific Ocean viewing to be found on the West Coast.

We will be off to visit a famous Lewis and Clark Expedition historic site as we eventually cross the Columbia River at its western end, and enter Washington State again. By day’s end we will be on the beach enjoying another sunset and taking it easy catching up on laundry and resting for the next leg of our journey into the Olympic Peninsula. We will photograph the little known waterfalls of the Quinault area, and visit our first rain forest as we travel north, eventually entering Olympic National Park and the superb beaches and headlands of this little visited remote park. We will stay two nights up here, making day trips to the best landmark coastal areas and into yet another rain forest for more photographic opportunities. This peninsula is one of the best places in the lush Northwest to capture water features and remains a well kept secret; not for us! The next day we head out to the most northwestern point of the Lower 48 States and some very interesting photography. As the day progresses, we will visit one or two more waterfalls hidden in the deep forests of the emerald peninsula before reaching our motel and a wonderful peaceful night at the ferry terminal.

As day breaks and after a quick but nourishing breakfast, we will head to the ferry and cross over to Vancouver Island and the wonderful city of Victoria in Canadian territory. Here we will visit several exciting places to photograph a world class botanical garden, a butterfly terrarium, and the Inner Harbor of this magic city. In addition, we will head out into the San Juan Islands for the day and quite possibly sight some killer whales among the islands as well. The next day we will take a leisurely trip up the west coast of Vancouver Island for some rest and visual exploration. Back again to our motel in Victoria for the night. The next day finds us crossing the Strait again back to Port Angeles and up into the Olympic Mountains for a not too daring view of the inner peaks, for a spectacular visit to the high country and views of the inner mountain high peaks and glaciers of this wilderness park. Later, we will travel to one of the best car ferry crossings to take us to Seattle and our last day of exploration and a taste of this wonderful capital of the entire region. A final highlight will be a visit to Art Wolf’s Gallery and a chance to view some of the best landscape photographic work to be found anywhere in the world. This last day of this incredible tour will take us back to Portland for our return journey to all points of the compass, with a rare and very rich collection of landscape images to take home and cherish long into the future. Come with us and be amazed and awed at the beauty of the Emerald Circle!