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The legends of the Yurok people of Northern California speak of two spirits who loved the people so much, they chose to become rock and guard their beloved Yurok for all eternity. The two sit opposite each other at the mouth of the Klamath River. Oregos sits on the north bank, looking out to sea. The Yurok's website has this to say:

Spirit Oregos liked people so she decided to be a huge rock at the mouth of the
Klamath River. Her job each year was to tell the fish when they should leave the ocean and head upriver.

And so, each year, Oregos guides the smelt and candlefish, upriver where the Yurok people net them. They are so oil-rich that they can be burnt as a candle for light.

Then in the spring she sends up the cut-throat trout, in May the giant sturgeon, and in July she calls in [napooie] Salmon, the delicious king salmon. August is the steelhead run, followed by silver salmon. Oregos, what a spiritual helper.

Born in Montana, raised in California, I have been holding a camera most of my life. I particularly love photographing the grand landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Involved in photography all my life--starting out as a model for my father, a terrific photographer in his own right. Got my first Brownie Box Camera as a child, and have never looked back. Got serious when I inherited my father's Kodak 35mm viewfinder camera, then moved on to Single Lens Reflex cameras. Finally joined the digital revolution in the fall of 2006. Today, most of my work is done with a Nikon D810 digital SLR fitted with various Nikkor and Sigma lenses.