ROAD TRIP 395
Saturday, July 2, 2016
East Oregonian
A Challenging Journey
Story and photos by E.J. HARRIS ♦ East Oregonian
82
Wash.
UMATILLA
Ore.
Pendleton
84
Pilot Rock
MORROW
395
84
GILLIAM
UNION
Ukiah
Dale
Long
Creek
WHEELER
GRANT
Beech
Creek
26
John
Day
Mount
Vernon
26
Canyon City
Seneca
CROOK
20
395
Riley
20
Burns
Hines
Wagontire
LAKE
HARNEY
Alkali Lake
Station
395
Area in
detail
Valley Falls
Lakeview
20 miles
Ore.
Calif.
Nev.
More online
Each number on the map represents a stop made along Highway 395.
For video of E.J.’s
journey up 395 visit
eastoregonian.com
W
Page 3C
e all need to be
challenged in order
to grow. Whether
it be a professional endeavor
or a passion project, it is by
challenging ourselves that
we are truly able to test our
mettle and become stronger.
In my photography, I
go through many peaks
and valleys of growth.
Sometimes I feel as if I’m in
these never-ending periods
of stagnation where I cannot
honestly tell whether I’m
getting any better at my
craft, no matter how hard I
try to improve. Then there
are the times it seems that
every image coming out of
my camera is golden and
creating those images seems
effortless. That is my artistic
journey: a bipolar roller
coaster ride of chasing the
elusive highs and dreading
the impending lows. It is not
easy on the soul. The one
constant through all of it,
though, is that I always keep
moving. Never afraid to
take a bad photo, and I have
more than a few of those.
So I recently talked
my editors into doing a
project — a challenge if
you will — where on the
summer solstice I would
drive the whole length
of Highway 395, from
the California border to
Umatilla, documenting
my journey along the way.
The only rules were that I
couldn’t stray too far from
the highway, and to get to
Umatilla by sunset. Secretly
though, I just thought it
would be a great way to get
my bosses to fund a road
trip. But the moment I was
given the go-ahead, the
challenge began.
The fi rst part of the
challenge came in the form
of the enthusiasm my bosses
had for the idea. “That’s
great, let’s take your idea
and make it bigger.” It went
from a simple lifestyle
to a four-page spread on
high-bright paper. And it
needs a graphic element,
of course. Multi-media
too. What had started as a
beautiful snowfl ake began
to feel like it morphed into
an avalanche and I was
directly in its path.
The second part of the
challenge seemed to come
from the crippling anxiety
that affl icted my mind for
the month leading up to
the road trip. In my sleep
I would have apocalyptic
nightmares. Visions of
impending doom haunting
my nightly slumber. And in
my waking hours the voices
in my head were telling
me that I will fi nd a way to
screw this up. My subcon-
scious doesn’t always seem
like it is an active partner in
my artistic journey.
But, through all of the
stress I seemed to have
heaped upon myself, I
pushed through. Making
preparations for the trip.
Learning how to use a
GoPro. Scouring over the
route in Google Maps Street
View to see what I might
fi nd on my journey. Making
calculations about drive
time, total hours of daylight,
how long I could stop based
on how many total stops I
made… math, basically. I
did math. A challenge to all
art majors.
And then the day
came, June 20, 2016. I
woke up before dawn (a
fact that might startle my
co-workers, who have had
to deal with my protests
about waking up for
early-morning assignments),
and headed down the
highway. But I never made
it to Umatilla. The sun set as
I was driving about 15 miles
from Pilot Rock.
So, did I fail my chal-
lenge? I guess that depends
on how you look at it. In
a black and white world I
did fail to meet the goals
I had set out for myself. I
did, however, drive for 370
miles, through some really
beautiful country. I stopped
over 60 times taking more
than 1,000 photos (that is an
average of one stop every
six miles). I petted two dogs
and got paid for all of it.
The most important thing
about my challenge is that
I learned something about
myself driving down that
lonely highway: that success
isn’t always measured by
crossing the fi nish line,
and true failure is never
challenging yourself at all.
———
Contact E.J. Harris at
eharris@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0837