The McKenzie River — Memories from Oregon (Chapter 2)

Shot by Gabriela (@lowkeygabes) on 35mm Fuji film.

The McKenzie River flows through 3,000 year old basaltic andesite rock formations for 90 miles in Oregon.

For 3 of those miles, the river runs underground through a porous lava chamber, which filters and cools the water giving it a saturated, cool-blue hue. Even to the naked eye, it damn near looks like gatorade.

The river is named after Scottish-Canadian fur trader, Donald McKenzie, who explored parts of the American Northwest for the Pacific Fur Company in the early 1800s. However, for 8,000 years prior, Native Americans lived along the river— most recently the Kalapuya and Molala people until they were forced onto federal reservations.

The McKenzie river may be one of the most incredible flowing bodies of water I’ve come across. I wish I knew her Indigenous name.