Posts by: Steve Cole

Waterworld..

As widely reported, vast portions of Western Washington experienced record and near record level flooding during the past week. This marks the third major flood event in as many years. All rivers have crested and begun to recede back into their banks which now afford the opportunity to check out the flooding.

Here are some photos up and down the Snohomish & Snoqualmie River valleys. First up, a solitary tree surrounded by the temporary lake:
Flooded Tree
Further up Old Snohomish-Monroe Road is the road closure just south of French Creek:
Road Closure at French Creek
Flood Panorama - Old Snohomish-Monroe Road near French Creek
Further south and directly alongside the Snohomish River, a log deposited by the high flows lies on Shorts School Road..
Flood debris on Shorts School Road
Once you know what to look for, it’s easy to get an idea of how high the flood waters were. Indications such as mud on trees and debris that gets deposited unnaturally are clear signs:
Grass, hung like tinsel, deposited by flood waters
Flood level on cedar
Further up valley and just north of the town of Duvall, waters from the Snoqualmie River have filled the side fields up creating vast seas. Currently there’s 4 feet of water in this field:
Flooded field outside of Duvall
The mile-wide valley could not be crossed in Duvall due to flood damage to the road so I doubled around the north side to go look at High Bridge Road. This photo shows Crescent Lake Road as it descends into the flood waters. The line of debris across the road in the middle of the photo indicates the level of flood waters:
Flood waters over Crescent Lake Road
Another indication of flood levels
Finally, a view across the Snoqualmie River valley from high atop High Bridge Road:
A Flooded Snoqualmie River Valley

Scouting for photos in the age of Google Earth

In my last post, I shared some photos from the Horseshoe Bend Trail along the North Fork Nooksack River. Due to the late hour, I wasn’t able to take any photos of the horseshoe bend of the river. I was curious as to how far along the trail I had traveled and where the horseshoe bend was so I fired up Google Earth to investigate. As it turns out, I had been close to the bend but frankly it doesn’t appear to be photo friendly (and definately not what I had envisioned in my head).

As I looked over the area in Google Earth, I did notice a bend in the river that appeared to more closely match what I had hoped to see in person. This located wasn’t apparent to me while on the trail because it occurs on the south bank and away from the trail which is on the north bank of the river. Using the tools in Google Earth, I was able to determine a route and distance (~0.6 miles):

Example Route in Google Earth

Seems easy, right? Well, almost. Google Earth also incorporates a terrain model so it gives you some idea of the ups & downs but the resolution may not enough for an area such as this. Furthermore, Google Earth can’t tell you anything about the obstacles you’ll experience in the area such as snow depths or downed timber. It may have only been 0.6 miles and 100-200 feet of up & down but in unconsolidated snow, it’s quite a workout to finally obtain these shots:

Horseshoe Bend #1

Horsehoe Bend #2

Along the way, there was this curious site (created by higher flood flows): a teeter-totter!

Balancing log

Getting back to Google Earth, there are some other things you can use it for with respect to photography. Consider this photo of Doubtful Lake taken from the Cascade Arm above Cascade Pass in the North Cascades:

Doubtful Lake from Cascade Arm

Now compare that with the same basic view in Google Earth:

Doubtful Lake in Google Earth

As you can see, you can actually get a sense of photo composition using Google Earth before visiting an area. It should be noted that this can have some limitations due to the way Google Earth functions. Elements that are closer to the viewer’s location are rendered with more detail than those elements which are located further from the viewpoint. This comes into play in some situations when there is a prominent feature that simply doesn’t show up due to simple distance. I can think of one situation where I replicated a photo I took of Venus & Spade Lakes below Mount Daniel and Mount Rainier (a pretty big feature) didn’t render in Google Earth because it was too far away from the viewpoint. Certainly not a deal killer but just be aware of it!

Now, in the latest versions of Google Earth, there is a new feature that can REALLY help photographers: the sunlight tool. After positioning your view, this tool will show you what the sunlight will look like across the landscape +/- 12 hours. It adds a new dialog in the upper right portion of the display. Simply drag the slider to adjust the time or just press play on the dialog.

If we consider the same Google Earth view of my Doubtful Lake photo, we can now simulate the conditions you’d expect at sunrise on New Years Day:

Simulated sunrise in Google Earth

All in all, it’s a very powerful tool to help you find new locations..

Back to Baker..

Yesterday marked the true start of winter for me- the first day back on the slopes at the Mount Baker Ski Area. Situated in one of the most beautiful environments, both Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan are visible in addition to a number of other dramatic ridgelines. Ample snowfall and a laid back atmosphere make it my favorite ski area anywhere.

Getting there for me requires a fair bit of driving and as luck would have it, I ran smack dab into this:

Accident cleanup..

A logging truck lost its load. Thankfully it appeared to be a solo accident and no one was hurt. Once making it to the ski area, I became re-acquainted to the winter muscle groups that lie dormant during the other parts of the year. Even with largely overcast conditions, there are always photo opportunities…

Mount Shuksan between storm fronts

Emerging sunlight over the Shuksan Arm

Icicles...

More icicles...

Fresh snow in the forest

On the way home, I stopped outside the town of Glacier to explore more of the Horseshoe Bend trail alongside the North Fork Nooksack River. I had to retreat due to failing light but I stopped to take a couple quick photos. Here’s an HDR photo taken after sunset:

North Fork Nooksack River at sunset

Snowy Rocks - North Fork Nooksack River

Happy New Year everyone!

12/20/2008: Deception Falls

I’ll begin my blog with a recap of a trip yesterday. For the better part of the last week, the whole Puget Sound has been firmly gripped in unusually cold weather intermixed with snowstorms. I just haven’t been able to get out to take photos the previous several weeks so I was itching to get out. Saturday’s forecast was for sunny skies, changing in the afternoon so I decided to make a go of it. I decided to go not too far so I headed out Highway 2 towards Stevens Pass.

My original plan was to stop at the Heybrook Ridge lookout trail followed by a stop further east at Deception Falls. I got a late start to the day but skies were clear and cold- 15 degrees on my way through Sultan. Around Gold Bar, the forecasted strong eastern winds made their appearance. The Heybrook lookout is located near the Snohomish / King County, just east of the turnoff for the town of Index. It offers a commanding view of the Skykomish River valley, Mount Index, and Baring Mountain.

As luck would have it, the parking area for the trailhead was covered with 2 feet of snow and not an option. I moved on to Plan B and out to Deception Falls. I’ve only visited the falls twice and those visits were during the last 2 months. Sadly, due to funding issues, the Forest Service seems to only open the parking lot during the peak part of the summer. Winter is no different and finding someplace close to park is even more of a challenge.

I settle on a small pullout about a half mile west of the falls and hiked along the busy highway. The parking lot and trails around the falls area had about 2 feet of powder so having the snowshoes with me was a great help. As I expected, the arrival of winter changed the entire dynamics of the falls. Here are the Upper Falls:

Upper Deception Falls

And the Lower Falls:

Lower Deception Falls

Downstream of the Lower Falls:

Downstream of lower falls

Downstream of lower falls (HDR photo)

Ice build-up where the Tye River makes a 90 degree turn:

Tye River's 90 degree turn

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