2010 fall colors

Blue Lake and Golden Larches

Fall is coming to a close and without much fanfare. The only good fall color this year has been up high and and on the east side of the Cascades. I’ve wanted to check out the larch fall colors since my premature visit two years ago to Maple Pass. I got a bit more excited when I learned that weather forecasts were calling for the first low snow levels of the season. I hoped I could combine the yellow larches, the blue of Blue Lake, and the white of fresh snow.

Off I went to the Blue Lake trailhead near Washington Pass. Skies were clearing and the air was quite crisp. I had hoped that there might be 1-2” of fresh snow but what greeted me was nothing more than a barely a trace at the trailhead. Up higher, the amount was still little more than a trace but more widespread. Most larches still had needles but were past prime color and even starting to shed needles.

Larches along the trail to Blue Lake - North Cascades Highway
There’s a small creek near the turnoff for the climbers path up to Liberty Bell & Early Winter Spires and luckily it had some small drops & ice formations to take advantage of:

Small creek and Early Winters Spires - North Cascades Highway
After my brief stop, I hiked the remaining half mile or so to Blue Lake. This stretch of trail is now somewhat sketchy since the water on the trail has frozen and probably won’t thaw out before winter finally arrives. It’s a short stretch so in little time I arrived at Blue Lake. After crossing the outlet, way trails scatter in every direction. I followed the shoreline for a while before deciding to gain the crest of a small cliff for a higher vantage.

Blue Lake Panorama
Small tarn near Blue Lake - North Cascades Highway
Snag and fall color around Blue Lake - North Cascades Highway
Snag near Blue Lake - North Cascades Highway
The wind kicked up a bit and clouds began to drift over the surrounding ridges. Tucked away just west of Blue Lake are a couple small tarns. Scenic in their own right but I had difficulty getting some nice compositions. Before I ended my day at the lake I made my way down to the shoreline to do some exploring:

Larches growing in talus slopes along Blue Lake - North Cascades Highway
Early Winters Spires - North Cascades Highway
Blue Lake snow reflections - North Cascades Highway
I didn’t see a single person until I started my hike out which was pretty nice, especially for a popular location such as this. As I drove home, I did quickly stop off at one location along the North Cascades Highway which had a nice display of fall color. This was somewhat of an oddity since most of the fall color I observed were solitary trees scattered throughout the forest.

Fall color along Granite Creek - North Cascades Highway

Mountain Loop Highway

I’ve made several trips to the Darrington area during the last month so I felt like looking for fall color along the Mountain Loop Highway between Barlow Pass and the Whitechuck River. Fall colors continue to be AWOL. Most maples are losing their leaves before they get to change their color. Along the rivers, the vine maples have dropped most of their leaves.

The fall color that I’ve heard about has been in the higher elevations and primarily huckleberry and mountain ash. My deepest foray into the mountains brought me up to the 4,000′ level in the Dan Creek watershed and, to my surprise, I didn’t find any fall color there as well! It’s truly been a fall to forget for fall color.

Some friends had told me about a small little waterfall in the Verlot vicinity so I made a quick stop to check it out:

First Falls - Verlot area
First Falls - Verlot area
After that, I continued east and then headed up towards the Headlee Pass trailhead since there’s a nice valley view just before reaching the trailhead. In the past, the mountain ash has provided fall color but not this year (I’m beginning to sound like a broken record!). What WAS cool were some low clouds drifting through the valley and the forested slopes. I spent a little bit of time watching and trying various compositions:

Clouds and forest - South Fork Stillaguamish River headwaters
Clouds and forest - South Fork Stillaguamish River headwaters
Afterwards, I went over Barlow Pass and stopped at spot that finally had some fall color. In my previous drives through this area, I’ve noticed the unusual red rocks & boulders here in the South Fork Sauk River so it was nice to finally stop and check it out.

South Fork Sauk River
South Fork Sauk River
Just before reaching the confluence with the Whitechuck River, I made a quick sidetrip to check out the North Fork Sauk River Falls:

North Fork Sauk River Falls
North Fork Sauk River Falls panorama
Closer to the Whitechuck River, some small vine maples in the forest caught my eye:

Vine Maple - Sauk River valley
Vine Maple - Sauk River valley
I was really hoping to get up high to get some fall color but even up high in the Dan Creek drainage yielded nothing. Low clouds even denied me of some fine views of Whitechuck Mountain. It was getting late so I turned around and headed home. On the way out, I stopped (inadvertently!) at the same spot along the South Fork Sauk River and shot a few more photos of the red rock & fall color.

South Fork Sauk River
South Fork Sauk River
South Fork Sauk River
South Fork Sauk River
It’s been difficult deciding on where to go these past few weekends. I’m hoping to have better luck this weekend.

It is fall..

…but it’s not very obvious. At least not in the North Cascades. After spending the day bouncing around the North Fork Nooksack River valley, I suspect that fall colors will be disappointing this year. Labor Day weekend was my last outing so I was eager to get out again. I decided to attempt to revisit a section of Ruth Creek with a friend in order to access some more difficult terrain that I know would yield some great photos. Forecasts were leaning towards nice sunny weather but I decided to give it a go.

On the way, we stopped off to check fall color conditions on Church Mountain:

Fall colors begin - Church Mountain
Fall colors begin arriving on the upper slopes of Church Mountain
The forecasted 63% cloud cover was more like 0-10%. The stretch of Ruth Creek proved to be quite formidable and our attempts to enter it’s guarded treasures were futile. Despite wearing chest waders, I only managed a few photos from here:

Ruth Creek
Ruth Creek
Defeat came quick but there was still a fair amount of day left. We poked around another forest service road before ending up at Artist Point with hundreds of other tourists. It was tough being there and watching people pick wildflowers and wander wherever they chose to.

Early fall color on Excelsior Ridge
Snags and fall color - Kulshan Ridge
Mount Shuksan from Kulshan Ridge
Mount Shuksan from Kulshan Ridge
A storm front was coming in (witnessed by the very strong winds at Artist Point) so we both thought there might be a chance for a striking sunset. I decided we should head to Cougar Divide to try our luck. We made haste to the trailhead and arrived about an hour before sunset. About a half hour later, we had arrived at the viewpoint that I like to shoot from.

Mount Baker from Cougar Divide
Summit of Mount Baker wrapped in clouds
Sunset started wonderfully with a cloudcap and other clouds swirling around Mount Baker. To the east, Mount Shuksan’s summit pyramid was already firmly in the grip of cloud cover. Back down the Nooksack Valley a cloud bank was building up, adding to the interest. I promised my friend solitude at this location but we ended up running into 7 others at the viewpoint! Most left upon our arrival and, after a few minutes, we had the place to ourselves.

Mount Baker from Cougar Divide
Approaching front from Cougar Divide
Just prior to the point of brilliant pinks and peak sunset colors, it all shut off like a light switch. I suspect the sun dipped behind a cloud bank along the horizon which shut us out. This seemed to be confirmed by looking north towards Canada where we could see the pink colors that were eluding us!

Storm clouds after sunset - Cougar Divide
Storm clouds after sunset - Cougar Divide
I spent a few more minutes after sunset taking some shots before we made our way out. The moon was rising to the east but I couldn’t capture any decent shots. The day was done and all that was left was the long drive back home. That, and replacing the flat I got just prior to crossing the Wells Creek bridge. I really hope that the fall colors arrive!

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