Church Mountain

Nooksack Fall Color 2011

Although somewhat late, fall color has definitely returned to the North Fork Nooksack River valley. This past weekend I headed up the valley to check out conditions at two locations- Mount Baker Highway near Church Mountain and the upper Wells Creek valley. My first priority was a neat spot I found which gives a commanding view of Church Mountain across the valley. A few years ago I noticed a drainage / slide path which was predominately deciduous. I knew if I timed it right, I would be treated with a great splash of color. This year was the year!

Fall color on Church Mountain and the North Fork Nooksack River valley in the North Cascades
Fall color on Church Mountain
Fall color on Church Mountain and the North Fork Nooksack River valley in the North Cascades
The fall color starts mildly while heading north along State Route 9 past Acme and Van Zandt and started to get better as I headed east on the Mount Baker Highway towards Kendall and Maple Falls. Beyond Maple Falls, the color (primarily the Big Leaf Maples) really start to pop. The color isn’t “perfect” color so you’ll find plenty of blackening leaves along with the yellows and oranges. As I got close to my Church Mountain viewpoint, I finally see through the trees that the color in the slide path was brilliant yellow. I made the short hike to my vantage point and began shooting.

Mount Baker Highway fall color
Fall color on Barometer Mountain
Fall color on Barometer Mountain
The sun was out and was casting some distracting shadows on the lower forested slopes. I spent awhile shooting different compositions before deciding to pack up and head someplace else. Rejoining the Mount Baker Highway, I made my way to the Wells Creek Road turnoff. Between Glacier and the Wells Creek Road, the Big Leaf Maples along the highway are in near prime color. Based on this, I drove up into the upper Wells Creek valley.

Snowpack from last winter near Dodd's Cleaver on Mount Baker
Sholes Creek near Mount Baker
Sholes Creek near Mount Baker
A few miles in, the road turns a corner and you’re treated to a rocky cliff face with a variety of color splashes from Big Leaf Maples and Vine Maples. Although I’ve taken the roadside shot before, I elected to scramble up through the talus to access the upper rock field. While shooting this local scene, I could see further up the valley that the sun was really making the fall color glow. Before reaching the Wells Creek Falls vicinity, I was amazed at the sight of some devastation caused by a massive avalanche off of Barometer Mountain this past winter.

Fall color in the Wells Creek valley
Aftermath from a massive avalanche off of Barometer Mountain last winter
The slide path was a couple hundred yards in width and the slide itself looks to have reached all the way to Wells Creek itself. Impressive sight! The road continues past Wells Creek and then crosses Sholes Creek, marking the end of the “maintained for public travel” portion of the road. Shortly after the bridge is a nice clearing in the forest which provides huge views of the valley and Barometer Mountain. The day was getting long and I had to head home. On my way back, I stopped at the bridge over Sholes Creek to experiment with some compositions.

Fall color along the Mount Baker Highway outside of Maple Falls
Fall color along the Mount Baker Highway outside of Maple Falls
Hopefully the color will last through the weekend. Seems like there were still plenty of trees with pale greens which could develop over the next few days. Forecasts are pointing to potential frost overnight as well!

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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