Steve Cole Photography

Captain Point

Jul 31

It’s been almost a full month since my last outing so to remedy this, I visited a little-known summit named Captain Point. I know *I* had never heard of it before this past week. I had been examining some aerial imagery looking for ideas for this weekend when I noticed the unbelievably green meadow just east of the Captain Point summit. The meadow has a southern aspect so, with this absence of summer we’ve experienced, the odds were better that this spot might have some wildflowers by now.

Captain Point rises to a height of just over 5700 feet and sits in the Martin Creek valley, a tributary to the Tye River. It is also situated just outside the Henry M Jackson wilderness which ultimately means that it has been, and continues to be, logged. The results are certainly an eyesore but the network of roads do provide relatively easy access to the high country. Ah- but there is a catch! More specifically, an access gate.

This small drainage suffers from checkerboard ownership- one Forest Service section is surrounded by sections under private ownership. The Forest Service’s road (Road 6710) ends in the Martin Creek valley bottom, 2500 feet below the summit of Captain Point. Judging by trip report searches, the summit receives few visitors and the open/closed status of the gate seems to change which each report. I had mentally prepared for hiking the road to our destination but as we reached the gate, it was open!

We drove on past the gate began climbing. The road is in fairly good shape with a few rough sections that probably require true 4×4 instead of Subaru AWD due to large amounts of rock and off-camber conditions. My original plan was to follow a lower spur road leading to the bottom of the meadowed slopes and we reached this junction in no time. From this vantage, it did not appear as though there were any flowers in the meadow. It was snow-free and definitely green but no hint of other color.

My friend convinced me to drive further up the road since we both knew there was a large landing where 5 spur roads came together. As we came upon the landing, small patches of snow were present alongside the road. I decided that the landing would be the furthest we would drive since I wasn’t sure we would have the ability to turn around. This cut our elevation gain to only 900 feet from truck to summit. Much better than 2500 feet!

The first road switchback after the landing was a solid 2-3′ snowbank. Beyond this, however, the road was snow-free and in a relatively short amount of time we reached the saddle between the true and satellite summits. Here we were treated to even greater views of Mount Fernow and the north face of Mount Rainier. We also were treated to a few wildflower displays of Sitka Valerian, Spreading Phlox, and two varieties of Penstemon. After taking some photos, we packed up for the final ascent of the true summit.

About 20 minutes later, we topped out on the summit of Captain Point. From this lofty but unassuming perch, we were treated with 360 degree views. The north slopes were still covered with winter’s snows. Just about every major Cascade peak was visible- Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan, and Mount Stuart. Although a bit hazy, we were also able to see The Brothers mountain in the Olympics which was 90 miles away. Closer to us, we spied a couple of hikers on the summit of Scorpion Mountain and one careless individual who was shooting targets illegally on one of the logging roads to our northeast.

The summit block had some small patches of Davidson Penstemon (Penstemon davidsonii) which were perfectly positioned for a great composition of Mount Fernow’s east face. Mosquitoes were out in force and seemed to take a liking to me. I tried my best to ignore them but eventually I had enough! Almost an hour later, we were back at my truck. On our way back down, we were admiring the ridgeline east of us and wondering about what appeared to be a lake. A road network zigzags up the length of the ridge and seemingly came close to this particular lake.

On our way out of the valley, we decided to try and reach this lake via the road network. We passed a nice stream crossing (presumably the creek that drains the lake) and just as we broke out into the logged slopes, we were met by a LOCKED gate. The lake would not be visited on this day but I did want to briefly stop at the creek we had crossed.

The creek upstream of the road was currently in shade so I quickly jumped on the opportunity. As I was doing that, my friend noticed some small falls just about 50 yards further upstream. After finishing up next to the road, we hiked up to the falls area. The area had some interesting rock formations to photograph. The bright sunshine was still filtering through the forest canopy so all my shots were bracketed sets of 3-4 individual exposures.

We did have to end the day early so we packed up and headed home. I was really surprised and happy with what we found up this valley. Expect to find this spot show up in future posts. Next up for me will probably be the full moon and Perseid meteor show which occur on the same day this year- August 13th. Weather permitting, I have some plans for this night that I hope work out!

Lesser side of Mount Baker

Jul 04

If you’ve visited my photo galleries, you will notice that Mount Baker (and the Mount Baker area in general) is a favorite subject of mine. The vast majority of Mount Baker compositions are taken either from the north or from the south. The west side is seldom seen and for a good reason- access to viewpoints is severely challenged. While a forest service road (Road 38) provides some access to the area, the surrounding ridges and peaks largely lie in private ownership.

One day I was exploring the area with Google Earth and I found a ridge spine which seemed to offer a great view of the mountain without any logging activity in the foreground:

Even better, the spot looked to be a short hike via a decommissioned logging road. On this holiday weekend, I headed out with a friend to put boots on the ground and find out if the view lived up to my own hype. Before the actual hike, I made the brief side trip up the Clearwater Creek valley to show my friend the huge unnamed waterfall I discovered earlier in spring.

Full sun provided its natural challenges with shade and full sun in the same frame. I scrambled down to the creek’s edge to shoot the lowest tier of the waterfall which empties directly into Clearwater Creek. Fortunately, it was early enough in the day that this spot was still shaded by the steep canyon walls. This creek really holds some photographic promise but this brief introduction indicates it won’t give up its goods easily. Water’s edge is mostly bedrock with little to no margin for cross country travel. I might make another trip here later in the summer once the water levels subside a bit to spend the day.

Having reloaded back into my truck, we headed off and up the logging roads to our destination. The Middle Fork Nooksack River valley is nestled between Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters range. The higher you go, the better the views of the Twin Sisters become. The higher I went, the more neglected the road became. The alder alongside the roads became thicker and closed in. My truck received many new scratches thanks to the alders.

Just when the views of the Twin Sisters couldn’t get any better, Mount Baker finally came into view. The summit was wrapped in cloud but the Black Buttes were visible along with the Coleman and Thunder Glaciers. We arrived at what I determined to be our “trailhead” and we could see our destination only 0.7 miles directly across from us. The sun’s rays were heating up the day (hey- this part of the country hasn’t experienced warm weather for almost 260 days!) and after finding the best entry point, we dove into the forest to pick up the old logging road.

The road’s beginning was still fairly well defined thanks to its notching into a hillside. The upslope side still had a drainage ditch and the downslope side of the road dropped away. By the end of the day, we joked to ourselves that the best way to tell where the road was located was to look for one thing: Sitka Alder. It seemed to ONLY grow within the boundaries of the old roadbed. Where it grew, it grew thick and vertically straight (at least initially!).

The road had several culverts (which were removed and set aside on site) which created a series of small obstacle courses. Each crossing required climbing down and back up, all the while crawling over, under, and through alder and willows. Despite the constant slaps in the face by branches, I felt we made good progress. I was able to frequently check our progress using my Motion-X GPS app, which I had prepped for this outing my caching the aerial photos from our hike. This turned out to be a good thing because the ground conditions at times didn’t seem to coincide with what we saw on the ground.

About halfway out we crossed the one true creek in the area and the uphill began. At this point, I also ran out of flagging. Since there was no trail, I brought a bunch of pink flagging strips which I would periodically hang on alder branches to mark our route. I didn’t bring the entire roll with me and hoped that the route would become more obvious and not require flagging. It did break out into some open stretches but the groves of alder continued to dominate and hinder our travel.

After more brush, we reached an old road junction which signaled the start of our more strenuous ascent. My friend had been leading our incursion into the reclaiming forest and by this point, was starting to feel its cumulative effects. We slogged on until we met a junction with a slide path. We took an extended break as I consulted the GPS to determine where we were. I estimated that we could save some distance by traveling straight up the slide path (which joined the last road switchback) but it would obviously be more immediate elevation gain.

We decided to try it since it was clear travel in comparison to the alder slapfest we were enduring. About what we thought was halfway up, we could not definitively see the road switchback above us. I was feeling physically better so I huffed up the remaining distance to scout it. Huzzah! Success. I topped out onto the last road switchback and passed that fact on to my friend. He pressed on and soon enough joined me there. At this point he was really wiped out. I knew we were close so I told him I would press on the remaining distance. If I had a great view of Mount Baker (which I never really knew for certain I would), I was going to blow my emergency whistle four times……..

PEEP! PEEP! PEEP! PEEP!

I walked back towards the landing to blow my whistle again and make sure he heard me. I started to see some of the alder branches shake so I knew he was coming towards me. We strolled around the corner and began to enjoy the view:

Once again, the summit was capped by clouds but they were fluid. Shortly after setting up my gear and taking my first few shots, the clouds parted over the summit. It was a brief moment but one that was repeated several times during our stay. The view was tremendous and definitely was as good as what I had seen using Google Earth. Below us was the Warm Creek drainage and the creek has an impressive waterfall that drops about 250 feet. It added the perfect accent to the uniform forest in the lower left portion of my wide angle shots.

I had an obligation later in the evening and we were running behind schedule. As amazing as it was, we had to turn back. Lost in all of my narrative here is the amazing view of the Twin Sisters. Once again, this side of the Twin Sisters isn’t commonly seen. Before packing up for good, I spent a few minutes taking some photos:

The rewards were over and the tribulations began once again. Having flagged most of the route, it helped us on our return journey. Both of us were definitely stumbling around so we resorted to traveling from flag to flag. Despite the severe fatigue, we made good time on our journey back and in one glorious moment, crashed back out of the brush and onto the road where we parked hours before.

I would love to return to this spot in the future (although I think I might need to convince my friend to join me!). The big thing I learned from this outing was that this trip can’t SAFELY be done as a sunset or sunrise dayhike attempt. I can only imagine what kind of angle or knee sprain injury would be awaiting me while hiking in the dark. A nice campsite high up at the last road switchback exists but any water would have to be obtained at the lone creek crossing and hauled up to the campsite. All in all, a very successful discovery!

Lewis River Drainage

Jun 24

Before heading home from my mini-trip to Oregon, I made my first visit to the Lewis River area in the South Cascades of Washington State. Located just southeast of Mount Saint Helens, the Lewis River has a number of waterfalls (including a few that are over 150 feet in height) and forest diversity that has always intrigued me. Prior to my trip I had identified a number of locations to visit knowing full well that I probably wouldn’t be able to get to all of them. The weather forecast was for improving weather and sunshine and it turned out to be even nicer than the forecasts.

That’s great unless you’re trying to photograph waterfalls. There’s nothing you can really do about it except change your plans so that’s what I did. Vanilla leaf is much more common in the forests of the South Cascades and I’ve always wanted to do some macro-type photography of them. Just beyond the Forest Service Rd 90 / Rd 83 junction, I saw a roadside mass of vanilla leaf so I pulled over to check it out. Although it was most shaded by the forest, some of the leaves were being backlit by the morning’s sunshine.

The wind was calm, even with the occasional vehicle zipping by at 50 miles per hour, and this allowed me to keep my ISOs at a lower number. This batch of vanilla leaf still hadn’t bloomed but the leaf patterns were more than enough to keep me interested. After I was satisfied, I packed up and headed to my first and most desired stop: Curly Creek Falls. Before picking up an out of print roadside attraction guidebook, I had never heard of the falls which I find a little surprising considering how cool it is.

The falls are located just a couple miles upstream of the Swift Reservoir, and are the location where Curly Creek joins the Lewis River. What really makes this waterfall special is the natural arch located about halfway down it’s face. It’s a very rare sight and one I’ve been eager to view firsthand. My old guidebook describes a scramble down to the river and waterfall’s edge but I elected to NOT attempt this since the bright sunshine wasn’t going to give me optimal conditions. I opted to view the falls from the official viewpoint located along the opposite bank of the Lewis River. Lighting was tough but I managed to have a brief moment when a cloud blocked the sun.

Just up the hill and around the corner from the falls is the McClellan Viewpoint, which provides an unobstructed view of Mount Saint Helens to the northwest. About a quarter-mile to the northeast is Rush Creek and the site of one of those large waterfalls. Accessing the falls requires a bushwhack approach which I attempted but quickly had to turnaround due to a cliff dropoff. I was alone and decided to return some other time when I had a partner with me and better light.

Moving on, I did stop off where Rush Creek flows underneath Forest Service Road 90. The creek is quite large, almost river-like and quite photogenic upstream of the road. By now, the day was getting long and so I made my next stop my last: Big Creek Falls. At a height of 130 feet, the falls are impressive and easily accessed thanks in large part due to an interpretive loop trail. I actually had the entire place to myself which was great. The upper falls were still in full sun and the spray from the falls was throwing up a nice rainbow (sadly the rainbow could not be photographed due to its position).

The waterfall is impressive enough but the forest here has some really big old growth trees. Having done what I could with the falls, I explored the forest. Beyond the interpretive loop trail, another trail follows the canyon rim down towards the Lewis River. Eventually I had to turn back since I still had a 3+ hour drive back to the Seattle area. I barely was able to scratch the surface so I hope to return later this summer once the snowmelt water levels subside a bit.

Now I Say Goodnight to Winter

Apr 26

An ironic title, given the title I used for last week’s posting. In fact, as I write this, the snow level will dip below 1,000 feet again. All this just days from the month of May! Nonetheless, winter for me isn’t over until the Mount Baker Ski Area season comes to an end and that finally happened this past weekend. A gorgeous day of sunshine was forecasted so sticking around after an afternoon on the slopes for sunset was in order. For once, the weather forecasts were actually correct and the day progressed with clear skies.

By 5pm, things around the ski area had quieted down and the last wave of snowshoers were returning from their day trips up to Artist Point. As they returned, I was geared up and on my way up to Artist Point. I attempted a sunset from up here last winter and had some keepers with great pink alpenglow colors on Mount Shuksan. One thing about that visit was that I felt rushed looking for compositions due to a short lead time into that sunset. This time, I made it up onto the ridge before the “golden hour” before sunset and that allowed me to traverse along Kulshan Ridge and check everything out.

I hike all the way out towards the high point of Huntoon Point. Before the last ascent, I noticed a snag sticking out of the snow. I immediately recognized it as a snag I had photographed last fall. I put together this side by side shot to give you an idea of how much snow really accumulates in this area:

The snag (the right-most one in the right-hand photo) was probably 12+ feet tall and is situated on a rise that is 8-10′ above the trail. Seeing only the top 3 feet of the snag leaves a whole lot of snow underneath my feet!

I hoped I could find a spot which would leave me with compositions of both Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker but found this a challenge. In winter, the ridge top takes on a convex shape due to wind transport of snow. The only trees that aren’t buried are located down off the crest on either side. This means that you have to physically relocate from one side to the other in order to shoot either mountain. Now throw in a slew of snowshoe tracks and ski traverses throughout your foreground and you have your work cut out for you!

My decision was to hunker down and face Mount Shuksan and the Swift Creek headwaters. Besides, I enjoyed the vast scene dropping away in front of me. As the minutes of the golden hour ticked away, the light began to change from white to golden light. I hoped and patiently waited for the peak colors to appear but they never graced the slopes of Mount Shuksan. A bit frustrating because I could see better light to the south towards Whitehorse Mountain and to the northwest towards American Border Peak!

As luck would have it, I stood up and looked back towards Table Mountain & Mount Baker and the sky had some nice orange color but was starting to fade. Before committing to my vantage point of Mount Shuksan, I had scouted a composition for Mount Baker. I further prepped the spot by stamping out a firm pad in the snow. Now that time was of the essence, I was able to quickly set up and not have my tripod legs sink down into the snow pack.

I snapped off a few shots and was quite surprised to see that my camera was able to contain the entire dynamic range within one exposure. My visit last winter was with my Pentax K10d whose sensor technology was three-ish years old. My current Pentax K-5 has some of the best dynamic range you can currently buy in the APS-C format and I’ve become a firm believer in this. I remembered another scene just on the other side of Huntoon Point so I humped all my gear as quickly as I could over to a half buried small snag.

After a few more quick snaps, any magic light that was left faded away. Donning my snowshoes once again, I quickly made my way back towards the buried Artist Point parking lot and the descent back down to Heather Meadows. So ended the day, and so ended another ski season and winter. Despite the obvious abundance of snow, it was personally a weird winter. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by previous winters but the lack of a lower elevation snowpack was a real disappointment.

Along with a number of other locations, Nooksack Falls received intermittent snow which prevented me from getting the truly winter scene I’ve been hoping for. The Ohanepecosh River valley was virtually bone dry all the way up close to 2,000 feet. Closing the door on winter does open the door for summertime, wildflower meadows, and the beautiful high country. Granted, it will be a while before it will be accessible but the trip planning and research can begin now!

Winter won’t leave

Apr 22

Ever since the calender made it official and told us that it’s springtime, the weather has actually reverted back into winter. It’s the 21st of April and snow levels are STILL dipping down below 1000 feet and we haven’t had a single high temperature of 60 degrees. Thankfully I love winter! Coming into the weekend, I had some interest in shooting some scenes of skunk cabbage, one of the sure signs of spring.

As it turned out, the spots in the upper North Fork Nooksack River valley I was thinking of were still solid snow and not accessible. It’s sure been a jeckyl and hyde winter! Up at the Mount Baker Ski Area, crowds have dwindled down to mostly the diehards despite a substantial snowpack. For yet another weekend, the weather proved to be dramatic and offered periods of cloud, sun, and even light snow.

Maybe I never really paid attention before but this has been one heck of a winter for scenes of clouds lapping over and around the impressive summit of Mount Shuksan. The sun’s path through the sky also changes which now lights up the snowy slopes of the Shuksan Arm enough to add dramatic shadows. The spring sunshine really brings out all of the subtleties of these slopes. As you can see from some of these shots, they are reminiscent of the jagged mountains of Alaska, Karakoram, or Himalayas.

I kept seeking and taking shots while the light allowed for it. Of course, these photos were color but the interplay of clouds and mountain just beg for a black & white treatment. I recently received my copy of Nik’s Silver Efex 2 so I went for it. After finishing up at the ski area, I revisited Razor Hone Creek. Incredibly enough, the creek still lies buried underneath the multiple feet of snow that covered it last month. This spot usually has a nice 10 foot waterfall but not on this day:

Back down in the valley, I stopped along the river at a location I never realized existed (partly because it’s typically buried under more snow). It’s nothing more than an unofficial “party” spot along the river and is a pullout inside a grove of large old growth cedar trees. The river here is fairly calm with a few gravel bars. Lucky for me, the upstream valley slopes were still flocked with fresh snow:

I wanted to go scout some of the Middle Fork Nooksack but that ended up having to wait until another time…

Bigma Fun

Mar 26

I recently ended a long quest to pick up my “wildlife”zoom lens. As a brand, Pentax has not kept up with developing long length zooms (or primes for that matter) for use in wildlife photography. The Pentax branded lenses out there hail from the end of the days of film and the FA series of lenses. For modern times, options are really limited to a few offerings made by third party lens developer Sigma.

Sigma has been producing their 500mm (750mm equivalent with the Pentax 1.5x crop) beasts for a while and their offerings boil down to the 150-500 or the 50-500, which is affectionately known as the “Bigma.” Based on my research, the 50-500 was held in high regard for both it’s image quality and value. The current version of this lens retails for about $1600 in a Pentax mount and uses a HSM motor for focusing. Pentax’s own lenses with HSM motors have been suspect so I wanted to avoid this and target a used copy of the previous version of this lens (the 50-500mm F4-6.3 APO DG).

I thought I had scored a deal on one using eBay but the seller had mistakenly listed their Nikon mount lens as a Pentax mount.There’s nothing worse than opening a box and realizing the lens you see won’t fit your camera! Anyways, fast forward a few weeks and I found an individual selling their one year old Bigma for $825 on a Pentax forum. For an additional $50, the seller threw in a UV and Polarizer filter so I jumped on it.

I’m not really a wildlife photographer but occasionally find myself in those kind of situations. What’s more, there have been a few times when I knew that the extra length beyond my normal 300mm tele would have yielded a much stronger composition and image. I’ve wanted to take this lens out for a spin but haven’t had the time until a few days ago. I tried stopping by the Mosquito Lake Rd bridge over the North Fork Nooksack River but there wasn’t a single Bald Eagle to be found. If I was going to use this lens, it would have to be landscapes.

Before that, however, I stopped briefly at Nooksack Falls. I hoped to get a “wintertime” counterpart to my ladder-aided shot of Nooksack Falls from last summer. To my disappointment, much of the snow that fell a couple weeks ago has melted away..

After that, I continued up the Mount Baker Highway to hit the slopes at the Mount Baker Ski Area. The skies were partly sunny with clouds drifting in and around the neighboring peaks. Perfect for dramatic photos! I decided to only use the Bigma so all of these photos were taken with the 50-500 and a UV filter:

I’m really happy that I picked it up. It is a HEAVY lens and weighs in at over 4 pounds. I won’t be taking this out on a hike very much! Another caveat is its construction so you should be mindful of its use during extreme conditions. Living in the wet confines of the Pacific Northwest, I’m very accustomed to being out in rain and snow. My camera body has weather seals but my lenses do not. I have not found this to be an issue overall but the Bigma is put together slightly different.

Six screws retain the front most element of the lens to the rest of the extending body of the lens. Given our proclivity to rain, I’m real concerned about moisture penetrating this seal. Thankfully, I have found an inexpensive solution but I’ll blog about that after I have had some time with it in actual rainy conditions. My Manfrotto ballhead can support the weight of the lens and camera but it is sensitive to vibrations. Using the camera’s timer or better yet a remote control helps mitigate for this.

The extra 200mm at the extreme end of the range does make a difference. There’s been one composition out along the Shuksan Arm that I’ve wanted to shoot but have been unable to since it won’t fill the frame at 300mm. It now does and hopefully I’ll be able to shoot it before the end of ski season next month. Focusing is fairly fast and snappy but it has hunted for focus in low light and low contrast conditions. I’ve been able to work around this by either selecting a higher contrast focus point or by pointing the lens at a higher contrast portion of the scene and then recomposing for my original scene.

The Canon / Nikon versions of this lens have a few switches near the mount which control zoom creep and manual / auto focus. The Pentax version only has the zoom lock switch and I gave myself a heart attack as I unintentionally discovered that manual / auto focus is controlled by a push/pull of the focusing ring. I thought I had broken the lens!

My last comment is about the lens hood, which requires some consideration. The horizontal petals almost half the depth of the vertical petals, presumably to avoid appearing in the frame at 50mm. My very first attempt using this lens was at a local estuary wetland during a windy rain. Although I was perpendicular to the wind, it was blowing water droplets in and onto the front of the lens. This is something I have not encountered with my Pentax DA55-300 which uses a lens hood with a uniform, deep length. This isn’t calamity by any stretch but I think folks should be aware of such things. Sometimes the photos we take can’t be duplicated so I would hate to loose a photo because I didn’t check for water droplets!

[UPDATE] I haven’t had many opportunities to use this lens until recently when I visited Boundary Bay in British Columbia to photograph the Snowy Owls. You can see those photos in my blog post here.

Snow Returns to the Valley

Mar 06

Things in the North Fork Nooksack River valley were looking more normal after what probably will be the last significant lowland snow event. My day up on the slopes at the Mount Baker Ski Area were unfortunately cut way short due to an equipment issue. I packed up and then headed back down into the valley to scout around. Razor Hone Creek has thwarted my efforts to reveal its treasures several times but I spied a relatively easy access point to try out. I feared a laborious wallowing effort and it proved to be true. In the absence of snowshoes, every step sunk down to the crotch. I had to fill my post hole with snow and then tamp it down with my foot to come up with a stable base. Drawing closer to the creek, I didn’t hear it. I feared that the creek had become buried by the 5+ feet of snow during the previous week. Retreating back to the road, I walked back to the bridge over the creek and confirmed that the creek was, indeed, buried. On to the next location!

Back down in the valley, I stopped at a location I have visited before (but not this winter). It’s the western end of short stretch of rapids along with a modest slot canyon. An unnamed creek originating high on Excelsior Ridge also flows into the river at this spot. The fresh snow was nicely piled up on the boulders in the river:

I didn’t find much new or very compelling so I moved on. Close to spot where I took one of my favorite panoramas of the river, I explored a short stretch of river located between that location and a second location I looked at earlier this winter. Right away, I noticed this small cave which had a dense number of icicles inside of it. The rain was trying to turn to snow but wasn’t being very successful.

From here, I decided to head upstream and that required negotiating around a large logjam. On the other side was the tail end of a stretch of rapids. In the middle of the river was a piece of wood, partially frozen and covered with snow which reminded me of a gun from a World War II warship.

By now, my jacket, gloves, and shell pants were getting close to saturation which signaled to me that it was time to go home. It wasn’t the greatest of days but it’s another check mark in my attempt to really know the 5+ mile stretch of the river between Nooksack Falls and Hannigan Pass Road. It’s been a great experience getting to know this area more in depth. I’m usually surprised at what I discover and it’s often no more than 30 yards from the busy highway.

Mount Rainier Lemons

Feb 21

Lemons. Whattaya do you do with them??

I was really looking forward to some plans I had made with a friend this weekend to return to the Ohanapecosh River valley in Mount Rainier National Park to revisit Silver Falls and possibly the Grove of the Patriarchs. We made this hike about two winters ago but I never made it across the hiking bridge to the closer viewpoint of the falls. Leading up to the weekend, the weather forecasts were calling for snow at a low elevation followed for sunshine for the day of our hike. I was excited.

Well…………

Two years ago, we turned onto SR-123 from US-12 and had to immediately park because the highway was snow covered. This year, in the dead of winter, it was completely snow free so we kept driving. We didn’t see ANY snow the entire way up to the gate at the entrance of the park. I thought we’d be able to get a nice cross country ski in on our way to the falls but there was no snow to be seen anywhere.

This was a big letdown but we decided to hike up the road without our skis. We had traveled about 0.75 miles before we encountered any snow on the road and probably another 0.25 mile for it began to build a solid base. It was still thin, and that was reinforced by a Park Service truck which sped past us and then turned into the Ohanapecosh Campground. Just before the turnoff for the Stevens Canyon Road, you reach the trailhead for Silver Falls (2.25 miles from the winter gate).

As the trail dives into the forest away from the road, the snow disappeared. In fact, the short trail to the falls were pretty much free of snow and there were barely any patches of snow in the vicinity of the falls. This “La Nina” winter has really done a number on us in the Pacific Northwest. It should have been snowier in the mountains but it never has delivered. The log bridge crossing over the Ohanapecosh was snow free; 2 winters ago, it had a 3-4′ mound of snow up to its railing.

On the far side, we settled in at the viewing area and I attempted to take some photos. The sun had crested the eastern ridges and was shining brightly on the falls. The photo taking was extremely tough and I resorted to taking bracketed exposures. These weren’t the conditions I was expecting (or hoping) for but an interesting thing began to happen. The spray from the falls was beginning to develop a rainbow and, as the sun rose more, it was getting stronger.

I kept firing off bracketed exposures from the top of the cliff. There are some rock slabs below but they appeared to be icy and very slippery. My friend explored it further and found out that there was a narrow but safe access along the rocks to a better vantage of the falls. I gathered up my gear and headed down to the spot my friend had described. It was better but the spray that was generating the rainbow was also coating the front of my lens rather quickly.

Thus began a repetition of wiping off the front of my circular polarizer, rotating around, and taking my bracketed shots. I’ve done this dance several times before so now I always carry three microfiber cloths with me to help ensure I always have a dry cloth. We spent about an hour at the falls before hiking out. Originally I expected this to be a day long affair but the lack of snow really sped up our outing. Originally, I had hoped that we would finish with enough time to head a little further east on US-12 to the Palisades viewpoint for sunset but now….now we could double pack and head towards the mountain for sunset and I knew where we should go: Ricksecker Point.

This, of course, didn’t prevent us for still visiting the Palisades since it’s just around the corner from the SR-123 / US-12 intersection. The Palisades are a neat volcanic feature right along US-12. Across the small canyon from the viewpoint is an exposed columnar volcanic formation. There’s also a nice bonus view of Mount Rainier in the distance. The timing of our visit couldn’t have been WORSE because the sun was directly overhead of the formation. Photographs were impossible without glare I ended up with just this lone shot of the Palisades and this zoomed panorama of Mount Rainier:

The day was starting to get long so we needed to double back towards the Longmire entrance of Mount Rainer National Park. North of Morton, I noticed some puffy clouds were developing around the west flank of the mountain at around 5-6,000 feet. By the time we entered the park, it was too late to make it up to Paradise so I made Ricksecker Point our primary destination. This spot is a short loop road that has a couple turnout viewpoints of Mount Rainier, the west end of the Tatoosh Range and the Nisqually River valley to the west. In the winter, this road isn’t plowed so it provides a short opportunity to cross country ski. By this time of the afternoon, we had the backside of the loop all to ourselves.

The few clouds I had seen back near Morton turned into a thick mess at Ricksecker Point, obscuring the mountain. The views were otherwise fabulous and we came across an interesting set of animal tracks. If anyone knows what they are, please leave a comment! Only thing I could come up with was maybe a raven hopping across the snow & returning in the same track:

Anyways, the afternoon light was beginning to warm up so we made are way back in hopes that the mountain was once again visible. It wasn’t- but the light was transforming into that classic pink winter light. I concentrated on the view towards the west but Mount Rainier began to show through some expanding windows in the clouds. I shifted locations and then concentrated on Mount Rainier. At the best time possible, the clouds began giving way and we were treated to it’s snowy slopes basking in pink light. Just magnificent!

Due to the NPS policy of shutting the gate in Longmire nightly, we couldn’t stick around too long after the show ended. We hurried back to my truck and drove back down the hill before the 6:30pm closure. The day turned out to be NOTHING like what I had envisioned. By remaining flexible and knowledgeable about where I was going helped me salvage the day. In fact, I ended up with some photos that I never would have taken had I followed through with my original plans!

In other words…make some lemonaide!

The Wet Sack

Feb 13

So there it is. One photo from this weekend.

Pacific Northwesterners are an odd lot. Commercials like this wouldn’t be so funny if it wasn’t true. Anyways, I recently ordered a cross country ski package and after a lengthy delay due to the midwest snowstorm, it finally came. I was eager to try things out so I made plans with a friend to head up to the Salmon Ridge Sno-park. The Bagley Creek area can be accessed via their groomed trails and it’s mostly level or gently sloping so it’s a good place to learn the ins & outs of cross country skiing.

After a lengthy period of calm weather, this weekend brought a good storm system. On paper, the snow level would be just above the elevation of the sno-park but I hoped the Mount Baker area would make its own weather and perhaps lower the snow to the sno-park. It didn’t. My friend figured this would be the case and so he described our outing as a visit to the Wet Sack (instead of Nooksack). After having to double back to Maple Falls from Glacier to purchase the daily sno-park permit, we pulled into an empty parking lot at the sno-park. On the way, we drove through varying intensities of rain but it was just light rain at the parking lot.

After gearing up, we were off. Now, I’ve been snowboarding for 14 years but have never skied before. Having two independently moving planks under your feet is pretty weird. It took a while to find the proper center of balance but I managed to NOT fall on the way out to Bagley Creek. Cross country skiing is surprisingly efficient. We had travelled a fair distance before I even had broken a sweat or elevated my heartbeat. The worst thing I encountered were burning calf muscles (just like the first day of ski season).

I also found going uphill to also be less strenuous compared with walking on foot or snowshoeing. The only thing I can’t do comfortably is go downhill and that’s largely due to the fact that I have never skied before. I just can’t master the Pizza!

The further we traveled, the harder the rain become. By the time we reached Bagley Creek, the rain was falling about as hard as it could and we were both pretty soaked. We dismounted and headed into the forest along the creek to find some shelter. After some lunch, it started to sleet a bit and we mulled over what to do. My backpack glistened from all the water that was saturating it. I didn’t relish the thought of pulling out my gear in this weather!

In the end, we decided to hike a ways downstream to scout the lower stretch of river. The going was tough due to postholing through the snowpack. We traveled down about 100 yards and looked down at the scene I’ve photographed above. I was immediately drawn to the trace snow randomly covering a stretch of the gravel beach alongside the creek. After some careful zigzagging down the slope, we hit beach and I quickly set up to take a few shots.

I was now on my third set of gloves and knew it was just time to head back to the truck as fast as possible. Back on the trail, we geared back up and began our way back. My friend noticed that his cross country gear had failed so he had to walk out while I practiced my technique a bit more. Eventually we made it back to the parking lot and were completely drenched. The parking lot was a sea of slush and we stripped down our gear as fat as humanly possible.

It was a divine feeling once we began to feel the heater’s warmth. It took most of the 2 1/2 hour drive just to physically feel dry! Despite the brutalness of the conditions, it was actually fun! I picked one of the worst days of weather to learn how to cross country ski. Things should get only get better with much better conditions. I already have some plans for next weekend which I’m hoping will pan out nicely.

Oh- yes, I did fall but only once!

A Winter’s Day

Feb 01

Not much of a story for this entry. Here’s a variety of photos from another bluebird day up at the Mount Baker Ski Area and the North Fork Nooksack River valley. The river photos are from another new section of the river for me. A nice spot with some twists and turns in the river and the added bonus of a view of Mount Sefrit in the distance.