There’s not much for me to say about Mazama Ridge in Mount Rainier National Park that I haven’t said in previous years here and here. Last weekend I made the trip down to view the wildflowers which were probably beginning their peak week. Great time as always and I ran into a few fellow photographers I’ve interacted with online over the last couple years.
As I hiked out after sunset, the low clouds that persisted all day at lower elevations finally began creeping up the Stevens Creek valley towards Reflection Lakes saddle. I stopped for a couple quick photos on the ridge and at Faraway Rock-
May is a month for wildflowers over on the east side of the mountains. In the foothills beyond to the town of Leavenworth, the canyons can come alive with large blooms of balsamroot and lupine. Conditions aren’t as forgiving over there since the weather warms up and stays warm longer so timing can be crucial. Mid-May seems to be about the time of “peak” blooms; I wanted to make a visit around that time but had to delay it until this past weekend. This lowered my expectations but there were still other areas I haven’t yet checked out. What I ended up finding were good patches of flowers in the area around the Leavenworth Ski Hill. There still was enough evidence to indicate that peak bloom was probably a week ago (around the middle point of May). Beyond the town of Leavenworth, wildflower conditions fall off more quickly. I visited the Eagle Creek valley northeast of town and found some nice pockets of lupine and balsamroot near the end of the paved portion of the road. Further east towards Dryden, I traveled up Ollala Canyon and found conditions to be pretty burnt out (if there was a wildflower season at all). South off of Highway 97, Camas Creek Meadow was devoid of any flowers. The only area outside of Leavenworth that was pretty nice was along Mountain Home Road (which connects Leavenworth to Highway 97 in a roundabout manner).
On my way back home, I re-entered the grey and rainy environment of the west side of the Cascades. Just west of Skykomish, the South Fork Skykomish River had a slight fog bank lingering above the surface and it was too good to pass up. I stopped in the vicinity of the Money Creek Campground to take a few more shots..
Mazama Ridge is in prime wildflower conditions. I had loftier goals for this day but the weather forecast didn’t come close to materializing. Though dry, the mountain was wrapped in clouds the entire day with only two brief windows of visibility. On my way to Mazama Ridge, I made a quick stop at Silver Falls along the Ohanapecosh River:
I arrived at the Reflection Lakes area and geared up. A bit of a breeze made conditions feel more like fall than summertime and the clouds were persistent at about 5,300 feet. The damaged log footbridge at the base of the climb up to Faraway Rock washed downstream so it’s actually safer to cross now. Flowers were mostly spent around the Reflection Lakes and up to Faraway Rock.
North of the rock, the wildflowers come into prime. As many people have predicted & discussed, the wildflowers this year are “normal” at best and nowhere near the show or density of last year. Still, I was pleasantly surprised at what I discovered. Flowers along the ridge were at peak conditions and hadn’t begun to degrade. In fact, the upper third of the ridge still had some flowers coming up. This is definitely the week to visit & experience.
I did make the brief side trip down to the junction with the Skyline Trail and the creek that flows from Sluiskin Falls. The flowers here are also glorious with a lot of valerian in bloom. Along the creek, pink monkeyflower can be found in pockets.
On my way back to Reflection Lakes, I hoped that the clouds might clear out but they did not. I did come across a black bear working the margins of one of the meadows.
After that, I was a bit more vocal on my solo hike out. I stopped once again at Faraway Rock since sunset was only minutes away. There was no direct sunset light but it was being reflected off of the various clouds which made for some interest. The full moon had also risen a fair amount into the sky which created some photo opportunities with the east end of the Tatoosh Range.
Unbelievably, as I got ready and packed up my camera for the final hike out, a red fox came trotting up the trail right next to me and proceeded to examine the area around me. I was stunned to see this and thought about dragging out my DSLR for a second. I figured it would be gone by the time I was ready to shoot so I grabbed my point & shoot instead. I only snapped a few quick stills before I switched to shooting video which I have also posted below. I’d recommend watching the video. So much cooler than the photo!
Based on my visit last week, I knew that I had to return to Mazama Ridge this week for peak wildflowers. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. The weather was a challenge since it was windblown steady light rain / mist for much of the day. Very late in the day, the weather seemed to finally start breaking up but the mountain itself never revealed itself. I can’t emphasize enough how amazing it is to see the wildflower peak in person. Now to the day’s photos…
Friday I headed down to check out the wildflower displays at Mount Rainier. This actually marked the first time that I’ve witnessed peak blooms at Mount Rainier. All the photos you’ve seen in picture books just doesn’t compare to the real thing. I decided to break up the day’s photos into three separate blog posts based on where I visited. This first post covers the time I spent around Tipsoo Lake at Chinook Pass.
I didn’t arrive until mid-day so the lighting was rather harsh and so was the thick haze that’s developed during this very dry stretch. A report from another photographer I read two days ago said that Tipsoo Lake was in prime conditions for wildflowers and he was spot on. Simply amazing to see in person..
Once I finished up at the Lake, I decided to explore the Naches Loop Trail (details in my next blog post)…
I’ve spent the last two days over on the east side of the Cascades in Wenatchee. I set out looking for wildflowers and found some nice displays of balsamroot in the Olalla Canyon area near the town of Cashmere..
Welcome to my blog! Through it, I hope to provide more information about my photography as well as the stories that go with them. My focus is on the landscapes and natural environment found in the Pacific Northwest.
