Washington State

Mazama Ridge 2012

Aug 22

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-

Snoqualmie Nights

Jul 31

I was up in the vicinity of Snoqualmie Pass last night, hoping to do some photography with the coming full moon. Despite forecasts promising cloud cover percentages of 6-13%, the stark reality of weather was significantly worse. The other lesson learned is that the moon travels a far lower path in spring/summer than later in the year. Last night, this meant that the moon never rose above a ridge to the south of my location (or really broke through the mostly cloudy skies for that matter).

The upside of the conditions were the opportunities to photograph a mix of clear patches of star filled skies along with fast moving clouds. Lemonaide from lemons!

Waiting for Auroras

Jul 20

Auroras are trademarks of the high latitudes such as Alaska, Norway, and Canada. It is much rarer to see them at the lower latitudes of places like Seattle. After a tremendous solar burst last week, that’s exactly what was forecasted for the weekend. Sometime in the early 2000s, I saw some aurora activity from the front yard of my house in Everett and it was mesmerizing. I desperately wanted to capture the auroras above some of our fine northwest scenery.

There have been some near misses in terms of seeing auroras over the last couple years and that gave me some time to figure out where to go. Over time, I finally found my “spot” in the Baker Lake vicinity of Mount Baker. My location looked to have a great view of both Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker and was fairly accessible. Predictably, the weather slowly degraded as Saturday arrived. Clouds would be bad enough but persistent afternoon thunderstorms in the mountains really threatened to ruin any chance we had.

As the afternoon went on, the storm activity seemed to tail off and so we gave it a go. Surprisingly, the Forest Service roads were bone dry; the thunderstorms never dropped their payload in this area. Despite some concerns about having to hike on snow to our destination, everything ended up being snow free. Even better, the site I had researched turned out to be great. Mount Baker remained cloaked behind thick clouds but Mount Shuksan had a horizontal slit across its mid flanks. I think the struggling optimists inside of us hoped that the pockets of blue sky were the beginnings of a clear night sky.

Below us, the Baker Lake valley was filling with clouds and gradually creeping up the valley sides. Sunset drew closer and closer bringing color to the various clouds across the sky. As daylight continued to fade, so did our hopes for clear skies in this area. After sunset, the clouds finally swallowed us whole. It was still early enough to come up with a Plan B. It was tough but some reports of clear skies back down in Snohomish County lured us back closer to home. The Mount Pilchuck trail head was our Plan B and two hours of driving later, we were there.

Clear skies were directly overhead but clouds filled the northern skies. no auroras were visible to the naked eye. Or were they?…..While taking some night shots, my peripheral vision seemed to catch a shimmer in the sky. Clouds were still thick so I wasn’t sure what I saw. On one of my shots, there was a small green orb. The auroras! Sadly, that would be all that we would see. It was now pushing 2am; we now accepted the bitterness of defeat and drove home. Hopefully soon, the skies will cooperate and we will capture the auroras. One of these days…

Sunday Sunset

Jul 10

I spent Friday and Saturday night’s out with my girlfriend chasing sunset in the Cascades. In both cases, the sunset’s came up short and meekly went away. It should come as NO surprise that Sunday evening, while sitting at the computer working on something, my girlfriend came up to me and asked, “Steve, do you have your camera? Come quick!..”

Sure enough, I get to the back porch to see an enormous radii of god rays and layers upon layers of puffy clouds. Ah yes- the sunset I wanted came a day late. Monroe gets some fantastic sunset light but (honestly) doesn’t have much going for it for foreground compositions. The best thing I could do was walk over to the ball fields behind Frank Wagner Elementary and maximize the sky in my photos. Enjoy!..

Snoqualmie, I Hardly Know Thee

Jun 19

I don’t like crowds when I’m outdoors so making the decision to visit someplace notorious for crowds is crazy for me. The I-90 corridor up to Snoqualmie Pass is the place where ALLLLL of Seattle decides to go to when they want to go for a hike. That explains why I’ve only done one hike in the 13 years that I’ve lived in Washington. So what would lure me back? Franklin Falls.

I’ve been searching for locations to match an idea I have and Franklin Falls fit the bill. Franklin Falls is accessed by the ever popular Denny Creek trailhead and it is EXTREMELY popular. It’s only a mile from the trailhead to the falls but it turns out that you can also get there much quicker via a side trail off of a switchback of Forest Service Rd 58. Crazy simple!

Anyways, Saturday was a cloudy day with showers coming so it was a perfect day to make a first visit. Lots of Trillium were in bloom in the area and there were still pockets of snow despite a modest elevation of 2700 feet. Spring melt is underway and the falls were quite full. The spray from the falls filled the amphitheater and quite a ways downstream as well. Much like my experiences at Tamanawas Falls on Mount Hood, I had to constantly dry my lens of water drops before every photo. I was only taking some test photos so we only spent about a half hour at the falls. Almost on cue, the horde of visitors began!

Within 10 minutes, 15 people appeared so it was time to go. We continued up Road 58 towards the pass to visit another unnamed waterfall near Alpental. It’s similar to one located at the Deception Falls picnic area. Here, though, the South Fork Snoqualmie River drops and crashes into a rock wall and then spins 180 degrees before continuing downstream. It’s tough to shoot becase some of the I-90 structural elements can sneak into your frame.

Next up was a 0.25 mile stretch of the river downstream of this waterfall. It’s a little ways down and away from the road but we had some glimpses that piqued our interest. There was a little more snow in the trees here so we had to be careful about collapsing undercut snowbanks. As it turned out, this stretch of river has several really interesting features. Despite being so close to the westbound lanes of I-90 (literally below them), you couldn’t hear the traffic. The looming rain finally made its appearance and that signaled that it was time to move on again.

The last location in this part of the valley I wanted to check out was the Ashael Curtis Nature Trail. It’s your typical short loop trail through a forest with some old growth-esque sized trees (but still held much evidence of prior logging including springboard notches on a stump). I don’t know the history of this particular nature trail but it does appear as though it has been hammered by storms. There’s lots of windfall debris all over the place which made things a little too difficult to come up with good compositions. The large trees are still worth visiting, though!

To finish off the day, we headed west back towards North Bend and took Exit 38 to go check out Weeks Falls in Olallie State Park. The falls are wedged between a dam upstream and a hydroelectric spillway on the downstream end. I imagine that the falls were probably more aesthetic before humans made “improvements.” The advection fog which we observed forming over the South Fork Snoqualmie River in the Denny Creek area was now making its appearance at the top of Weeks Falls.

Compositions are tough here so I focused on more intimate scenes. After a little while, full fledged rain began and it was time to call it a day. It was only a recon outing but I’m definitely excited about what I found. I’ll have more to share from this area in the future.

Lewis River Drainage 2012

Jun 13

To put the cap on my trip to Oregon, I once again made the side trip to the Lewis River drainage on my way back home. If you recall my post from a year ago, my first visit to this area came with sunny skies. Forecasts for my return visit this year was showers so I was sure to have better conditions for waterfall and stream photography. My first stop was Curly Creek. I’ve been unsatisfied with my standard photo of the falls from its public viewpoint and I know there’s a way down to the base of the falls. My goal was to try and reach it.

My first thought was to hike alongside the margin of the Lewis River from a spot about 0.5 miles upstream. After some consideration on site, I decided to double back to a campground located along Curly Creek and attempt to parallel the hike to its base. Some waypaths existed around the campground and provided a start. There was a nice waterfall located next to the campground that I decided to photograph. The sun appeared just as I set up my gear; so much for those showers!

There was one bonus that came with the sun- a low mist has hanging over the creek, upstream of the waterfall and it was now backlit thanks to the sunlight. After taking my share of photos, I packed up since I still had a ways to travel to reach the falls. The waypath I used would appear and disappear but the travel wasn’t as ornery as it could be (no devil’s club!). That’s not to say it was easy- I sweated a ton but did make it to the rim of the Lewis River. The final distance was the toughest and the sketchiest. I was so close- but I didn’t feel confident that I could descend safely. The only course of action was to turn back. After all, the waterfall will still be there!

Regrouped and refreshed back at my truck, I headed further up valley to the Lewis River waterfalls (which I never visited last year). On the way to the Lower Lewis Falls trailhead, I spied a few roadside attractions which I made mental notes of; I would try and visit them on my way back to I-5. Lower Lewis Falls is the largest of the three waterfalls on the Lewis River and the easiest to view. After parking, the viewpoint for the falls are a mere 100 yards away atop the high cliff. I didn’t stay long since the views are limited..

My last stop up valley was the Middle Lewis Falls trailhead. The waterfall isn’t very far (only a 0.5 mile hike upstream), and unlike Lower Lewis Falls, you can get fairly up close to Middle Lewis Falls. The river drops 33 feet and crashes into a broad piece of bedrock literally right next to the trail. It’s quite a powerful scene, especially in springtime when the river level is high. Those high river levels made the waterfall a solid wall of whitewater. Before calling it a day, I made a few stops at some locations that caught my eye while driving in. It was a nice end to a trip that had a rocky start!

Winter Foss

Feb 21

I spent one of the days from this holiday weekend heading up the Foss River Road trying out a new pair of cross country skis. Here are some photos of the Foss River on our way back to my truck:

Top Ten Photos of 2011

Dec 23

2011 is quickly coming to an end and it’s time to reflect. Last year was a very productive year, and I made many outings throughout the year. There was only problem- this pace was simply not sustainable. As 2011 moved along, I sought a greater balance between my photographic pursuits and the other things in my life. It’s been a weird transition but it has helped removed some of the stressful feelings I have felt while pushing myself to keep the momentum going.

Now, our fickle Pacific Northwest weather kind of helped me out because summer really didn’t arrive until late July! One of the photos below is a typical view during late July / beginning of August instead of the middle of September when it was actually taken. Earlier in the year, I made a small investment in myself and signed up for a weekend class in image processing led be Sean Bagshaw. You can read more about that class in my review of his classes found here but I’ll just say this was a significant event in my development and advancement as a photographer. His teachings finally helped me tackle a sunset photo of Mount Rainier (also below) that frustrated me ever since I took the photo back in February. I finally have a version I like!

I have also really enjoyed getting more familiar and competent with my Pentax K5 dSLR. Its capabilities have really amazed me and I really think it will serve me well for several years to come. Pretty much all my photos this year with the exception of a few weeks in September were taken with my K5. On to the photos! In no particular order…

1.) “Shuksan Swirl – North Cascades National Park”

The 2010-2011 winter provided me with several wonderful candidates for conversion to black & white and this was one of them. Taken from the White Salmon Lodge parking lot at the Mount Baker Ski Area, the gusty winds kept changing the fabulous view of Mount Shuksan.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

2.) “Tahoma Glow – Mount Rainier National Park”

Probably the most wonderful sunset of the year but the hardest photos to process. Taken from the Ricksecker Viewpoint within the park, the mountain finally revealed itself as the peak of sunset colors spread across its flanks. This was a great moment to experience, and the second such sunset that a certain friend joined me on. I’m starting to think he’s a good luck charm!

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here. These photos won’t reflect my re-work though!

3.) “Peek-a-Boo – Washington Park, Anacortes, Washington”

Taken in the municipal park located just beyond the San Juan ferry terminal in Anacortes, this macro-esque shot made the best of an otherwise flat display of shooting stars along the rocky shoreline. I was immediately drawn to the repeating patterns of the plant leaves against the solitary bloom rising up.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

4.) “The End Around – Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area”

I’ve begun an annual trip to the Columbia River Gorge in the spring and this photo comes from a deeper exploration of Ruckel Creek. This photo was also a little precarious to take- I was standing on a wet log with my tripod fully extended but the legs near collapsed together. I really wanted to capture the motion of the creek as it moved around the logjam.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

5.) “Ipsut Creek – Mount Rainier National Park”

This photo was an early product from easily the most grueling outing of the year. I managed to convince my friend to join me on the 10 mile bike ride and 14 mile roundtrip hike & bike up to Moraine Park in the northwest sector of Mount Rainier National Park. This creek provides the water for use at the Ipsut Creek Campground at the end of the now closed Carbon River Road within the park.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

6.) “The Wall – Mount Rainier National Park”

Fast forward several hours from the time of the previous photo, this was the reward for all the long hours of travel. Although we were racing to stay ahead of a storm system rolling in, the mountain did stay clear long enough to enjoy the fruits of our labor!

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

7.) “Fall Upon Church – North Fork Nooksack River Valley”

I found this viewpoint about 2 years ago but hadn’t been able to time a visit with the peak of fall color. This year I got pretty close!

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

8.) “Mossy Feet – Mount Rainier National Park”

I almost did not take this photograph. I was hiking out from a somewhat disappointing early winter visit to Green Lake in Mount Rainier National Park and light in the old growth forest was beginning to diminish. I was pretty wet from the rain/sleet mix I had been out in for hours but I was just struck by the “glow” of the moss on this particular Western Red Cedar tree.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

9.) “Rock Garden – Mount Baker National Recreation Area”

Taken during my first ever trip up to Park Butte on Mount Baker, I was faced with a quandary at sunset. I wanted to make it out to a specific tarn that Lee Mann has made famous with one of his photographs but I knew that I would not be able to make it in time to take advantage of any of the sunlight light. I decided to look around where I was and found this nice view.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

10.) “Van Trump Park – Mount Rainier National Park”

A classic view..but in September?? Such is the case with this photo. This was another “first visit” for me to this parkland west of Paradise on the mountain’s southern flanks. The only thing missing from the photo is any evidence of the voracious mosquitoes who were frantically trying to extract as much blood as possible from my body.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

And here’s one more..

11.) “Surrounded – South Fork Stillaguamish River Valley”

On the hike up to Pinnacle Lake in the North Central Cascades, I was struck by how the fern leaves radiated outward from this sea of False Lily of the Valley.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

Racehorse Falls

Dec 13

I can’t believe that it’s almost been a month since my last outing! Weather has thwarted some of my plans the last few weekends so this time I settled on something conducive to gray, overcast skies- waterfalls. I also wanted to see if there were any bald eagles yet along the North Fork Nooksack River so I headed for Mosquito Lake Rd area. At the bridge over the North Fork, I only found one eagle in the immediate vicinity but you could hear the calls in the area. The river itself was running a bit swift, but clear, and also with a lot of salmon. Peering down from the bridge into the water, I could see dozens of 24″ salmon (winter steelhead?) resting in one of the slower eddys of the river.

There were also a ton of fisherman bombarding them with lures so I decided to move on. Just across the river is the Nork Fork Rd which parallels the North Fork as it heads upstream. After about 3 miles or so, the county road ends and it appears to enter State DNR lands. Racehorse Creek is crossed using a primitive one lane wooden bridge and, in about a half mile, an unsigned path leads away from the road and towards a series of waterfalls. The itself is about a quarter mile and pretty quiet if not for the constant sounds of gunfire as people blow things up elsewhere in the forest.

Soon enough, the roaring sounds of water get louder and louder. While the double wide trail veers away from the sound of water, another path heads towards the sound. Blue flagging marks the path to take if you’re interested in reached the base of the waterfalls. I think I counted about 4 waterfall drops, all with varying heights. The creek bisects a narrow, steep chasm so photographic opportunities of the upper tiers are limited unless you’re able to rappel down into this section of creek.

I took some shots from the edge of the cliff and then followed the flagging all the way down to the base where I backtracked towards the lowest (and most impressive) waterfall. While I did not have rain to contend with, I had some subtle spray from the waterfall that I needed to be mindful of. Sometimes I was, sometimes I forgot so there may still be some water drops that I missed during my photo editing. I worked the falls up one side, across, and back down the opposite side before heading back to my truck.

I wanted to check out some of the sections of the North Fork and look for any Bald Eagles. As I drove by one shallow, rapid stretch of the river, I spied an eagle eating a fish. I pulled over quickly where it was practical and tried to double back on foot to get some photos. As my luck would have it, as soon as I got there, the eagle lost interest or didn’t like the sight of me and flew off. Such is the life of a bumbling wildlife photographer!

My last stop was further down the road at pullout along a side channel of the river. High above the channel sat three bald eagles and down in the channel were a number of salmon splashing and swimming back and forth. Once again my mere presence sent two of the eagles flying so I opted to photograph the salmon instead. Although I could fill the frame better with my Sigma 50-500mm, I don’t have a polarizing filter for it (86mm filter size. That some serious money!) so I ended up using my 55-300 zoom.

I moved around and settled in along the rip rap and spent the next half hour watching and trying to get the occasional photo. The winter run and eagle season are just getting started so I’m looking forward to returning soon for BETTER results.

Intro to Winter

Nov 15

The first “big” snow storm of winter came rolling through Washington State this past weekend. Based on the forecasts, I decided a trip back to Green Lake in Mount Rainier National Park might be in order. Besides, it’s been two years since my last visit. This time, I opted to bring my mountain bike instead of hiking the 3 mile road to the trailhead.

I actually wanted to do some photography down in the old growth forest along the road but I didn’t find the time to do it. I think I’ve finally accepted that I need to devote an entire day just for that; the shorter amount of daylight really limits how much time you really have in a dark place such as the Carbon River valley forests. The day started mostly dry with some occasional drops during my bike ride in. After my first photographic stop a short way in, the rest of my hike (and day) would be under steady rain.

I made the requisite stop at Ranger Falls (roughly the halfway point up to Green Lake) and was happy to come away with a couple nice shots. The first was the “standard” view of the falls but the rainy, overcast conditions provided great light. In addition, the waterfall seemed to have more flow than I could recall seeing during my previous visits. I also made a second shot with which I attempted to incorporate a cedar trunk into the right side of the scene. Not exactly sure why the right side of the falls is clipped by the trunk (I think there was a reason I couldn’t move to the left to recompose).

The rain falling at Ranger Falls felt heavy and it turned to sleet as I started hiking away from the falls. Snow was beginning to stick on the ground in the random openings of the forest’s canopy. I encountered a bit more snow on the ground in the vicinity of the log bridge over Ranger Creek but this was still a far cry from the several inch amount I had hoped to encounter.

I arrived at a mostly bare Green Lake. The skies were definitely brooding with alternating periods of rain and snow showers. Gusty winds were also sweeping across the lake so I found a little dry shelter to sit down and snack a bit. It should come as no surprise that while I was snacking, the low clouds parted a bit and offered a few long range glimpses up the valley towards the Tolmie Peak lookout.

I tried to quickly gather my gear but by the time I was in position to shoot, the conditions had changed back to less than ideal. The weather was really starting to wear on me so it was time to head home. On the hike out, I still was observant of my surroundings and was tempted to stop several times. There were only 2 more hours of daylight left and I knew that any exposure would require 30 seconds.

This forced me to forgo a few shots but I had to stop for one more photo. Along the trail, this mossy cedar trunk just spoke to me. I loved the gently curving lines of the trunk along with the complete carpet of moss. What little daylight that was penetrating the forest canopy seemed to make the moss on the ridges of the trunk glow.

I still had about another mile left on the hike out so I just marveled at all of the new windfall since my last visit. It’s not just any windfall- it’s OLD GROWTH windfall. The size and dynamics of these big trees falling is unbelievable. Having reached the road, I stowed my gear and hopped on my bike for the speedy ride back to the park’s entrance. It looks like I should have gone on this trip this coming weekend based on the current forecasts. Oh well- for so few photos, I’m happy to come away with two nice shots!

Steve Cole Photography

Pacific Northwest Landscape / Nature Photography

Mazama Ridge 2012

Snoqualmie Nights

Waiting for Auroras

Sunday Sunset

Snoqualmie, I Hardly Know Thee

Lewis River Drainage 2012

Winter Foss

Top Ten Photos of 2011

Racehorse Falls

Intro to Winter

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