Washington State

Tye is High

Jan 19

…and I’m moving on. Sorry- couldn’t resist the pun.

This past weekend’s weather brought a series of strong pineapple express weather systems. For those of you not from the Pacific Northwest, a pineapple express storm is one that originates from the area around Hawaii (hence the pineapple reference) and brings a lot of moisture and high snow levels. These storms sometimes quickly follow snow storms which bring rain on snow events and that spells major flooding.

This weekend’s storm brought moderate flooding to the Skykomish River basin and I decided to head up the valley along Highway 2 to check things out. Despite the “moderate” tag, the river levels were REAL high, seemingly higher than the record events of just a couple years ago. I first tried visiting Alpine Falls along the Tye River east of the town of Skykomish but the down spray from the falls was just too great for photography.

From there, I moved on to the Deception Falls Picnic Area to check things out. Located at an elevation of about 2000 feet, it’s closed in the winter due to snow but one can usually park outside the entrance along Highway 2 and (CAREFULLY) cross the busy highway and walk in. I’ve visited on two other occasions, one of which was during a flood event back in November of 2008. By far, conditions on this day were the highest water levels I’ve seen. Quite impressive!

There are two observation platforms along the loop interpretive trail that highlight the river’s power during times like these. The first platform is located in an area where the river runs headlong into a rock wall, forcing it into a 90 degree turn. Compare yesterday’s flow versus a normal flow from two years ago:

Quite a difference! Just a little further upstream is another platform where the Tye River flows over a waterfall and bends around a corner. Now compare yesterday’s flow versus high flow back in November of 2008:

Once again, quite a difference. I made my way towards the Deception Falls along Deception Creek but the amount and force of the water was too great. The down spray was intense and the churning waters were actually splashing over the pedestrian bridge that leads you to the viewing area. My Pentax may have 77 weather seals but it can’t keep a camera safe from THAT much abuse! It was getting late in the afternoon and I wanted to make two more stops on my way back into town. I first stopped at a roadside wetland west of Skykomish. Ended up not getting very much (aside from even MORE soaked from the rain). I guess it looked cooler at 60mph!

My last stop SHOULD have been my first stop. Just west of the town of Index, there’s a spot along the Skykomish River where Kayakers park and launch into the river. In the middle of the river at this location is a huge (and I mean 2 story HUGE) boulder. On my way up earlier in the day, the river’s torrent was splashing up and OVER the top of this large boulder. I had to get a photo of this but decided to wait until my return trip.

BIG mistake.

Over the preceding four hours or so, the river level subsided enough such that the river was no longer splashing over the top. In the failing light, I was only able to snap a couple quick shots, and most weren’t up to snuff due to bad focus and some vegetation between me and the river which I could not avoid:

Moral of the story is STOP AND TAKE THE PHOTO!

Nooksack Gravel Bar

Dec 29

Here are a few photos I took today from a gravel bar along the North Fork Nooksack River….

Wells Creek one last time

Nov 02

Halloween is the last day that Wells Creek Road is accessible beyond Nooksack Falls until the following July 1st. I had to head into Bellingham to purchase my Mount Baker season pass so I decided to head up Wells Creek one last time this season. Fall color has been making a bit of an appearance in the lowlands so I was a little hopeful that I might see some of that up in the mountains.

Most leaves have dropped so the remaining leaves that were in fall color didn’t quite have the same impact or appeal. I continued onward back to Wells Creek Falls. My last visit was on a very rainy day in July. Battling both the rain and downspray from the falls, the photography was tough going. Today, however, was dry and the creek was running just a tad lower making the crossing a little easier.

I hiked back to my original vantage point and then continued around the corner into the waterfall’s surrounding bowl. Getting closer did provide the best view of the falls but also brought me even closer to the downspray. These conditions require some patience and thinking in order to obtain a good photo. Here’s my procedure:

• Before beginning, make sure you have some items handy: several microfiber cloths (for lens cleaning & drying), a hand towel, and perhaps a clear ziploc type bag. In addition, I find it helpful if the tripod ball head has 360 degree markings on it.
• The first step is to determine exposure. To save myself some lens cleaning, I put the ziploc bag over my lens and then tried some test exposures. At this point, I just want to get into the ball park and I’m not worried about focus. Once I know what the exposure should be, I switch my camera mode to Manual and dial in the proper f-stop and shutter speed.
• Now it’s time for focus. Basically, the lens will get wet with spray so be quick with determining your focus point and focusing. Once you have focus, either stay away from the focus button (I disable shutter button focus lock on my camera) or switch to manual focus.
• Since the lens is getting spray on it, you might as well as determine your composition. Once I had my composition set, I noted where the tic mark on the ball head was located (one notch before 315, etc..).
• Next, I swung the camera around so that the lens was not directly in the spray. I put the lens hood on and then drape my hand towel over the camera. This helps further shield the lens as I wipe it dry and let the rest of the moisture evaporate.
• Now that the front of the lens is dry and clear, I cover the front with the hand towel (the lens hood keeps the towel from slapping against the front of the lens) and then rotate the camera back around. Since I noted which tick mark the camera was at when I composed the shot, I know exactly where to point it WITHOUT exposing the lens to the spray.
• I set my camera to a 2 second timer so all that’s left is to click the shutter and then remove the towel a split second before the shutter opens. It takes a little time to get into the rhythm of things but it definitely helps you get the best photo with the least amount of annoying water droplets!

My first vantage point was so close that I knew I needed a short shutter speed. I normally like to shoot at ISO 100 but that would have been far too long of a shutter speed (creating too many water droplets). For this shot, I increased my ISO to 400 which brought my shutter speed down to 0.3 seconds:

After a taking a few variations to make sure I got the shot, I moved back to my original vantage point from back in July to take some more shots. Despite being further downstream, I still collected water drops on the lens so I repeated the process I described. I experimented with both landscape and portrait versions:

The afternoon was getting long so I packed up and headed back to my truck. I wanted to get a better look at the slopes of Barometer Ridge since they were flocked with fresh snow. A mile or so beyond the bridge over Sholes Creek is an open roadside with a nice view of Barometer Ridge. The sun was out and clouds were drifting upwards from the valley floor…

The summit of Mount Baker was almost- but not quite visible. I enjoyed the stillness and the surroundings but soon it was time to head home. I tried stopping by a waterfall on the way out but found it unsafe all by myself. Not a ton of photos but a good outing with my new Pentax K-5.

Which reminds me…..I’ll be out of town for the next week. I’m headed to attend the Banff Mountain Festival where one of my photos will be on display! I’ll be spending a couple of days in the Banff area so I’m hoping for some good photos!

Deep at Bagley Creek

Sep 07

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Labor Day marks the traditional end of summer but our weather must be “gifted” since signs of fall have been noticeable for as week or two. Weekend forecasts had been called for gray and showery conditions so a return trip to Bagley Creek with a friend was penciled in. My first visit was a quick one a couple weeks ago but the scenery was stunning and seemed to have potential for even more. During that first visit, it looked like there were some drops and waterfalls just out of sight so some more thorough exploration was in order.

On the way to Bagley Creek, I decided to visit a location I discovered in an old out-of-print book. The location is a rock outcrop which contains fossilized imprints of plant leafs. I’ve never heard of something like this in the Cascades and the ease of access makes it pretty incredible. Through the years, I suspect that most of the quality examples (such as what was in the book’s photo) have been taken home by careless individuals. In order to preserve what remains, I’m electing NOT to reveal its location and simply share some photos.

It was very cool to see and touch some of the history of the Cascades. We cut our time short and made our way to Bagley Creek. I wanted to check out two things- the stretch of creek immediately upstream of a forest service road & then a second stretch of the creek further upstream which had a nice sized waterfall. Before wading upstream, we checked out the scene just below the bridge:

Looking upstream from the bridge, one can make out a nice 6′ drop so it was time to wade upstream to investigate it further. As it turns out, a nice amphitheater contains the drop. Just below the drop, however, a plunge pool at least 6′ deep prevented any further travels. After a few more photos, I headed back to the bridge to move on to the second location.

The second location is basically just around the corner. Accessed off of a decommissioned logging road, the forest is dense and makes travel difficult. The waterfall proved elusive yet again due to steep sidewalls and deep waters. We were there and had more time so we followed the old road which paralleled the creek downstream.

We would walk down 50 feet, then pop over to the water’s edge to survey the scene. Our first location provided some really interesting rock formations:

The next location downstream had one of the deepest plunge pools I’ve seen. I believe this location is roughly where Razor Hone Creek joins Bagley Creek. I managed to get some nice photos despite the sun’s off and on appearances.

We reached one of the bridges used as part of the winter cross country ski trails and then turned around. We now know that this area is accessible during the winter so it might be on the list of places to visit this coming winter!

I’ll be taking a break for the next two weeks to attend to some other commitments so look for a new post later this month!

Summer in the Nooksack Valley

Jul 04

I spent the day before July 4th traveling around the North Fork Nooksack River valley. I was primarily interested in several waterfalls but I also revisited a small creek that I haven’t been to in a while. The weather was perfect for photography (cloudy and dry) and was a mixture of success and setbacks. I had hoped to find a possible vantage point across from Nooksack Falls but that did not pan out on this trip. I also had hoped to photograph Wells Creek Falls from creek level but that also did not happen due to high water and too many water crossings to gain entrance into the falls’ amphitheater. The last setback was getting cliffed out while bushwhacking up Deadhorse Creek to Deadhorse Falls. If the falls are your goal, follow the LEFT (or east) bank upstream. The right side is easier travel initially but becomes a very steep cliff face as the falls come into view.

On to the successes..

I made a quick stop at Nooksack Falls to shoot a summer version of a photo I took a few winters ago. I’m very happy with the end result:

I’ve shot a particular creek that flows into the Nooksack immediate above Nooksack Falls a number of times throughout the winter but have rarely visited the stretch of creek located upstream of the Mount Baker Highway. The higher flows right now made conditions more conducive for a visit:

And now…..Wells Creek Falls. It’s somewhat visible from Wells Creek Road and located just 1,000 feet upstream of the road. How hard can it be? Well……….VERY. Photographing the falls from creek level can be done but is best suited for fall when the water levels are lower. On this day, the water was running deep enough to discourage fording since the hike would require several fords across the creek to gain entrance into the waterfall’s amphitheater.

From about the halfway point between the falls and the road, my friend and I looked up and weighed my options. Both sides were steep walled ridges but we decided to go with the right hand side. We huffed it back out to the road and then crashed into the forest. I’ve crashed through some huckleberry dominant understories before but this was unreal. The huckleberry was thick and 6 feet tall. Negotiating this was a huge drain on energy. On the flip side, the floor of the forest was quite prolific with bunchberry in bloom (no photos, though!).

After a lot of scratches and brush crashing, we arrived at the location of the falls. Unfortunately, there isn’t a clear vantage point due to the thick forest. Here’s what I was able to capture:

If I didn’t believe it before, I do now- the Wells Creek drainage bites back!

North Fork Rapid River

May 12

Making lemonade again…

Car troubles foiled my original plans (you should NOT have to replace a factory alternator at 48k miles but I digress) so I settled on exploring the North Fork Rapid River, upstream of the Rapid River Road bridge. Brilliant sunshine ensured horrible conditions for photography but trips like this are still valuable since they answer the question about the worthiness of pursuit in better conditions.

In this case, the answer is most definitely yes! I really like what I found and plan to return once the understory leafs out a bit more and the skies are greyer and overcast (it sounds a bit wrong to be wishing that but those are the optimal conditions!)..

This weekend finds me down along the Columbia River Gorge for a whirlwind of hikes and photography so I hope to return will many great photos!..

Creekin’

Apr 20

Hot off my photography seminar, I revisited Ruth Creek for some afternoon exploring. The brilliant afternoon sunshine didn’t make photography that great but I wanted to try out some of what I learned as well as look for suitable locations to return to under more optimal conditions.

Once again, I found a fascinating stretch of creek upstream from the Goat Mountain trailhead. The vegetation hasn’t leafed out yet so I’ll have to return when it does!

On my way home, I stopped off at one of my favorite places near Nooksack Falls to check out conditions. I noticed the runoff levels had increased which made things nicer to photograph. I took these shots earlier this winter but those photos had some distracting elements which I remembered to eliminate this time:

Sunrise? Sometimes

Mar 22

Good weather during the week convinced me to head up to Mount Baker’s Heliotrope Ridge for sunrise. The morning’s have also brought fog in the valleys so I thought I might be able to parlay that into an additional photo opportunity at the spot I found last weekend. Sunrise was about 7am so I worked the clock backwards- in place an hour before sunrise…an hour for the hike in…2 1/2 hours for the drive up…..2am wakeup. Ugh….

Just 2 days prior, I saw a backcountry ski report from this area which said that the road was drivable to within a 0.25 mile of the summer trailhead. That would cut down on my hike in which was a nice bonus. I left just a bit before 3am and headed out. By about 5am I was getting close to the end of the drivable portion of the Glacier Creek Road. Constant snow began to appear on the road about 1.5 miles before the end. I passed about 3 parked cars and wondered if I should keep driving. The snow was rutted due to tires but I was beginning to get nervous. Not only did I still have to make it uphill and to someplace safe to park, I also was going to have to come DOWNHILL before the sun had any chance to soften up the snow.

I made it to the 0.25 mile mark before the summer trailhead and found a place to park. Up the road, some headlamps danced like fireflies as some climbers were prepping their gear. In a few minutes, I had my gear ready and headed up the road. My destination was the Mount Baker Vista, a nice viewpoint at the end of the road. The mile or so went fairly quickly and so I settled in with my gear and waited for first light. In the mean time, I kept an eye out on a party of climbers heading up Grouse Ridge on their way to the summit.

The clear skies that I started under now had some clouds here and there which built up some anticipation. The official sunrise came and went but the wonderful colors I was hoping to witness never came. Needless to say, this was a disappointment. With morning in full effect, I packed up and headed back to my truck. I proceeded to head up to the Mount Baker Ski Area for some turns but settled for a catnap instead. The high winds just didn’t seem as inviting as a nap in the sun.

I decided to call it a day and headed home. Along the way, I still felt like getting some pictures so I stopped off near Nooksack Falls to explore another short stretch of an unnamed creek I’ve avoided until now. Turns out that there were some nice surprises to be found!…

Lastly, this trip was my first chance to see the work that’s being done to realign a 1/4 mile section of the Mount Baker Highway near the Church Mountain Road. I recognize the need to move the road away from the Nooksack River but I have to admit that I was saddened to see a particular stretch of the forest along the eastbound lane of the highway that had been logged. It looks like it’s being used as a staging area but it was a really nice stretch of forest.

I stopped here about 2 years ago and poked around. The forest floor was moss covered and Twinflower was everywhere. My visit was in spring and so things hadn’t leafed out yet. I vowed to return at some point during the summer months but never did. Now it’s been significantly altered. The sad price of progress..

Road 37

Mar 14

Truthfully, not much of an update. Winter decided to return this week so snow levels returned close to their normal levels. Exploring Forest Service Road 37 (the road to the Skyline Divide trailhead) has been on my list for a while and I finally got around to it yesterday. Honestly, I was surprised at the general lack of interesting spots along this road. Maybe it’s because it’s still the dead of winter and the vegetation hasn’t leafed out yet. The first few miles have a wonderful moss-covered forest floor and I was tempted a few times to stop and look for compositions since there was some sunlight filtering through the canopy.

I wanted to check out as much as I could so I pressed on. I ended up taking a few photos along the Nooksack in one particular location since I initially saw some fog/low clouds further up valley:

One thing I’m very excited about was finding a wonderful spot to photograph the valley from. Two years ago, I remember spotting a particular avalanche track that was ablaze in brilliant yellow from the big leaf maples located in the valley floor. I saw this from the Wells Creek Road but did not have a good vantage to take advantage of it. I wondered if Road 37 would offer a better vantage and it does!

It requires a very short hike but the entire valley drops away from you and Church Mountain stands prominently across the valley. I’m excited to shoot this location in the fall and other times during this coming summer since it will also offer opportunities to shoot above any valley fog. Except for a few iPhone photos and a GPS positional fix, I don’t have any photos to share just yet.

I began to run out of time but I continued up the road to see how far I could get before hitting snow. That turned out to be the crossing of Dead Horse Creek where the snow on the road turned continuous. Someone else’s tire tracks continued up the road but I thought better of following them any further. I did get out and briefly explore Dead Horse Creek upstream of the road but didn’t find any good opportunities on this stretch.

Sulphide sunset

Mar 08

Two weeks ago, I spied some photos from a backcountry trip report from Boulder Ridge on Mount Baker which had the most amazing runnels I had ever seen. Life forced me to change my plans last weekend so I tried my luck this weekend. This winter’s non-winter made this hike a late fall hike instead of a deeply committing winter expedition. Under sunny skies, I headed out along the trail and made steady progress through the forest. The trail was virtually snow-free until the very end (hard to take in since normally there would be SEVERAL feet of snow at this location).

The last visitor’s were most likely the party of backcountry skiers from 2 weeks ago. The trail finally disappeared under the snowpack towards the end and I became weary of continuing. The previous tracks in the snow were faded and hard to follow so. Without the confidence that I could navigate back safely in the dark, I decided to turn around while there was ample light. The decision was disheartening since I know I was only a couple hundred yards from open terrain but it was the right decision.

I still had enough time to make it back to the trailhead and the road which had a nice vantage of Mount Shuksan’s Sulphide Glacier face as well as views of Mount Bacon and Blum. Without further ado, here’s lemonaide from lemons..

Steve Cole Photography

Pacific Northwest Landscape / Nature Photography