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…
[Part 3 of 3]
Due to my extended stay at Chinook Pass, I was running a bit behind schedule so I raced to Reflection Lakes as soon as possible. This was to be my first trip up Mazama Ridge and based on some research of the topo maps, I had an idea of where I wanted to be for sunset. As I quickly learned, topo maps only tell part of the story and so I had to venture further and higher up the ridge than I had originally anticipated.
Sunset this particular evening was nothing special and a report estimating peak wildflower blooms in another week also seemed true. Still, several locations had magnificant displays of wildflowers..
Around the official time for sunset, I finally reached higher and more open ground. I scrambled to find a nice foreground and found this stretch of lupine in bloom. It was getting dark and I had to use longer exposures along with a graduated neutral-density filter to balance exposures for the sky and foreground. Bugs were still quite active making for a hasty session. While these photos looked good during a very quick review in the field, they didn’t not live up to their potential once I was back home. Still an amazing place to experience..
[Part 2 of 3]
After finishing up at Tipsoo Lake, I took the log bridge over Highway 410 and started out on the Naches Loop Trail on the backside of Naches Peak. Wildflower conditions along the trail (which is also part of the Pacific Crest Trail) were also in prime conditions. Due to time constraints related to my last stop of the day, I only traveled about a mile to a wonderful small, unnamed lake alongside the trail..
Once I finished up, I quickly raced over to my last stop of the day: Mazama Ridge for sunset.
[Part 1 of 3]
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’m very excited to announce that two of my photos have been accepted for display at the 2009 Edmonds Art Festival juried exhibition. Located in downtown Edmonds, Washington, this year’s festival will be held June 19-21st (Fathers Day Weekend). Both photos will be available for purchase.
Photo #1 is entitled “Moonlit Fog” and was taken in Mount Rainier National Park last September. It captures a late night view of a fog covered White River Valley and a rising moon taken from Sunrise Point:
Photo #2 is entitled “Horseshoe Bend” and was taken in March of this year. This panorama provides a unique perspective of the North Fork Nooksack River encased in a fresh coat of snow. The river flow comes towards the viewer and travels from left to right:
If you happen to be in the area, be sure to visit. The exhibition and the art for sale make for a great afternoon..
Earlier in the week, one of the Seattle weathermen indicated the possibility that sunsets later in the week might be enhanced due to ash from Alaska’s Mount Redoubt. As the weekend approached, the odds for sunny weather increased greatly so I made plans to head to the snow covered meadows of Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park. Fresh snow still flocked the trees and the sunshine make for one spectacular scene.
Although I had no specific place in mind, I snowshoed out towards the Edith Creek basin. Although winds were forecasted, they turned out to be much stronger than I thought they would be. Despite the sunshine, the winds were unrelenting so I retreated to find another vantage point for sunset. In the end, sunset didn’t live up to its potential but still delivered on a fine day…
Several circumstances have sidelined me from taking photos for the better part of a month. With the holiday weekend, I was determined to finally get out and I decided that I wanted to head south to Mt Rainier. Initially I wanted to poke around the subalpine slopes of Paradise but the forecasts didn’t seem cooperate for mountain views.
After some thinking, I finally decided on returning to Silver Falls and the Grove of the Patriarchs in the southeast corner of the park. My only other visit was last June and I was curious how winter would change the landscape. First, I had to verify that this was possible. After some emails and phone calls to the Park Service and the state DOT, I was told by both that the highway was clear of snow up to the park’s entrance. That made a long day a little shorter with a roundtrip on snow of about 7.5 miles.
After picking up my friend, we drove another 2.5 hours to the turnoff from Highway 12 and were immediately greeted by this:
Crap. Our long trip became even longer. The snow on the road now added another 2.5 miles just to reach the park entrance. We made good time getting there so we geared up and headed out on foot. Thankfully a firm base with only 1-2″ of new snow made snowshoes unnecessary. About an hour later, we arrived at the park entrance:
Continuing on, we finally arrived at the Silver Falls trailhead after another 1.5 hours (~5.25 miles from my truck). A short scramble downslope brought us to the falls:
Downstream of the falls:
After lunch, it was time to move on and continue north. About a half-mile north, the Stevens Canyon Rd park entrance is reached:
Here, the snow depth was about 4′ deep (at about 2000′ elev). The trailhead for the Grove of the Patriarchs is just beyond the entrance. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a sign posted that told us that the suspension bridge across the river to the Grove has sustained damage during the fall 2008 flooding and was closed. Double crap.
Well, we had come this far so why not go another half mile to take a look? We did so and arriving at the bridge, we found it standing with no visible signs of damage. In fact, the entire span had 4′ of snow on the deck and seemed to be supporting it just fine. A sign on the bridge simply advised one person at a time when crossing the bridge.
We decided to cross it and I went first. I was able to cross without incident and so my friend followed:
Safely on firm ground, we arrived at the Grove. Being the dead of winter, the highway (which is across the channel from the Grove) is closed and so there was no noise whatsoever. It’s very rewarding to experience this environment in complete solitude.
New growth on a very old Douglas Fir:
I admit that I have a hard time photographing this place and I think it just has to do with the immense scale of the environment. Here my friend stands in front of one of the cedars:
Big brother, little brother…
Finally, there was this interesting sight. Normally, as limbs die on a tree, they break off due to snow, weather, etc. For this particular cedar, it hasn’t happened so it seemed like a medusa tree:
With that, it was time head make the long trek back. As we headed back, the weather broke more and more and we were treated to some nice sunset color above us as we hiked out. About 8 hours and 12.5 miles roundtrip and we never saw a soul. A grueling but very rewarding effort.
