Wet, Cold, Gray, Beautiful

For I think the third time this winter, I took advantage of relatively cold temperatures to make a snow level exploration. The snow level was not quite as low as I would have liked - the snow at the Middle and Upper falls was still rather slushy - but it was still nice to see some. The problem was nonstop precipitation. Thus, I hardly took any pictures. Still, the falls were very beautiful, even with rain, snow (eventually) and slush from the trees cascading over me. I made it all the way to the upper falls and contemplated continuing up to the logging roads and Wallace Lake. This, however, would have required a bit of off-trail travel in about a half-inch of slush and some steep sections. After about twenty feet I wound up on my hands and knees.........so I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Wallace Lake isn't that pretty, and the route goes through second-growth forest that isn't very picturesque. (Note that the logging roads can actually be nice in the summer because they are covered with oxeye daisies and foxglove).

Although Wallace Falls is a fun place to visit as it is, I find myself wondering what it would have looked like before it was logged. It must have been just as spectacular, with cascading waters and huge mossy trees, as the rainforests on the Olympic Peninsula. It would put the Boulder River trail to shame, and send the even the West Fork Foss trail home crying about its inadequacy. Unfortunately, the forests are relatively uniform and second-growth.

I do, however, desire to return to Wallace Falls State Park in the spring. I noticed this time that there are a lot of salmonberry bushes growing along Wallace River and the North Fork Wallace River. Potentially, I could get some nice shots juxtaposing them against the rapids.

So, here are the two pictures worth posting. They both need some contrast enhancement...but of all digital post-processing tasks, adding contrast (even to just part of a picture) is one of the easiest to do. I also want to cool down the colors a bit; I left the white balance setting too warm on my camera. Editing from RAW, of course, that's not a problem.

The first one I owe to a kind hiker who held his umbrella up over me as I took the shot. Not having some covering would have resulted in water getting on my polarizing filter, as the wind was drifting the rain toward me. I would have liked better-defined snow on the trees. Contrast enhancement will help, though.

This second I took at the very end of my hike, when it finally stopped raining (albeit for a few minutes only). I wanted to juxtapose the lush lichen and moss on the trees with the snowy ridge up above. Post-processing will help me make the snowy ridge a bit more defined. But this picture, I think, says it all about winter in the Puget Sound. In the lowlands, winter is wet and lush, with plenty of moss, lichen and evergreen trees keeping things lively. Always looming nearby, however, is the cold and snowy winter world of the Cascades..

Marginal days can really make photography interesting. Days that capture transitions - such as a snow level, or snow on autumn leaves, or just-opening flowers - make me feel as though I am witnessing a truly special event. Today was like that. I felt as though I witnessed what might be winter's last hurrah as it gracefully retreated up into the hills.

...All that said, I can't wait until summer. Partially because of the weather, and partially because I'll be able to visit some proper wilderness. And flowers! Soon.