Goldenhat and the Three (or Four) Bears

Yesterday I had the pleasure of making a visit to the Baker River Trail, in the national forest and terminating within the national park. Some intermittent rainfall in the morning was rather annoying, but the overcast lighting made up for it - and continued in the afternoon even after the rain had stopped. Some people lament "June Gloom" in western Washington, or the persistent cloud cover we get in the lowlands in late spring. It's great for photography, though, especially closeups and in forests. Unfortunately, the low clouds meant that were no views of mountains to be had - either of Shuksan from Sulphide Creek or of Baker from the Baker Lake Road. But the old-growth forests, waterways, and lush greenery were plenty to keep me occupied.

The most memorable characteristic of the day, however, was the abundant black bear activity in the area. At the end of the trail, I saw two bears foraging for berries on the other side of Sulphide Creek. Later, I discovered that some rustling noises I had heard while taking pictures were in fact caused by a bear, whose ears and top of head I saw poking up at me through the shrubbery. There may have been a fourth - while I was walking, I heard some twigs snapping and what I am fairly certain was a pant or breath.

Thankfully, all of these encounters passed without incident, and without any displays of aggression or defensiveness on the part of the bears. While bear encounters certainly are enough to give me a start (particularly when alone), it was nice to see healthy wildlife activity, and that the bears didn't seem to be posing any particular problems to humans or campsites. But, if you're in low/mid elevation mountain forests, keep a close watch on your food and stay aware. Berries are ripening and the bears are out there!

(*Tip: If anyone reading this is into wildlife photography, consider the Baker River Trail. I have seen bears, ungulates, birds, and amphibians here at various times).

First, an image looking up an old-growth cedar near the trailhead. I usually don't go for shots with really obvious perspective distortion, but I think it works with this one, and helps give some scale and depth to the tree.

Next, an image looking downstream at Sulphide Creek (before I saw the bears, of course). I experimented with a few different shutter speeds and liked 1/5 of a second the best - long enough to blur the water's motion but short enough to keep it looking choppy and give some shape to the waves.

The next one captures the deciduous forest, with bigleaf maple trunks in the foreground and red alder in the background. I photographed from this vantage point in November once, and the scene had a distinctly different look. This photograph, I think, really captures the lushness of these forests in the spring, and the strong shapes of the maple trunks help prevent it from getting too busy.

Now, a look up a side channel of the Baker River. This one also is a similar view to a shot from July 2013. In this one, the overcast lighting and the lower angle change the mood a lot, and focus more attention on the river channel.

This one looks out at the Baker River itself and the foggy forests and hills on the other side. I used f/25 to get both the willow in the foreground and the trees in the background in focus. In hindsight, I wish the river at the bottom were a bit more prominent. Otherwise, I think this shot really highlights the lushness of the valley, as well as the foggy/rainy nature of the day.

The next image is similar to the previous, with salmonberry in the foreground.

Last, an image looking up a tunnel of vine maple and bigleaf maple. The green here is a bit overwhelming, and too yellowish, but that's partially due to how the JPEGs saturate and the white balance settings on my camera. Edited from RAW, with more control over saturation and white balance, this will look better.

Until next time! Hopefully I won't run into as many bears next time I hike, but hey, I have to share the  forest with its actual residents...!