Evergreen Mountain Lookout

On Saturday, I made my second visit to the Evergreen Mountain Lookout. I first hiked there in July of 2018, trying it out as an evening hike to take advantage of lighting conditions. Theoretically, this is a workable way to visit the area, since the hike is only about 3 miles round trip. But the steepness of the trail and long drive on forest service roads made for a lengthier and later trip than I had bargained for. This time, I started in the morning. Though the lighting was technically not as good this time, as I was at the lookout at midday, the hike itself was more enjoyable - I wasn't as rushed, and I'm more of a morning person anyway (as my girlfriend, who joined me on this hike, can attest).

First, a wildflower meadow near the lookout. As I've done with a couple other images this year, I made perspective distortion my friend. The relatively level horizon and the straight center trees create a "visual sea level," to borrow a term from Mountain Light by Galen Rowell (essentially, a visual element included in a composition with exaggerated color or perspective, making the image more "believable" to the viewer's eye). F/14.

Next, Glacier Peak from near the lookout. The midday lighting isn't doing this image any favors, but on the other hand, I like all the shades and layers of green and blue. F/13.

Finally, an experiment framing the lookout's grand view with tree branches. It'll still take some work to finalize the lighting and color balance, and a couple leaves here and there are blurred due to a light breeze, but I like how the composition is laid out. F/13.

Noble Knob

Last weekend I hiked to Noble Knob, off Highway 410. The highlights of the journey were Noble Knob itself, the site of a former fire lookout with an excellent view of Rainier, and the wildflowers growing on Dalles Ridge in areas affected by a past wildfire.

First, lupine and other flowers blooming in one of the previously burned areas. Although perspective distortion affects the trees here, the symmetry helps, and the eye is drawn mostly to the foreground anyway. F/16.

Next, a closeup of a paintbrush that I am guessing is magenta paintbrush (Castilleja parviflora var. oreopola), although I'm not very good at identifying paintbrush species. F/4.5.

Below, the view from Noble Knob itself, with lupine in the foreground. F/16.

Next, another variation on the wildflower-meadows-under-burned-trees theme. While I like this composition, some sections of the background trunks got slightly overexposed, so it isn't guaranteed that this one would look good in print. I'd try it, though. F/16.

Finally, just a nice view from the trail, with paintbrush and lupine blooming in the foreground. F/18.

Esmeralda Basin, round 2

This weekend, I made a return visit to the Esmeralda Basin trail. I normally wouldn't repeat a hike so soon, but I was taking my girlfriend camping; the Teanaway was an area that I thought she would enjoy, and where we'd be least likely to suffer more of this summer's interminable rain showers. Besides, the wildflowers and views are diverse enough to make a repeat photography effort worthwhile. The sunnier weather conditions were challenging, but I was still able to get some good shots. I think I'm getting better at coping with sunshine, at least in open environments like this.

First, a penstemon of some sort. Judging from the bright pink color and the rocky environment in which I found it, my guess is that it's rock penstemon, also known as cliff beardtongue (Penstemon rupicola). F/4.

Next, some stalwart lupine growing in the harsh, rocky environment of Fortune Creek Pass. This doesn't look great at small dimensions (e.g., on a phone), but I think it would make more sense as a larger print. F/6.3; in hindsight, I wish I had tried an even narrower aperture.

Also from Fortune Creek Pass, a view of what I believe to be Mount Daniel. F/14.

Next, a meadow of shooting star (genus Dodecatheon) just before the pass. F/16.

Here is one of the Esmeralda Peaks framed by big trees. Somehow, the image quality didn't end up all that great, although it would work at a "normal" size (e.g., 8x12). F/14.

Next, a view down the basin, highlighting the area's diverse trees. Despite the harsh backlighting, this one turned out pretty well; I could even re-brighten it a bit further. F/14.

Finally, a wildflower meadow (Scarlet gilia, Ipomopsis aggregata, is the prominent red flower). I'm not entirely satisfied with the sharpness, particularly of the yellow flowers. It's good enough that it'd be worth trying out in print, though. F/16.

Teanaway Fireworks Show

I recently returned from my first camping trip of 2020! As I missed out on my usual April/May camping trips this year, this one was sorely needed. I spent two peaceful nights in the Teanaway region, north of Cle Elum. The last time I was in this area in the summer was for a camping trip in 2014; since then, I'd only visited for a couple of autumn day hikes. I've been missing out! The colorful wildflower meadows were a fourth-of-July fireworks show in their own right.

Esmeralda Basin

My first hiking destination was the Esmeralda Basin trail to Fortune Creek Pass. With a net elevation gain of less than 2,000 feet and a consistent, moderate grade, it's one of the kinder and gentler hikes in the Teanaway. It seems less popular than some other trails in the area (e.g. Lake Ingalls), perhaps because there's no big view of Mount Stuart. I thoroughly enjoyed this hike, though. There was a fun diversity of flower types and mountain views, and I appreciated being able to climb at a reasonable pace (and often in the shade).

One of my favorite moments of the whole trip was when I came upon a large patch of shooting star (genus Dodecatheon) blooming in an open forest; it seemed like something out of a fairy tale. The flowers are so small in the frame that this image doesn't look great at a small size (e.g., on a phone), but as a large print, I think it would look better. F/14.

Continuing on the theme of shooting star, here is an image of those flowers blooming around a small stream. There isn't as much of a sense of depth as I'd like, but again, maybe at a larger size this would be better. F/16, 1/8 second.

The mountain views along the trail are also noteworthy, improving as the trail ascends. At Fortune Creek Pass, extremely gusty winds - I mean, shake-the-tripod-and-blow-your-hat-off kind of winds - precluded a long photography stop, but I did manage to walk away with this image of Hawkins Mountain. Due to the winds, I had a tough time freezing the motion of the pine branches, so the detail quality isn't ideal. I'm happy with this framing, though. F/14.

Below, one of the Esmeralda Peaks. F/14.

Here's a meadow with western red columbine (Aquilegia formosa) in the foreground, and shooting star visible out of focus. I actually really like how this one turned out; the narrow depth of field accentuates the columbine in the foreground, but the mountain slopes in the distance are still discernible as such. F/8.

Below, a view back down the basin. F/14.

Lastly from the Esmeralda Basin trail, a patch of some sort of anemone (genus Anemone; I didn't take a close enough look to determine the species). This image does a good job of depicting the harsh landscape near the pass, which is a contrast to the lusher meadows lower on the trail. F/14.

Bean Creek Basin

The next day, I hiked to the Bean Creek basin.That trail is shorter but steeper than the Esmeralda Basin hike, reaching the meadows of the upper basin in only about two miles. First, a view of the upper basin, with some paintbrush (genus Castilleja) in the foreground. F/13.

Next, a closer view of some paintbrush from that meadow. I tried a similar composition with a wide depth of field, but it wasn't as interesting, and a bit of a backpacker's tent was visible in the distance. F/8.

From the lower reaches of the trail, cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum or Heracleum lanatum) blooming in a brushy meadow near the creek. F/6.3.

Finally, a view looking back down the Bean Creek valley, with lupine blooming in the foreground. I took this picture knowing that there would be some distortion due to the wide angle and the downward tilt of the lens. I often complain about this sort of distortion and try to avoid it, but oddly, I think it works here. It accentuates the valley-view concept, and perhaps it's severe enough to seem intentional. F/14.