Thursday, November 26, 2020

The Other Side of Skookum Flats

Last weekend, I hiked part of the Skookum Flats trail, starting from the southern trailhead, which was new for me (I've hiked from the northern trailhead a couple times). A hike beginning at the southern trailhead is arguably less scenic - there are fewer good views of the river, fewer huge old-growth trees, and getting to a riverbank is more of a project. On the other hand, I imagine it tends to be quieter for these reasons. The sunshine made photography tricky - sunlit scenes had their usual contrast challenges, and shaded forest areas were extremely dark, requiring exposure times of 10 seconds or more. Long exposures can make it hard to get things like branches and leaves sharp, of course, but another challenge is time management. My usual trial-and-error process cumulatively took much longer than usual, and there was at least one instance where I ultimately didn't take enough time to get everything right.

First, my favorite shot from the hike: looking over the White River with morning sunlight starting to illuminate the treetops. F/14.

Below, three images from a lovely area of forest near the trailhead. A thick carpet of salal and moss meant that the area was still very lush and green, which was a welcome surprise this time of year. I'm not sure which I like the best, so I've posted all three. F/16, F/14, and F/14, respectively.




Happy Thanksgiving, all!

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