Little Cranberry Lake

Between Deception Pass State Park, Sharpe Park, and Anacortes's parks and forests, Fidalgo Island never fails to be an excellent area for winter hiking. This weekend, I visited the Little Cranberry Lake area of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands. As is the case elsewhere in the ACFL, there are many trails to choose from, and I had fun puzzling out a route that looked like it would take me by the area's best lakes and ponds. I was impressed by the abundant lake and wetland views throughout my hike; they were well worth the sometimes-rough trail conditions around Little Cranberry Lake.

First, a Pacific madrone or madrona (Arbutus menziesii) at Little Cranberry Lake. F/16.

Next, two images from another vantage point on Little Cranberry Lake, looking across the lake to a marsh and some interesting pine trees. I think the first is my favorite of the two; in the second, the background trees are smaller in the frame, and the wider depth of field cost a bit of detail quality. F/16 and F/18.

 

Finally, an interesting view over one of the beaver ponds (I can't remember which one). Given the way temperatures have warmed back up this past week, I was surprised to see ice still on the water's surface. F/14.

All for now. I've been seeing a few Indian plum flowers here and there, and at least one salmonberry flower beginning to open. Spring is my favorite season, and it's almost here! Stay tuned!

Fun in the Rain

Good evening all! During the past couple weeks, I've had marginal weather on my hiking days, but was able to find fun shorter hikes to visit.

Old Robe Canyon

Most recently, I spent an afternoon at the Old Robe Canyon trail near Granite Falls. Despite its short length, there's a lot to see, with mossy trees galore and diverse river views. I successfully battled rain, ice pellets, and snow for the shots you will see below.

First, a view of the river from near the end of the maintained trail. I like the lines that the river bank and tree trunk create in this one. While I was shooting, I noticed at the last moment that, despite the overcast conditions, the light from the sky was creating a lens flare! It took both my lens hood and hand shading to alleviate this. F/14, 2 seconds.

Here's another shot of the river, again with the mossy-trees theme. I didn't depict the motion of the water as clearly as I'd like, but I like the interaction between the foreground and background trees and branches. F/16, 0.8 seconds.

 

Lastly, below is an interesting swamp/pond along the trail. The later time, and clouds gearing up for another shower, meant that I had quite dark conditions to work with - I used an exposure time of 20 seconds for this shot! Thankfully, there was very little breeze, meaning that most of the image ended up sharp. F/16.

 

 

Spring Lake/Lake Desire

Prior to my Old Robe Canyon trip, I visited the Spring Lake/Lake Desire area near Maple Valley. Below is my one good image from the morning, taken just as rain was starting to fall. F/14. I visited the nice viewpoint on Echo Mountain as well, but had a hard time with photography there, in part because cloudy skies were obscuring some of the views.

 

That's all for tonight. Stay safe, readers, and keep an eye on the forecast - we may yet get a snowpocalypse!