Spring Break 2021: Waterfalls and Whatnot

Lewis River Waterfalls

The second half of my Spring Break trip was to the Lewis River area. My main motivation for coming here was to see the Lower Lewis River Falls; I've wanted to see it for a long time, and thought that this would be a good opportunity, before summer crowds and visitation restrictions make it more difficult. When I went, early on Thursday morning, I had the whole place to myself. I arrived just before sunrise, so I could photograph the lower falls before sunlight hit it. After photographing the lower falls, I hiked the Lewis River Trail to the Middle and Upper Lewis Falls, eventually seeing a handful of other hikers. All three falls are very impressive, as is the Lewis River itself. The trail offers numerous opportunities to view the river, and there are some nice groves of old trees between Middle and Upper Lewis Falls.

First, what might be the money shot of the whole trip: Lower Lewis Falls, with sunlight illuminating the spray from the falls. Keeping both the sun glare and the spray off the lens was a challenge, but I'm glad I stuck with it. The contrast is not as much of a problem as I thought it would be - the falls themselves are still shaded from the sunlight, helping to prevent overexposure. The biggest issue is the detail quality; breezes from the falls kept jostling the branches around. F/16, 1/5 of a second.

Here's another view of the lower falls, this time without spray or sunshine. It's less striking, but the detail quality is a bit better, as I was able to time the exposure with a better lull in the breeze. F/16, 1.3 seconds.

Next, Middle Lewis Falls. I was fortunate to arrive here just before the sun was high enough to illuminate it. F/16, 1 second.

Upper Lewis Falls was in full midday sunshine when I reached it, so my photography there was less successful, but I had to try. The highlight recovery feature in Lightroom helped alleviate the high contrast a bit, but the water might still be overexposed. Even so, Upper Falls is probably my favorite of the three falls as a destination, due to the ease of getting to the river shore and gazing up at the falls. Both F/16, 1/15 of a second.

Curly Creek Falls trail

The next morning, I hiked the short Curly Creek Falls trail, again hoping to reach the falls before sunlight hit it. This trail actually views two waterfalls: Curly Creek Falls and Miller Creek Falls. The latter was easier to photograph, with fewer branches and things obstructing the view. Here are two slightly different versions of Miller Creek Falls. Both F/16, 2 seconds.

Next, my best attempt at photographing Curly Creek Falls through the trees. Even though it's harder to see, it's the more interesting of the two falls due to the rock arches. F/16, 2 seconds.

Cedar Flats

I stopped at Cedar Flats, where a short trail loops through some very impressive old-growth forest, with peekaboo views of the Muddy River. My favorite picture from the visit, though, was this closeup of trillium (Trillium ovatum). F/5.

Forest landscapes in sunny weather are difficult due to the high contrast, but this one isn't bad. I'd still like it better with overcast lighting, but I'm glad I went ahead and tried anyway. A Douglas Fir is in the foreground. F/16.

McClellan Viewpoint

Finally, a sunrise shot of Mount St. Helens from the McClellan Viewpoint, along the Curly Creek Road (between Carson and Northwoods). F/14.

That's all for now; thanks for reading! I hope to be back soon with more adventures.

Spring Break 2021: Columbia Gorge

As discussed in the last post, for my spring break last week, I took a six-night trip and enjoyed sunshine and mild temperatures every day! I can't remember a trip this long with weather this good. (The trip was also unusually free of other mishaps I've experienced in the past, such as wet gear, ticks, broken sunglasses, food stolen by birds, honey spills, flat tires...I could go on and on). The first half of my trip was to the Columbia Gorge near White Salmon and Bingen. I've been here before in the spring, and the early-blooming wildflowers are always a treat.

Coyote Wall

My first destination was a longtime favorite place of mine, the Coyote Wall trails system. I never get tired of looking at, and over, the massive basalt cliffs of Coyote Wall. I hiked farther up the wall than I have before, and I'm glad I did. The views of the surrounding terrain and Mount Hood become more impressive with each step, and there were more balsamroot flowers up high (with mostly desert parsley nearer the trailhead).

First, two images of Coyote Wall itself. Desert parsley flowers are visible in the first, balsamroot in the second. I think both have a good sense of depth. The second lost some image quality due to the higher contrast of the lighting, but it would probably work at a moderate print size like 8x10. F/16 and F/18, respectively.

The mostly clear skies, broken only by thin high clouds, allowed me to enjoy the near-constant views of Mount Hood from the trails. Here are two such views. The first is from the upper reaches of Coyote Wall, with balsamroot in the foreground. The second is from the Little Maui trail, with desert parsley in the foreground. While I'm not fond of how small the mountain is in the second composition, I like the color contrasts and the sense of open space in the meadow. F/16 and F/14, respectively.

Weldon Wagon Road

The next day, I hiked the Weldon Wagon Road trail near Husum. It's quieter than a lot of other Gorge hikes, perhaps because it doesn't feature any views of the Columbia itself, or because of its anticlimactic conclusion (it ends abruptly at an intersection of private gravel roads).

First, balsamroot blooming in a steep meadow along the trail. I tried this shot at a wider angle, with Mount Hood and other features visible in the distance. But the sky didn't polarize evenly, and even in Lightroom I couldn't get it to look right. This one isn't bad, though. F/14.

The native oak forests are also fun to see - Garry oak (Quercus garryana) is the only oak species native to Washington, and they grow extensively in the Columbia Gorge (other places to see them include the San Juan Islands and the remaining prairies of the south Puget Sound area). In fact, part of the trail passes through the White Salmon Oak Natural Resources Conservation Area, created by the state to preserve these oak woods. Due to the sunshine and the wind, I struggled to get a good image of them, but found this fun more or less backlit scene during a lull in the breeze. F/14.

Catherine Creek

For my final day in the Gorge, I made a quick early-morning stop at the Catherine Creek Universal Access Trail. I was happy to see camas (Camassia quamash) blooming abundantly in the meadows. Here's one such scene; I really like the look of the sunlight in this one. F/5.

Next, a view over Catherine Creek, with a Garry oak in the foreground just starting to open up. F/14.

Thanks for sticking with me! Coming up next: the waterfalls of the Lewis River area!

Spring Break 2021: O'Grady

My spring break has drawn to a close (my work follows the school calendar), and it was an excellent one! The big event was a multi-night trip to the Columbia Gorge and Lewis River areas, and after being confined to quarters for so much of last spring, I appreciated getting out and about during my favorite season - and in full sunshine, no less! I can't remember a long trip in any season where the weather was fantastic every single day.

But first things first. Before I left for my big trip, I visited the Green River Natural Area (aka O'Grady Park or the O'Grady Trail) near Enumclaw. I enjoyed seeing wildflowers starting to appear in the woods, including these two colors of Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa). Pink bleeding heart are very common in western Washington, but I had never seen a white one before. Both F/5.

Next, a pretty stream crossing along Potter's Trail. F/16, 0.8 seconds.

Below, raindrops on a mystery flower. They remind me of the flower I guessed was Nuttall's toothwort earlier this spring at Rockport State Park. Irrespective of the species, I like the picture. F/5.6.

Finally, a willow (genus Salix) opening up along the banks of the Green River; I'm not good at distinguishing the willow species from one another. F/6.3.

Coming up next, the first part of my trip, which was to the Columbia Gorge area for the wildflowers! Stay tuned.

Early Spring at Rockport

Since my last trip (to Deception Pass State Park) had an island-and-meadow feel to it, I wanted this past Saturday's hike to have a forested, closer-to-the-mountains feel. (But not too close - my mind is in full spring mode, and I have no desire to hike in snow again this season.) The old-growth forests of Rockport State Park fit the bill nicely. Working in my favor were light trail traffic (plenty of time to set up a tripod and experiment with a composition), overcast skies, and light winds. Working "against" me, in a way, was the forest environment. Thick forests like that of Rockport can be tricky places to do photography, as landscapes can look busy and cluttered if you don't isolate a clear subject or pattern. I wasn't able to do anything as spectacular as the landscape image I took there last year (see the first image in this post), but I walked away with a few pleasant compositions.

First, Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) leaves in the foreground, with an old tree in the background. F/6.3.

Second, another old tree in lush surroundings. I think this one has a good sense of depth. F/18.

Below is the park's famous "Grandmother Cedar" tree, along the Sauk Springs trail. I don't know whether the trunks are all that visually interesting here, but the size comes across well. F/18.

I also did some closeup work while at Rockport. Below is trillium (Trillium ovatum), a few of which were blooming around the park (it was my girlfriend's observant eye that spotted this one!). F/5.

Next, a salmonberry flower (Rubus spectabilis). This image is decent, but the background is splotchy, so I might try a salmonberry closeup again this spring. F/4.5.

Finally, a flower that I haven't yet been able to identify definitively. Could it be Cardamine nuttallii, Nuttall's toothwort? That's my best guess based on the flowers and what I can see of the stem leaves. It turns out that there are quite a lot of flowers here in Washington that have four small white or whitish-pink petals, and I didn't photograph enough of the plant to be sure. F/4.5.

That's all for today! Happy April, everybody!