Yesterday, I hiked one of my favorite trails, the Palisades Lakes trail in Mount Rainier National Park. It has become something of an annual tradition to visit this trail in August for the incredible lupine meadows. In contrast to last year's sunshine, the day started overcast, with a mid-morning drizzle steadily intensifying and becoming a pouring, driving rain by afternoon. Now I know that I prefer this trail on a sunny day. With clouds obscuring views of the Palisades and other peaks, the trail wasn't as much fun, and there were long stretches of the hike exposed to rain. I'm glad I went, but I don't think I would go back on an overcast/showery day.
First, an image from Sunrise Point. I don't know what the peaks are in the distance, but I was looking more or less south. F/10.
Next, a lupine meadow along the trail. The lupine were well past peak in most of the meadows - I didn't visit any later this year than last, but I suspect the heat and lack of rain this summer have been accelerating the wildflower cycle. Still, I was happy to find some nice flower displays remaining. F/16.
Finally, Clover Lake, with lupine in the foreground. The selective focus approach I took isn't as compelling in this image as I hoped it would be - I think the foreground around the in-focus lupine is a bit busy - but I still think it works. It would probably look better printed; I've found that the small viewing size on computers and especially phones can lessen the impact of selective focus. F/6.3.
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