Lonely Day at Baker River

On Tuesday, I hiked the Baker River trail in the north Cascades, and it was a surprisingly quiet experience: I saw no wildlife other than eagles, and no fellow hikers until the very end of the day, when I passed one near the trailhead. I can't remember the last time I saw so few people on a hike - probably pre-2020. This time of year, I think a lot of hikers tend to congregate at trails with larches (I've done that, too, in other years), or otherwise superlative fall scenery. I had briefly considered a "larch march" of my own, but I wanted to make sure I visited the Baker River trail this year, and I ended up appreciating the solitude.

First, the view of Mount Shuksan from Sulphide Creek. Because the water level and the configuration of the rocky banks tend to change from season to season, this view isn't always accessible, making this image a bit more special. F/16, 1/6 of a second.

One major highlight of the hike is the old-growth forest throughout. Here are some scenes that feature that old-growth. First, an old cedar framed by red alder trunks. I like the depth here, but the red alder trunks were so near the lens that they appear larger relative to the cedar trunk than they actually were in person, thus diminishing the sense of scale that I wanted to depict. F/18. 

Next, a closer shot of an old cedar trunk, with fall color from big leaf maples in the background. F/18.

One more forest shot. I'm not as thrilled by this one; it lacks the sense of depth that the prior two images have, and I'm also not sure whether I like the vertical perspective effect here. I do like the colors, though. F/14.

The views over the Baker River valley from the trail are also nice. Below, some fall color from a young big leaf maple frames the view. It's similar to the first image in this post from a visit in 2019, and from almost exactly the same spot. This time, however, a bit of the Baker River itself is visible in the distance. F/14.

Finally, two more river-view-and-fall-color shots. In the second one, I like the contrast between the greens and yellows of the nearer trees and the bluish-green of the more distant slopes. F/14 and F/16, respectively.