More fun on the Green River

Yesterday, I visited Flaming Geyser State Park near Enumclaw. It's probably best-known for model airplane flying, river recreation, picnicking, and the "geysers" (small methane seeps; note that the "flaming geyser" is not lit anymore). The park has some nice forest and river trails as well, however, and they make for a nice short nike. They have a well-deserved reputation for mud, but I correctly surmised that, after our dry February, the mud wouldn't be too much of a problem.

First, an Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) just starting to open, with some frost crystals visible on the buds and leaves. Elsewhere in the park, a few Indian plum plants had already started to bloom. I'm getting excited for spring! F/6.3.

Next, a scene from the end of the river trail, where the walls of the Green River gorge are most impressive. A red alder is in the foreground. I like the look of the gorge walls here, although this image would probably work better at a print size than on, say, Instagram. There also isn't as much color contrast as I'd like. F/18.

Kanaskat-Palmer State Park

On Saturday, I took advantage of some meteorological quiet before this weekend's wind and mixed precipitation, and visited Kanaskat-Palmer State Park. The park's trails amount to a pretty short hike, but there are some very nice river viewpoints and beaches to make up for that. I've been here a few times, and I don't think I've seen the river as vividly colored as it was this weekend. I don't know enough about the Green River to know why it has this color, or why it would be more pronounced right now, but it was fun to observe.

First, a view of the Green River, mostly through alder trees and salmonberry bushes. The foreground branch at the right, and the most clearly visible portion of the river at the left, help anchor the composition and keep it from getting too busy. F/18, 4 seconds.

Here's a shot from the same location, but closer to the foreground branch and with a narrow depth of field. F/5.6, 0.4 seconds.

Next, the Green River living up to its name at a more placid location. F/16, 3 seconds.

Lastly, a view directly from a river beach. I tried a very similar shot on my last visit (third photograph in the post). While that one had a better sense of depth, I much prefer the colors in this more recent attempt. This is only a preliminary processing job - the lighting needs more work, particularly in the upper half of the image, which is a bit dark. F/16, 4 seconds.

Food-Forgetting February Frolic

On Saturday, I hiked the Lime Kiln Trail near Granite Falls, one of my favorite winter hikes. Although the mud puddles can be a nuisance this time of year, the hike is typically snow-free, and the forest and river are quite pretty. A bit of a surprise came during the hike, however: when we got hungry and reached into our packs for a snack, we were dismayed to discover that we had forgotten most of the food we had laid out for the day, including our lunch food! Thankfully, the Like Kiln Trail is not very strenuous, so we were able to complete the hike with the modest snacks that had made it into the pack. Anything longer, or with substantial elevation gain, and we might have had to turn back.

First, a view down over the South Fork Stillaguamish River, framed by mossy bigleaf maple trunks and licorice ferns. I've tried to photograph this particular view, with the little stream in the distance, on prior visits without success. All of the salmonberry in the understory can make the the view from the trail pretty busy. I'm glad I was able to make it work this year. F/18.

Next, another view down to the South Fork Stillaguamish, this time through denser woods. The color of the river is a bit washed out and almost overexposed, but there's enough of it visible that it still works. I like how the horizontal orientation of the river contrasts with the vertical lines of the tree trunks. F/16.

Finally, Hubbard Creek framed by mossy forest. Despite how small the creek is in the frame, I like this overall. The creek is still clearly discernible, and the green moss stands out nicely. F/18, 6 seconds.

My favorite part of the hike is probably the turnaround point, where the trail drops down to a rocky river beach. I tried some pictures there, but didn't end up with anything that improved upon my photography from that spot in prior years.

I'll end the post with one from last weekend's visit to the Green River Natural Area near Enumclaw (O'Grady Park) that didn't make it into that blog post. I'm not sure why; it's a decent image. A red cedar is in the foreground. O'Grady Park, like most of the forested parks in the area, is definitely second-growth, but there are still a few reasonably sized cedars scattered throughout. F/18.

O'Grady

On Saturday, I spent the morning in the O'Grady section of the Green River Natural Area, between Enumclaw and Auburn. Despite its proximity to these cities and to farmland, it has a surprisingly lush and remote feel, particularly along the narrower trails that branch away from the main service road. I think it's becoming a favorite off-season (late winter and early spring) destination of mine. On this particular morning, which began with clear skies before high clouds moved in, there was an abundance of hair ice along the trails. I didn't photograph it, as I didn't see scenes that would improve on my hair ice closeup from December, but it's something to remember for future winter mornings.

First, a view over a small pond or stream channel on the valley floor. I took a picture from almost exactly the same spot last winter (penultimate photo in the post). Even though last year's fog added some mystery and moodiness to the scene, I like the framing and depth better in this version. The colorful foreground trunk on the left anchors the image, and the pond creates some helpful color contrast. F/16.

Next, a winter forest scene farther uphill. Some backlighting, even though heavily filtered by the clouds and forest canopy, helped illuminate the mossy trees and accentuate the color contrast between them and the dormant understory shrubs. F/16.

Lastly, a forest view framed by some cedar branches. The image quality of the mossy foreground trunk suffered a bit here. Maybe I should have stopped down more than F/16 to increase the depth of field further, but I think it has more to do with the underexposure of the trunk in this case (I had to bring up the blacks and shadows quite a bit in Lightroom). I don't think it's too bad, though.