Lighthouse Point Spring

Roughly two weeks ago, I visited Lighthouse Point in Deception Pass State Park, which is one of my favorite late April/early May destinations, due to the blooming of camas and wildflowers. This visit was particularly special because the tide was out farther than I'd ever seen on any of my visits. I didn't get any pictures of that phenomenon, but it was fun to explore the beach more extensively than I usually can, and see the rocks and landforms from a different perspective.

First, a closeup of a group of camas flowers. F/6.3.

Here's a slightly wider view of some camas. You can also see death-camas and desert parsley blooming. F/4.5.

Next, a tiny lupine that I found. I also like the water droplets visible in this picture, including the one caught by the lupine leaves. F/8.

Next, a forest landscape featuring some of the park's abundant lichen. The day's very light winds made this one possible. F/16.

Finally, a selective-focus forest shot. There are water droplets on the foreground leaves from the morning's rain; I don't think they come through as prominently as I'd like, although I might change my mind if I were to see this picture at a larger size. F/7.1.

Spring Break Part 2: River

At long last, here's the second post from my spring break trip to the Winthrop and Mazama area. This time, I'm focusing on my pictures from the riverside trails: specifically, the Methow Community Trail, and the Big Valley Trail. I didn't get the same sort of calendar-worthy, eye-catching compositions that you saw in Part 1, but I found a few nice early-spring scenes. I love the diversity of the Methow area - in the same week, we hiked along rivers, over open hillsides, and through multiple forest types.

First, emerging cottonwood leaves, with the Methow River and a snowy peak in the background. I really like the early-spring feel of this one, as well as the color contrast between the warm tones of the spring growth and the cooler tones of the mountain. F/8.

Next, a flower that I can't identify, even after repeated attempts both online and in guidebooks. I found it growing on rocky ground near the banks of the Methow. Hopefully I'll figure it out at some point, but at any rate, I like the picture. F/5.

The lupine along the riverside trails weren't blooming yet, but I found some pretty and vibrant emerging lupine leaves, such as these. F/5.6.

Lastly, the colorful tree trunks of the Big Valley trail. F/18.

Spring Break Part 1: Meadows

I recently returned from a spring break trip to the Winthrop and Mazama area, here in Washington state. I planned this trip a long time ago, hoping to time it with wildflowers blooming in the meadows. Well, this spring has been unusually cold in Washington, so the flowers were not as far along as I had hoped, and there was a bit of snow still on the ground. But even though I had to adapt my plans a bit, I had fun searching for early-season bloomers, and watching the spring progress during the five days I was there (due to rapidly warming weather).

Lewis Butte

I'll start with the last hike of the trip, up Lewis Butte close to Winthrop. Some forest rangers we met in Mazama gave us the helpful tip that, due to the area's open south-facing exposure, the wildflowers on lower Lewis Butte tend to open relatively early. Indeed, we found lots of balsamroot blooming at the lowest elevations, as well as desert parsley, lupine, and waterleaf. The first image shows one of those flower-clad hillsides. One upshot of the cold spring was that there was still plenty of snow on the mountains and higher hilltops, as shown below. I think it added to the visual experience. F/16.

Next, a selective-focus version of the hillside view, with lupine in the foreground. F/5.

Below, a view down to Rizeor Lake. (On some maps, it's spelled Riser Lake, but apparently that comes from a historic misspelling, and some are advocating for a name update.) F/16.

In the foreground of the next one is what I think is some sort of desert parsley (genus Lomatium) in the foreground, probably fern-leaved desert parsley (Lomatium dissectum) due to the color. I like the sense of open space that this one has. F/18.

Lastly from Lewis Butte, a vertical shot. I don't think it quite has the "wow factor" that the horizontal views do, but it's good to have something in a vertical orientation. F/16.

Sun Mountain

We also hiked Sun Mountain. It's home to an eponymous resort, but there are plenty of trails that feel sufficiently natural and scenic. Moreover, due to the time of year and the fact that we were hiking on a weekday, we didn't see any other people, making for a very peaceful day. The wildflowers were in a pretty early stage here - indeed, there were still a few snowy patches that we had to cross - so I didn't find any breathtaking carpets of balsamroot and lupine to gawk at. I did, however, find some other early bloomers that I might not have noticed otherwise.

First, yellow bells (Fritillaria pudica). F/5.

Next, a variety of springbeauty (genus Claytonia). If I had to guess, I'd say it's lanceleaf springbeauty (Claytonia lanceolata). F/5.

There were a lot of bluebells in bloom (genus Mertensia); here is a slope carpeted by those flowers. I lost a bit of image quality with the wide depth of field, but I like the composition enough that I'd still be able to use or print this in certain contexts. F/18.

Next, an early-spring scene with a balsamroot plant just beginning to bloom and snowy hillsides in the background. I tried this with a wide depth of field, so both flowers and hills would be in focus, but because the lens was zoomed in a bit, I couldn't get it to work. The selective-focus approach that I took instead brings more attention to the balsamroot flowers, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. F/5.6.

Finally from Sun Mountain, a ponderosa pine framing a view out to a distant peak. I tried this composition first in a horizontal orientation, but I ended up preferring the vertical version with more emphasis on the tree, and a more dramatic gradient in the sky color. F/14.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Winthrop trip, which will consist of some images from riverside trails!