Two Lake Visits

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I had opportunities to revisit two favorite lake destinations in the Cascades. What a pleasure to spend some time in the mountains, and to see wildflowers blooming!

Hope and Mig Lakes

My Tuesday destination was the hike to Hope and Mig Lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, via the Tunnel Creek trail and the PCT. I've done this hike twice in the fall - the colors are exceptional - but this was my first time coming for wildflower season. I don't imagine that I will come back specifically for wildflowers, as there are plenty of places in the Cascades with more concentrated wildflower displays in more dramatic settings. I did, however, enjoy the solitude - I saw only one other hiker all day!

I began hiking in sunshine, but while I ate lunch and photographed at Mig Lake, clouds bubbled up and occasional showers began to fall. While I was on my way back to the trailhead, a thunderstorm hit, complete with heavy rain and hail. I was thankful that the bulk of the day's precipitation fell after I'd had some photography time, and that I was able to keep all of my gear dry.

First, a closeup of a Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis) flower cluster just beginning to bloom. F/5.6.

Second, Mig Lake, with what I believe is pink mountain-heath or pink mountain-heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis) blooming in the foreground. Because of the high contrast between the sky and the trees, I purposefully underexposed this one a bit, to keep the sky from having unsightly white splotches. Unfortunately, this method tends to diminish sharpness and increase noise. I think this one is good enough for standard print sizes, but I'd have to be careful about anything very large. F/18.

Finally, a more intimate view of pink mountain-heath and Mig Lake. Due to the small size of the flowers, I think this image might be more compelling as a print than it is on a computer or phone screen. F/18.

Lake Twenty-Two

On Wednesday, I hiked to Lake Twenty-Two (off the Mountain Loop Highway). For all of my images, I used my wide-angle lens. Some distortion (e.g. the apparent tilting/convergence of vertical lines like tree trunks, due to the lens being angled slightly up or down) is thus apparent in all of these compositions. Usually, this bothers me. This time, however, I find myself more accepting of the distortion; I think it helps convey the size and scale of the environment around the lake.

First, the lake itself. F/18.

Next, boulders and cliff faces along the south side of the lake. F/18.

Finally, Sitka valerian (Valeriana sitchensis), with the lake in the background. If you look closely at the background trees, you'll notice the aforementioned apparent distortion. F/18.