Pleasant Valley

Earlier this week, I hiked the Pleasant Valley trail east of Chinook Pass (not the whole fourteen-mile loop - I made a roughly eight-mile round trip hike from the eastern trailhead). I had never been east of Chinook Pass. The scenery visible from the drive was reminiscent of some stretches of the North Cascades Highway, and tempts me to visit further. The Pleasant Valley trail itself, though flat, is fairly diverse, with old-growth forest, river views, and regenerating wildfire areas.

First, a colorful forest scene. The understory of vanilla-leaf, depicted here, was extensive in many areas. F/14.

Next, a view of the American River, or at least a channel of it. F/14, 0.5 seconds.

Below, a view over the American River under afternoon sunshine. The contrast was a challenge, but I think this one worked fairly well. F/13.

Next, lupine blooming in a surprise opening in the tree cover. Due to the high contrast, low perpective, and wide angle, there was some distortion and loss of detail quality. Still, I think it'd be fine at least as an 8x10. F/18.

Here's one from the burned area, looking out to Fifes Peaks on the other side of the valley. F/16.

This next one was a bit of an experiment: a view of the river through trees. The lighting worked, which was a pleasant surprise. I'm not so sure about the composition, as I wish the river were even more clear and obvious than it is. F/14.

Finally, two river-view images that I'm not so sure about. In each case, I like the composition, but the clouds ended up a bit overexposed. Since the eye expects the clouds to be white, though, they might not look too bad in print. Both F/14.