Damp Day at Heather Lake

On Saturday, I hiked to Heather Lake off the Mountain Loop Highway for the first time in years. I've avoided it because it's pretty popular, and because the road and trail can both be rough. But I'd heard that the road had been fixed up, and I gambled that cloudy and drippy day would keep crowds down a bit. The road was indeed smooth sailing, and there was a reasonable amount of other hikers on trail. The trail itself, however was not smooth sailing - it was very rooty and rocky in places, requiring more exertion than I would expect from a shorter trail. I don't know if I'll go back until some major work is done on the trail, but I'm still glad I went. I found a few wildflowers, despite the fact that the peak bloom at the lake is a week or two away, and the low clouds and raindrops added some interest to my compositions.

I'll start with a wildflower; I haven't gotten a ton of good wildflower closeups this year so far, so I was pretty excited about this one. It's a marsh marigold (genus Caltha). There are two species of Caltha that this might be, and I'm not confident in my ability to distinguish them at this point. F/5.6.

Next, some cool buds. With the way they're clustered, my first guess is that they are subalpine spirea, although I'm not certain. Regardless, I liked their vibrancy, the colorful new leaves, and the clearly visible raindrops. F/5.6.

The low clouds were a mixed blessing for landscape photography. On the one hand, I would have liked better views of the mountainsides and cliffs surrounding the lake. On the other hand, I was able to try moody scenes like the two below. Both F/18.

Next, a different perspective of the lake, with cedar branches in the foreground and a selective-focus effect. I think it captures the cool, damp, misty feeling of the day quite well. F/5.6.

Finally, some old-growth trunks along the trail. The different colors and lighting levels of the trunks help distinguish them from each other and create depth. Otherwise, I don't think this one would work. F/16.

All for now; hopefully, some more wildflowers soon. Stay dry, everyone!