Fall Color Extravaganza

This weekend, I hiked to Tonga Ridge and Mount Sawyer, hoping for one more sunny fall-color hike in the mountains before the weather really turns (possibly this week).  I've been to Mount Sawyer once before, in the summer, and I think I liked it better as a fall hike. In July of 2019, bugs, heat from the sun, and heavy brush made the final push to the summit challenging. This time of year, those factors are all a bit more reasonable.

First, an image from my hike up the mountain in the morning. This one doesn't feature the jagged mountain peaks that you'll see in some of the other shots I took, but since it was earlier in the day, the angled sunlight brought out colors really well. F/16. 

Next is a series of images from my hike back down the Mount Sawyer portion of the trail, roughly going from most to least favorite. I chose to order the day this way, making a mostly continuous push uphill and saving my photography for the hike down (with the exception of the one you already saw), so that I could scout out the best locations to set up shop. The views changed with every step, and I wanted to take note of those as well as the most considerate locations for photography (places where people could pass me and my gear safely without detouring into the meadows).

In this first one, I think there's a good sense of depth from the foreground, and, for lack of a better way to put it, a good sense of open space. F/16.

The highlight of the next one is the color contrast in the foreground between the green young trees and the red huckleberry leaves. F/16.

The next one doesn't have the same sense of dramatic open space that the ones above have, nor are the colors as vibrant. But since I positioned the camera more along the hill (rather than looking straight down like in the image above), the converging verticals are not nearly as pronounced. F/14.

The last of this series has the least pronounced sense of depth, and the most distracting converging verticals. I liked the color contrast of the leaves in the meadow, but that doesn't come through as well in this picture as it did in person. F/14.

Finally, the view from the top of Mount Sawyer. Speaking of converging verticals, they're pretty obvious here, created by the downward angle of the lens. In this case, though, I think they're beneficial, and add to the sense of depth. F/14.

It looks like that might be it for warm, sunny fall hikes for this season, as least in the high country. Stay tuned for more adventures around the lowlands of western Washington!