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!

Spring Sunshine in Three Parts

Hello! I'm a bit behind on blogging, and finally have the time to catch up today. To make things easier for myself, I'm combining my last three hiking trips into one big post. All three trips had bright sunny skies in common. This made landscapes tricky due to high-contrast lighting, and foiled the intentions I had of doing closeup flower photography. (Closeups can be done in sunny conditions, but it's more time-consuming, due to increased breezes and constantly changing, uneven lighting. For these reasons, I often focus on landscapes on sunny days.) The upshot was bright blue skies and good visibility of mountain peaks. So, here we go, in reverse chronological order:

Olallie Lake

Most recently, I hiked to Talapus and Olallie Lakes, along with everyone else. It's a popular trail, and for good reason: the hike is pretty forgiving in terms of length and difficulty, and the trail and road are both well-maintained. Although I enjoyed the day, I didn't fall in love with the hike - most of the forest along the trail is dense and not particularly lush or scenic. Olallie Lake made for a nice payoff, though. I liked these images contrasting the green of new growth with blue of sky and lake, and the bits of snow remaining. F/18 and F/16, respectively.

I also got a fun shot of some skunk cabbage blooming. F/18.

Perry Creek

Prior to all of that, I hiked Perry Creek, one of my regular destinations early in the mountain hiking season. First, some new spring growth (I don't know what plant), with what I think is Hall Peak in the background. I like that I was able to vividly capture the reddish color of the new branches. I'm not sure which of these two I prefer; the first uses space a bit more evenly, but the second has the strongest sense of depth. F/5.6 and F/7.1, respectively.

Next, a flowering vine maple, with a snowy mountain in the background. I think I like this one despite the harsh lighting; it's very cheery. F/6.3.

Finally from Perry Creek, a little patch of trillium in various color stages, along with ferns and other plants. This composition doesn't particularly excite me; I think it's a bit busy and lacks depth. It's the best I could have done in terms of camera placement, as I would have had to smash some meadow with my tripod to get any closer. It was such a pretty setting, though, that I couldn't resist posting the picture. F/5.6.

Oxbow Loop

The earliest trip was to the Oxbow Loop trail along the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. It's a short, easy hike, perfect when I have obligations in the afternoon but still want to get outside and see some mountains. I was a bit late for impressive displays of spring wildflowers like trillium and bleeding heart, but found some vine maples in bloom, and other nice spring scenery. The river was running very high with all the snowmelt, which was fun to see, even if it meant there was no river beach to explore.

First, one of those vine maples (Acer circinatum) in bloom, set against a peak in the background. I used my macro lens, which has a fixed focal length, because it seems to perform particularly well in situations like this when I want a narrower depth of field and a very precise focus point. If I had used my zoom lens, I could have made the flower at center-left (my focus point) larger in the frame, but I might have sacrificed some of that image quality and precision. You might have noticed that this is very similar to one of the compositions above, from Perry Creek. The lighting is more interesting in this one, but the flowers aren't as immediately prominent. F/6.3.

Finally, Oxbow Lake itself, in full sunshine. I'm not thrilled by the harsh lighting, but I like the vibrancy of the green, and how a bit of snow on the peak is still visible. F/14.

That's all for now! I've enjoyed all of the sunshine, but I'm also hopeful that I'll get a trip soon that is a bit more conducive to wildflower and/or forest photography. Stay tuned!

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! 

Spring on the Sauk

A couple weeks ago, I made a trip to the Old Sauk River Trail near Darrington, an early-season favorite of mine. Even though a lot of spring growth in western Washington has been late to appear due to the cold weather, I was able to find some nice scenes with some patience and careful looking.

First, Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) just beginning to bloom on the forest floor. The brownish background consists of a typical early-spring assortment of sticks and leaf litter. I like how I was able to get that color to come through clearly, and hence the early-spring feel, without making the background busy. F/4.

Next, a newly opened trillium flower (Trillium ovatum). F/4.

On my last trip, I took some pictures of colorful huckleberry foliage. Here's a better composition along those lines, including a flower bud as well. Due to better weather, I had less wind and a lot more time to work with, enabling me to do a better job. I'm pretty confident that it is a huckleberry (genus Vaccinium), but less so of the species. F/5.

Here's an actual huckleberry flower (genus Vaccinium; again, I'm not quite confident which species). F/5.6.

The forest-floor shot below features bleeding heart leaves and a fern (I don't know what kind) unfurling. It's different, but I think I like it. F/4.5.

Next, the Sauk River. F/18, 1/8 of a second.

Lastly, a view from the short Beaver Lake trail, which is very near the Old Sauk Trail. The best parts of the Beaver Pond trail - bridges and boardwalk through wetlands, followed by some old-growth forest - are now inaccessible due to bridge damage. Still, I got this nice landscape of a swampy area prior to the closure. I like the spring growth in the foreground. F/16.

Signs of Spring at Moss Lake

Last weekend, I went to Moss Lake, hoping to get a short trip in before afternoon rain. I was successful in this, and although the rain and breezes came a bit earlier than I had thought, I still found a few nice spring-growth compositions. I don't know whether Moss Lake will become a frequent destination of mine - the second-growth forest isn't particularly scenic, nor is the terrain very varied along the trail. The lake itself is pretty and ecologically rich, but the trail only visits it briefly. Still, I'm glad I checked the place out.

First, a salmonberry flower (Rubus spectabilis) just starting to open up. I backed off a bit from the flower because I decided I liked the addition of the background branches to the composition. F/5.6.

Next, new growth on what I think is a native huckleberry plant - perhaps red huckleberry (Vaccinium parviflorum). I like the vivid colors. F/5.

Below, what I believe is red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa), with new leaves and buds visible. F/5.

Finally, a forest perspective through some moss. F/8.

That's all for now! Who's ready for some spring weather? I sure am. I'm looking forward to getting out on some longer hikes, finding some better wildflower displays, or both. Stay tuned!