Goat Lake

Yesterday, having seen the news that the last section of the Mountain Loop Highway had finally opened for the summer, I couldn't resist a trip to Goat Lake, one of my all-time favorite hikes that I've ever done. At about ten miles round-trip, it's definitely longer than my usual photography hikes. As such, the challenge of the Goat Lake hike is time management. Every time I go, I have to pass by some photography opportunities on the hike up in order to reserve ample time for photography and relaxation at the lake itself, which is why this post will be on the shorter side.

First, the lake itself. The early-season flowers that I have used as foregrounds in years past have faded, so I decided instead to try some more direct lake shots. Even though I'm typically drawn to horizontal compositions, the vertical one below is my favorite from the day. The snowier mountain on the left is a natural focal point when looking at the lake, but I also wanted to draw attention to the nearer, more forested peak on the right. I like how the very distinct rocks in the lower third of the image gradually fade into blurred reflections. F/16.

Next, a horizontal view from the same vantage point, with more attention to the snowy peak. F/16.

Due to breezes, harsh lighting, and the length of the hike, I didn't spend much time on photography in the forested parts of the trail (which is most of it). However, I did get this fun shot of red elderberries with red alder trunks in the background. F/9.

Lodge Lake

Last weekend, wanting a shorter hike that I could complete before the hottest part of the day, I hiked to Lodge Lake near Snoqualmie Pass. It's not the most spectacularly scenic or wild hike I've ever done - the first half of the hike is in sight of the ski area and other development at the pass, and I-90 is audible throughout much of the hike. But the ski slopes were covered in flowers, and the lake itself was surprisingly pristine. Besides, when I was there (roughly 10 am), I had the lake to myself for a good half an hour, which is pretty special, particularly for a trail so accessible from I-90.

First, a view from the ski slope near the trailhead, with paintbrush in bloom. F/5.6.

Next, subalpine spirea in a meadow a bit farther along the trail. The mountain on the right is Red Mountain, I believe; I'm less sure about the one on the left. F/6.3.

Here's Lodge Lake itself, with what I think is Denny Mountain in the distance. I'm glad I was able to get a bit of a reflection. F/18.

Lastly, another view of Lodge Lake. I enjoyed the soft blue coming from the lake surface. F/16.

Olympic trip

A couple weeks ago, I took a camping trip to the Olympic Peninsula, staying at a campground a little ways west of Port Angeles. The original plan had been to do something in the Blue Mountains in southeast Washington, but with a forecast for hot temperatures and maybe even wildfire smoke during the full days of my visit, I opted for a safer bet. Daily breezes off the Strait of Juan de Fuca meant that I definitely beat the heat - indeed, I was cold most evenings and wore a warm jacket at the campsite!

A special part of visiting the Olympic Peninsula is how near the distinct environments - beach/coast, forest, and mountain - are to each other. As such, I organized my trip by visiting one of these environments on each of the full days of my trip.

Part 1: Mountains

I spent my "mountain" day at the very popular Hurricane Hill. It's popular for a reason - the trail is short and well-kept, with stunning views in multiple directions. Thankfully, we started early enough that we were able to avoid any issues entering the park or finding parking. My favorite image from the day is this one, an arrangement of yarrow (white), paintbrush (red), and other wildflowers with mountains in the background. Even though there's a lot going on, I think the composition came together pretty well. F/9.

Overall, the wildflower displays weren't as extensive as they've been other times when I've visited Hurricane Hill, so there were a lot of vistas like the one below. While not as flashy or eye-catching as masses of wildflowers, the grassy slopes had their own kind of beauty. I tried to depict that in the image below. The image quality suffered a bit - I had to boost the ISO to get a shutter speed quick enough to get all the grass sharp. Even so, it'd work at a standard size (8x10 or 8x12). F/18.

Next, a meadow of what I think is American bistort. I wish I could've gotten a bit closer to some of the flowers (I wouldn't have been able to without putting my tripod in the meadow), but I still like it. I enjoy the color contrast between the yellowish-green of the meadow and the blue of the mountains. F/18.

In this last image from Hurricane Hill, I was drawn to the way the topography changed from green to blue as it became more distant. That's something I love about mountain views on sunny days. F/16.

Part 2: Beaches

For my "beach day," I visited the Salt Creek Recreation Area and the Lyre River Conservation Area, which are along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the west or Port Angeles. In contrast to Hurricane Hill, the trails in these parks were very quiet. We were fortunate enough to be at Salt Creek at a lower tide, enabling some beach exploration.

First, from the Salt Creek Recreation Area, red elderberry in focus, with a sea stack in the background. This is probably another favorite image from the trip. F/5.

Here's another view of the sea stack, this time from the tidally fluctuating beach. The gray sky is a bit drab, but I like the sea stack's reflection, and the ripples in the sand. F/16.

The rocks, beaches, and tidepools of Salt Creek were teeming with life, as depicted below. F/18.

Finally, the quiet, secluded beach from the Lyre River Conservation Area. F/16, 1/50 of a second.

Part 3: Forest

My final full day on the peninsula was my "forest day," during which I visited the Marymere Falls and Barnes Creek trails near Lake Crescent. The Marymere Falls trail can get very busy during the day, but was very quiet when we started (not long after 7am). This enabled me to set up my tripod in the trail without interrupting other hikers. The Barnes Creek trail, in contrast, vas very quiet throughout the day with only a few other groups, despite the fact that it passes through some excellent old-growth forest with frequent views of the creek. I'd like to make a return trip specifically to the Barnes Creek trail, skipping Marymere Falls, and explore farther up the valley.

First, Marymere Falls behind a cedar tree. F/16, 2.5 seconds.

Next, Barnes Creek from the Barnes Creek trail. F/16, 2.5 seconds.

Lastly, some impressive old-growth cedar trunks along the Barnes Creek trail. F/18.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get out on another camping trip this summer!

Big Four is Back!

I discovered last month that the Big Four Ice Caves trail is back open! It's a short, easy trail to meadows in front of Big Four Mountain, where there are wildflowers and great views of surrounding peaks and cliffs. For me, all of that is more of a draw than the seasonally visible caves. (And since the caves are formed by water, they are inherently unstable, and getting close to them is unsafe.) It had to be a quick trip, but I was still able to find a couple of nice wildflower scenes.

First, a meadow of Sitka valerian. I like how there were still some morning clouds visible in the distance. F/14.

Next, what I think is a variety of arnica growing in a dry stream bed. It turns out that there are quite a few species of arnica in Washington, so I'm not going to try to be that specific. The selective-focus approach I took here isn't as effective as it was in my mind's eye, but I still think it helps highlight the flowers. F/4.

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.