High Divide, Olympic National Park

Mount Olympus above flower meadows on High Divide.

I've been wanting to return to High Divide for a few years now.  Of course, permits for Heart Lake and Sol Duc Park were long taken.  But I was able to benefit from a timely release of walk-up permits made available online for Seven Lakes Basin, and acted quickly!

For where I wanted to photograph on High Divide, Seven Lakes Basin was not optimum.  But it beat descending with headlamp back to the car after evening photography!

I got an early 7:00 am start on the trail, after driving over from the Seattle area.  The ascent went pretty quickly, and is incredibly scenic once above Deer Lake as one climbs and traverses through parkland meadows.  Flowers were incredible, especially once gaining the ridge and traversing to the Seven Lakes Basin junction.

Lunch Lake in Seven Lakes Basin.

The only difficulty on the trail is just before the junction where the trail has been wiped out due to a landslide, and one must follow cairns through a boulder field.  After a short climb to the notch, you are welcomed with a steep descent down to the lakes.

I spent most of the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the sun.  Around dinner time, I gathered my camera gear and headed up to the divide via the shortcut trail.

It was about 2 miles to my favorite flower meadow, pretty much overlooking Heart Lake.  It would be a headlamp jaunt back to camp and I was prepared.

The evening was enjoyable as I watch the sun set, casting pink alpenglow on the mountain.  Of course, this is followed with the Belt of Venus and the earth's shadow taking over the sky before the stars begin to appear.

Mount Olympus above flower meadows on High Divide.

The trek back to camp in the dark half an hour after sunset wasn't as bad as I imagined.  In fact, my headlamp never left my pack as I was aided by the light of a quarter moon.

Then it was a late dinner and bed, with an everlasting grin on my face from another fantastic evening experience.

You can view more of my images from Olympic NP in my Olympic Gallery.

As always, thanks for looking!  Hope to see you on the trails!

2011 Mountains of Washington Calendar

The 2011 Mountains of Washington calendar is officially out! It is available at many retail stores, including Fred Meyer and Rite Aid from first-hand knowledge. It looks like your's truly was generously given the months of March and May. The May image of Mt. St. Helens actually served as the cover in their 2009 calendar (yes, it is a repeat image).

I hope to have more product news to share in the coming weeks - check back!

Update!

This calendar will be available for purchase at my shows and from my web site. Details coming soon!

Mt. Olympus

Later today I will be leaving for an extended climb of Mt. Olympus in Olympic National Park. We will spend 4 days doing the 48 mile round trip to the summit. If we are successful, it will be my fourth time reaching the summit of this beautiful, majestic peak.

We will spend tomorrow hiking the low forested valley of the Hoh to Elk Lake. Friday we will move camp higher onto the flanks of Mt. Olympus in hopes of a nice sunset and close summit proximity. All this hard work should have us in a position to summit Saturday morning! Our final camp will be in Glacier Meadows before making the long haul out on Sunday.

I will be joined by my good friend Dale (who accompanied me last time) and the film team of Crest Pictures, Robert and Kathy Chrestensen. Wish us luck! And if you are in the area and see us on the trail, say hi!

Bailey Traverse

A couple of years ago I spent 8 days combining the Bailey traverse with the Skyline High Route in Olympic National Park. It was a solo trip, and a very rewarding one at that.

This image was taken on day 2 of the trip from an area I jokingly refer to as 32 Goat Basin (not terribly far from 11 Bull Basin - yes that is the official name). Of course, the number 32 represents the number of salt-craving goats that rapidly descended upon my camp as soon as my presence was known. They were an aggressive bunch and a real pain in the butt to be honest. Any time I ventured from my camp, they would converge upon my gear for a nibble. Unfortunately, one succeeded in chewing some holes in my bivy sack. I wouldn't learn this until a couple of days later while caught in a storm!

I've had several images published from this trip, but this one of the goat perched in front of Mt. Olympus has by far been the most popular. In fact, it will be in the pages of an upcoming outdoor magazine. I would like to say that I am getting the last laugh from this whole affair, but I can't say that I am laughing yet!

Edit: I will be visiting this area again next month for a climb of Olympus with some friends. If successful, it will be my fourth time summiting this beautiful peak.