Photographing Windy Ridge at Mt. St. Helens

I spent last weekend down at Mt. St. Helens - Windy Ridge area to be exact.  I chose this area for the likelihood of clouds and flowers based on the forecast and some recent trip reports.
 
I had clouds around the summit of St. Helens most of the day, and thunder clouds engulfing the Cascade crest.  I was excited for what evening would bring, but alas, the clouds faded and all but disappeared by sunset.  I hoped for their return as forecast in the morning, but it did not happen.

While the flowers were out along my climb of Mount Margaret and around Windy Ridge, they just are not the strong showing I am accustomed to in the area.  They are quite sparse, actually.  It will be interesting to see how the flower show develops around Mt. Rainier in a couple of weeks (the park predicts peak bloom to occur in early July this year).  Will they be fabulous fields of splendor, or skeletons of their normal selves?

I spent some time doing star photography around midnight in the Windy Ridge vicinity as well.  I'm pretty new to star photography, and there were a lot of rookie mistakes made!  But I also found some things that worked and am anxious to get out and try again.

The orange and yellow you see on the horizon is not the sun, but rather light pollution from the Portland and Vancouver area.

I hope you are getting out and enjoying the early hiking season as well.  Hope to see you on the trail!

 

Newly Updated South and Central Cascades Gallery

Prusik Peak above Gnome Tarn.

I recently updated my South and Central Cascades Gallery to include additional images of Mount St. Helens, as well as many images from a fall trip into the Enchantment Lakes.

The images of Mount St. Helens were taken during a trip in which I spent the evening photographing on Johnston Ridge, then drove through the night to Windy Ridge for sunrise.  As I neared the Windy Ridge parking lot, the fog became thicker than I had ever witnessed, and I could not see to park!  I had to get out of my vehicle and carefully wander around in search of a parking stall.  Fortunately, I was very close to one and was able to return to my vehicle and safely maneuver to a safe parking spot for the night!

The Enchantment Lakes are a beautiful set of high elevation lakes in a granite basin near Leavenworth, Washington.  My favorite time to visit them is in early to mid October after the larches have turned.  Due to the high elevation, this can often mean snow!  Thus was the case during this visit.

I hope you enjoy the new additions!

A Fun Day at Mount St. Helens

Last Sunday I spent a wonderful time with my daughter down at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. We hiked the Boundary Trail from the Johnstone Ridge Observatory up to the Spillover saddle, then up to St. Helens Lake.

This is a pretty gentle trail, but does have some exposed areas where its best to hold the hands of young ones. Of course, the views are outstanding!

We encountered snow shortly above the Spillover, at around 4,500'. The snow was patchy until reaching the ridge saddle above St. Helens Lake where it became continuous. The lake itself was still mostly frozen.

It was a fun afternoon on the trail, with round trip stats of 10 miles, ~1,000' elevation gain. Of course, that was a lot of mileage for the feet of a 6 year-old, and her dogs were barking by the time we reached the truck.

This changed my evening photography plans. I had hoped to backtrack along the trail about 1/2 a mile or so for evening photography. But her feet were done and wouldn't allow that. So instead I found my favorite location near the JRO and looked for an interesting composition other than the one I have shot several times before, which includes an interesting tree for the foreground. I couldn't find anything else that interested me. So I set up yet again to incorporate that dang tree. But I couldn't do it. Not again.

So I packed up and we headed back to the truck to search for a different location.

I didn't search far as I had one in mind: The Castle Lake Overlook. I think it was a good choice. It's further west from the JRO, which takes away the views into the crater. However it offers more of the west slopes of the mountain, which catch the evening light nicely. I think it was a nice trade off.

This sequence of pictures demonstrate the progression of the shadow of the earth and the belt of Venus. Just after sunset, a flat blue band rises up from the eastern horizon. This is the earth's shadow, which is cast upon our own atmosphere from the setting sun. The pink above it is known as the belt of Venus. Eventually, the blue band grows larger and larger as the pink disappears, signalling the end to the day and offering a welcome to the stars that will follow.

Nice way to spend an evening, isn't it?

Edit: While photographing the mountain, I met Ray Stinson, an astronomer from Tacoma, WA. Ray showed up with his wife in time to photograph sunset, but his main goal was to capture the constellations above St. Helens after nightfall. He teaches astronomy during the summer at the St. Mary's Visitor Center in Glacier National Park. I look forward to looking him up during my visit there next month.

2011 Calendar

I thought I would share some images that will be appearing in an upcoming 2011 calendar. Both images are from special trips.

The image to the left was taken last year on a backpack to High Divide with my good friend David Crowe. We camped very near this spot and enjoyed views of flowers and peaks from near and far, plus the occasional bear. It was a fun trip that included visits to Seven Lakes Basin and Bogachiel Peak.

The image was taken after sunset, in a flower meadow, laying on the ground, with my camera only inches off the ground. A breeze was present and it took great patience to wait for opportunity - something photographers know all too much about.
The second image was from a special backpack I did with my dad in Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. The image was taken from Norway Pass during our exit - totally unplanned. The image represents the chaos that is Mt. St. Helens. Though it isn't my favorite image from the trip, I think it works well. Apparently the publisher does too. It's a re-use, having appeared in their 2009 calendar.

Next up: More Oregon Coast!