Washington Trails Magazine

I would like to thank Eli Boschetto and the gang at Washington Trails Association for selecting my image of Glacier Peak and Image Lake for their July/August cover.

This image was taken during an amazing 5-day backpacking trip, starting and ending at Trinity, at the end of the Chiwawa River Road.  I connected Buck Creek Pass, Image Lake, Cloudy Pass, Lyman Lakes, Spider Gap and Spider Meadows on this adventure.

At the time I did this trip, access to the Glacier Peak Wilderness had restricted access from the west side due to serious flood damage along its primary access routes.  This included the Suattle River Road and the White Chuck River trail.  For hikers, this meant heading east of the crest for the easiest access to this area.

That has now changed.  After being closed for more than a decade due to limited budget, legal battles with over-the-top environmental groups, and complicated redesign plans, the Suattle River Road was opened to vehicle traffic on October 25th, 2014.  It gives access once again to 120 miles of hiking trails, including the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

The Suattle River Road is also a key entry/exit point for one of the most famous high country traverses in our state, the Ptarmigan traverse.  I have done this traverse several times, and am excited about doing it again in the coming years (fingers crossed!).  This traverse begins at Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park and ends at Downey Creek along the Suattle River Road (or vice versa).

I hope you get out to visit some of the amazing scenery this area has to offer.  Hope to see you on the trail!

WTA Hike-A-Thon Winner Prize

Matt Loesch and Don Geyer on Iron Peak summit.

Congratulations to the winning 2011 Washington Trails Association Hike-a-Thon photo winners!  Yes, this was an event that took place last summer, but the prize was only claimed this past weekend.  And the prize was?  Well...me so to speak!

Winning contestants got to spend time with me on the trail, while I offered photography tips and suggestions.

Well, that was the plan anyway!

The reality is that one winner is currently hiking the entire PCT, another was running a marathon in San Diego, and a third had a family member fall ill at the last moment.

This left Matt.  Matt wasn't very interested in photographing flowers along Ingalls Creek as had originally been planned - he wanted to go high for views. So we called an audible and headed up the Teanaway, targeting Iron Peak.

It was a fun adventure.  Matt summited his first peak outside of Mt. Pilchuck, and signed his first summit register!  He also experienced his first time of extensive snow travel (and there was a lot of snow).

This was a fun event, and one that I have been looking forward to ever since signing on last September.  Thanks for a fun day and great company, Matt!

Congratulations to the Northwest Exposure Photo Contest Winners!

This year I once again served as a panel judge for Washington Trails Assocation's Northwest Exposure photo contest, joining my friend Dave Schiefelbein, Wade Trenbeath, Eli Boschetto and Kindra Ramos.  It was a fun evening, made easier for us thanks to all the hard work of Kindra.

This is an event I really enjoy taking part in.  I enjoy seeing the variety of images submitted, and seeing each photographer's perspective on both familiar and unfamiliar subjects.  There are a lot of talented photographers that take part in this contest.

Congratulations to all the winners!

The grand prize winner was Todd Mortensen for his fantastic image from one of my favorite Olympic beaches - Ruby Beach.  Todd also won Editor's Choice for his spring image from the Columbia Hills.

The categories being judged included Nature & Landscape, Flora & Fauna, Hikers In Action, and Families On Trail.  First, second and third place winners were selected.

To learn all the winning entries and to see these beautiful images, be sure to check out the Jan + Feb issue of Washington Trails magazine!  If you are not a subscriber, you can find the magazine at REI and other outdoor recreation supply stores.  Or better yet, go to http://www.wta.org/ and subscribe!

UPDATE:  The complete list of winners and their images can now be viewed on the WTA's web site!

Washington Trails Association's 2011 Northwest Exposure Contest

Prusik Peak and Larches.

If you haven't done so already, be sure and submit your favorite images for the WTA's 2011 Northwest Exposure Photo Contest!  This is a really fun contest with categories that fit almost every style of photography.

Images must be taken in Washington, and they must be from the hiking trail/backcountry (no backyard photos).

I will once again be serving as a panel judge for this contest, and am looking forward to reviewing another year's worth of fresh and exciting images.  I hope to see yours too!

The deadline for this year's contest has just been extended to October 17th.

For more information on this contest, please visit the WTA's web page.

Edit:  The WTA just created a profile page for us judges.  Visit it to learn more about us and what we are looking for in a photo.

WTA Hike-a-Thon Winners

Congratulations to the winning photo entries for the Washington Trails Association's 2011 Hike-a-Thon!  Their prize?  A private day or weekend (to be determined) of photography on the trail with me!

I hope the winning contestents are looking forward to this as much as I am!

This should not to be confused with the WTA's 2011 Northwest Exposure Photo Contest, which I will be helping judge again next month.  I hope you all got your entries in!

May/June Issue of Washington Trails Magazine

May/June Washington Trails Magazine

Washington Trails Association (WTA) originally started out as Signpost magazine in 1966. They have created Washington's largest volunteer trail maintenance program, and work actively to protect our trails and wilderness.  If you're not familiar with them, I strongly encourage you to visit their web site.  They offer a wealth of information for hikers, including current trail and road conditions, current issues affecting our trails and wilderness, information on volunteer programs, magazine subscription, and more.

I've been involved with WTA for many years.  My "Early Light on Prusik Peak" image won First Place in Landscape in their 2006 Pacific Northwest Photo Contest.  Since then, I've contributed images to their magazine and web site, and served as a panel judge for their annual photo contest.

The new May/June Washington Trails magazine includes one of my images of  Mount Rainier on its cover.  This image was taken just last summer from Spray Park in the evening hours as light softened on the mountain.  It was a beautiful evening to be in the mountains.

More of my images appear within the magazine.  They include an image of the Quinault River taken from Pony Bridge (Olympic NP), and also a couple that accompany an article penned by Eli Boschetti, offering suggestions for backpacking in Mount Rainier National Park.

If interested, you may view more images in my Mount Rainier and Olympic National Park galleries.

As always, thanks for visiting!

WTA NW Exposure Contest

The deadline for the Washington Trails Association's 7th annual Northwest Exposure photo was October 16th, 2009. Now it's time to judge the entries.

Wednesday night I will be meeting with the other contest judges at the WTA office in Seattle where we will view each image projected on a wall and decide which ones are the best. This is always a fun event for me as I not only get to meet other fellow photographers, but enjoy the talented work of many new aspiring photographers as well.

Hopefully, some of the images I will be viewing Wednesday night will be yours!