Going-to-the-Sun Road

The Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park is regularly voted one of the most scenic roads in America year after year by many publications. And for good reason! It is quite the engineering accomplishment, having been blasted from rock in many places as it switchbacks up to highly scenic Logan Pass. Views from this road are outstanding!

But this road has much to see in it lower stretches as well as it leaves Apgar Village and winds around the waters of Lake McDonald. Views across the water to distant peaks are magnificent, especially in early season when the peaks are still snow-capped.

Just past the Lake McDonald Lodge is scenic McDonald Falls and the Sacred Dancing Cascades of McDonald Creek (shown above). Sacred Dancing Cascades are easiest reached from a pullout alongside the road. Across the foot bridge, a short trail leads to McDonald Falls.

A short ways up the road is Avalanche Gorge. A trail ascends thru the gorge en route to Avalanche Lake, one of the most popular hikes in the park. This trail can also be accessed from the Avalanche Creek Campground.

The gorge is magnificent with its deep blue rushing water. There are many viewpoints of it along the trail - all worth checking out. The view from the bridge might be the best of all though.

A great time for photographing Avalanche Gorge is in the morning before the sun hits the area. The area rests in shadows until mid-morning. I also found the area void of breezes for about the first hour of each morning I photographed it.

Obviously, cloudy skies would also be kind to this area.

You can continue up the trail to Avalanche Lake for possible evening photography. However, I think your efforts might be better spent else where.

Going-to-the-Sun Road continues up the valley. As it nears The Loop trailhead, views begin to open up to Mount Canon and other peaks towering above you. There are some nice pullouts along this stretch. Watch for wildlife in this area.

Continuing around the sharpe switchback, the road begins to climb in earnest. Views of Heavens Peak across the valley are excellent, and only get better! Beautiful sunrises and sunsets can be captured from various pullouts along here. Clouds can be dramatic during unsettled weather.

I found the last pullout (before the road goes around a sharp corner) to be the best for evening compositions of Mount Canon and Oberlin, but others would work as well. The view back down McDonald Valley is also impressive.

The previous evening I passed this spot after shooting Haystack Falls and saw a group of about twenty photographers set up here. Both evenings I shot from here, I was alone.

I wasn't fortunate to get much cloud action during my visits here. In fact, conditions became quite hazy during my second evening of shooting, with a storm advancing on the area. Still, beggars can't be choosers!

Road work on the Going-t0-the-Sun Road also dictated my shooting during the week days as the road was closed a short ways beyond this pullout at 9:00 pm. Sunset was close to 9:30 during my visit.

Next up is Haystack Falls. Pullouts are limited for this waterfall, but do exist. Evenings are a less hectic time to photograph this waterfall, after most road traffic has subsided. There really isn't much of shoulder to the road here, so your tripod will be set up in the road. Of course, evening also brings the best light to this area.

As this waterfall eminates from the snow above along the Garden Wall, I would assume this waterfall to all but vanish in late season once the snow is gone. These images were taken in late July, for the record.

There are a lot of composition choices for this waterfall. You can compose tight as I did on the first one, you can include part of the fancy stone work along the side of the road, you can include the pool at its base and/or the peaks above, etc. It's a fun waterfall to play with.

Beyond Haystack Falls, the road traverses below Weeping Wall and climbs up to Logan Pass, with jaw-dropping views the entire way.

As a photographer, you can really "get lost" along this road if you choose to. Opportunities seem to abound around every bend.

If planning to visit Glacier in the next couple of years, I would definitely encourage you to note the road closure times for construction and plan around them, especially in summer when sunrise and sunset both occur during closed times. This project was originally suppose to be coming to a close soon, but was recently extended in thanks to the Stimulous Package.

I hope enjoyed my little tour of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Flowers at Paradise, Mount Rainier

It appears that flowers might be hitting peak on Mazama Ridge finally, based on reports I have read and heard. I hope to go down either tonight or tomorrow morning and check them out for myself!

Edit: A busy schedule has prevented me from getting down to Paradise, but I hope to make it happen in the next day or two.

Mount Rainier Flower Update

I just thought I would offer a quick update on flowers in the Paradise area. A recent report suggested they are beginning to appear along the upper stretches of the Skyline Trail. A call down to the ranger station revealed that they are still predicting peak to be in another 1 to 1-1/2 weeks.

I might still head down there Saturday to scope things out.

In the meantime, I thought I would share some more images from my recent visit to Spray Park.

Flower Report at Mount Rainier

I thought I would interrupt my Glacier NP trip report with a flower report from a park much closer to us - Mount Rainier.

I've spent the last several days visiting Spray Park and the Sunrise area. Spray Park is very nice right now, especially if you are a fan of lupine and like it in large doses. Nice amounts of paintbrush can also be found. Variety is another story. There isn't much of it. Asters are just beginning to form and are at least another week away for the most part. Glacier lilies can still be found in the higher reaches of the park, to give you an idea how things are developing.

Sunrise is a different story right now. It is bare. Though most all common flower varieties can be found in bloom right now, they are in very small doses and have to be searched out. Again, it looked as though the asters were just starting to form and could be a week or more away. Still, I can't be certain that it will be a good showing here this year. Hope to be proved wrong!

I have not been down to the Paradise/Longmire area yet, but have received reports from friends Jon Cornforth and Robert and Kathy Chrestensen.

Jon scored a nice image at Reflections Lakes, but was disappointed in Paradise Meadows, which he believed to be at least another 1-2 weeks away.

Robert and Kathy visited Emerald Ridge and found a nice showing of lupine. Emerald Ridge is most easily reached via the old Tahoma Trail from the West Side Road.

I hope some of this helps you with your planning!

Logan Pass - Glacier National Park

Logan Pass at the end of the Going-to-the-Sun road is widely considered the scenic pinnacle of Glacier National Park for tourists. Incredible sunrises, sunsets, flower displays and abundant wildlife can all be found here. If one is willing to walk a trail for a couple of miles, these characteristics improve even more.

So it is surprising to know that when the park was first established in 1910, this popular destination was seldom visited. The Going-to-the-Sun Road, always on the list of most scenic roads in America, did not exist yet. Two Medicine Lake, located on the southeast side of the park off Highway 2, actually served as the popular gateway into the park.

Now, Two Medicine Lake is a pretty nice place to visit as well, and I highly recommend it. But it's no Logan Pass. It's interesting to see how the face of an establishment can change. Reynolds Mountain standing tall above the meadows of Logan Pass has become an iconic image of the park and adorned by millions of visitors every year. Yet at the parks inception, it stood in solitude.

Animals do abound around the visitors' center at Logan Pass, and should be treated as wild and respected. Sheep, deer, mountain goats, marmots and the ocasional bear can be seen in the area. Unfortunately, many of the hooved animals can be seen in the parking lot looking for handouts, licking the front grills of vehicles for salt, and eating food and associated garbage left behind (often intentially by picture seekers hoping to draw the animals attention). It's also important to note that the sheep can be particularly aggressive here. Remember, these animals are wild and can be unpredictable.

Ah, but back to beauty of the area. Logan Pass can be spectacular most anytime, but is most special in early morning and late afternoon. I found afternoons to be my favorite for photographing the meadows and peaks of the area. Light here lasts until about an hour before sunset.

Mornings can be nice too, however, and offer a better chance of seeing wildlife in their natural setting instead of the parking lot and roadside.


Last year I visited the park for an extended backpacking trip the first week of August. The flowers were very nice, but a little past their prime in all but a few areas. So this year I decided to plan my visit a week earlier - the last week of July. As was the case at home here in Washington, Glacier NP experienced a late spring and flowers were late in arriving. Instead of catching them at their peak, I was greeted only by yellow Glacier Lilies - the first flower of the season typically to appear. Just when you think you have Mother Nature figured out...

If planning a visit to Glacier NP, there is something much more predictable you should be aware of - the road closures on Going-to-the-Sun Road for construction, Mon -Thur. Due to the closure times, Logan Pass was not available for sunrise or sunset photography for all but a couple of days (weekend) during my visit. As we head into late summer and fall, the sun's schedule will be more on our side. But until then, best plan your itinerary accordingly. This will remain true in coming years as well due to the length of the project, which was recently lengthened by the Stimulus Package.

I hope to share more images and stories from this park soon, including more from along Going-to-the-Sun Road, a thru hike of the Highline Trail, the St. Mary area, Two Medicine Lake, and a 21 mile loop hike over Dawson and Pitamakin Pass with a repeat ascent of Flinsch Peak. Stay tuned!

Mount St. Helens and Flowers

I've just returned from Glacier National Park, and have had a busy day cleaning, organizing, etc. You know, all the things you have to do upon returning from an extended trip! The family is beat as to be expected - hey, we played hard!

The trip was excellent, and I am in the middle of editing images now. They will follow shortly, rest assured!

In the meantime, I realize I have not shared my last trip to Mount St. Helens yet, which included a supreme flower show. May I?

I drove down to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument on a Saturday afternoon after celebrating my daughter's 7th birthday at an amusement park. I was beat before I got started!

What a difference a few weeks makes. Three weeks prior, my daughter and hiked up to St. Helens Lake, finding snow above 4,500' and a frozen lake.

This was a much different setting, with wildflowers ablaze across the landscape from the very beginning of the trail. I arrived under blue skies, but as predicted, clouds began moving in from the west creating some very dramatic light. Half an hour before sunset the clouds consumed the mountain for the evening.

I left the Johnstone Ridge parking lot at 9:00 pm for my next destination - Windy Ridge.

Just as I was about to the Windy Ridge parking lot, I saw a little bit of fog. Then BAM! I was in a white out! Solid white. I had to come to a complete stop as I couldn't even see 10' in front of me. I tried to roll ahead slowly, but couldn't. I waited for a break and finally got a quick glimpse of a white paint line on the pavement - a parking stall. I carefully pulled the truck in and parked it. The wind was howling and the clouds were just screaming over the parking lot. It was midnight.

I grabbed my headlamp and got out of the truck to look for the TH and figure out where in the parking lot I was. I couldn't find it and decided to just hope for better conditions in the morning. I began to return to the truck, but couldn't find it. I wandered and wandered. I had only ventured about 50-60' away from it, but somehow got disoriented. Finally after about 10 minutes my headlamp caught the side reflector of my truck.


I had planned to sleep in the bed of the truck, but conditions were too unpleasant. So I set my alarm for 4:00 am and reclined the drivers seat.

Wake up time came and conditions had not changed. I snoozed another 45 minutes and awoke to lighter skies. I successfully located the TH and was somewhat embarrassed at how close I was actually parked to it.

I grabbed my gear and began my hike in the still heavy fog. About 200 yards up the trail, I emerged out of the fog to clear skies and clouds filling the valley below. Mt. Adams was clear in the distance. What a difference escaping the Windy Ridge parking lot (low point in the ridge) meant.

I arrived at the Truman-Abraham Saddle as first light began to highlight the clouds above the peak.

From the junction I went up, following the Abraham Trail up a ridge with fantastic views. Wildflowers were out in force, influencing my pace substantially.

Soon I arrived at the Plains of Abraham, and remembered just how barren this landscape is. I walked south for a ways before returning to the junction and setting my sights on Windy Pass.

The Windy Trail has suffered from serious erosion and washout, and is difficult to follow in stretches. As it climbs to the pass, erosion has created some exposed stretches as you traverse the steep hillside. From the pass the trail descends steeply, and again goes thru some washouts at a couple of steep gully crossings.

But there was reward at the end of my descent. Pumice Plains was carpeted with lupine! I have never seen lupine in such abundance before. The ground was a solid purple, and the perfume was so intense I wished I could bottle it. What a treat the senses to absorb.

Finally, it was time to return to the truck for the long drive home.

August Issue of Backpacker

Be sure and check out the current issue of Backpacker magazine on newstands now. It includes another one of my images of Mount Olympus from my traverse of the Bailey Range a few years ago.

Not only was this a very successful trip for me, it has also furnished a number of images that have seen the pages of various publications, probably more than any other trip I have done. It's a trip I would like to repeat soon.

I coupled this traverse with the Skyline High Route for a fantastic 8 day trip crossing the Olympic Mountains from north to south, starting at Sol Duc and finishing at Lake Quinault. I highly recommend this trip for its fantastic scenery, solitude and abundant wildlife.

This image was taken at the very begining of the trip, just above camp near The Catwalk on the shoulder of Cat Peak. It affords a pretty excellent view of the Mount Olympus massif and is a non-technical, albeit long, destination.

Hurricane Hill, Olympic National Park

At the end of Hurricane Ridge, a very worthwhile destination in its own right, lies a sweet former lookout known as Hurricane Hill. While you will be hard pressed to view Mount Olympus from here, the Bailey Range that the Greek goddess is hiding behind is impressive. Add to that views of Port Angeles, the Straight of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island, and you will feel like you won the lotto!

Until the 1950's, a road actually existed all the way to it's summit, where a lookout cabin was perched. Both are gone now, though the base of the cabin still exists. It's not hard to understand why someone would want to spend extended time in such a beautiful place.

Today Hurricane Hill is reached by a short trail - 1.4 miles long to be exact. Since it starts high, the entire distance has supreme views as it traverses through meadows. Wildlife is plentiful as well; we saw three bears, several marmots and many dear while enjoying our hike last weekend. When I returned in the evening for photography, I was greeted by a mother grouse and her chicks. Well, greeted might not be the right term. I don't think they were happy that I was sitting and laying on their section of the trail for these shots!

The Hurricane Hill trail is totally melted out right now, and flowers are out in force. They were a little early during our visit, but I suspect that they will peak in the coming week - possibly this weekend?

This visit was considerably different than my first visit to the area on a winter overnight snowshoe several years ago!

If you are looking for a place to take the family, including young ones, this is a great choice. Hurricane Ridge is just a short drive up from the town of Port Angeles. For nearby camping, consider Heart of the Hills campground just inside the park entrance, a personal favorite of mine.

Of course, Hurricane Ridge alone is worth a visit,
with its expansive views into the interior of the range and...oh, I guess I already covered that. I hope you find time to visit this wonderful gem!

New Web Site!

I'm excited to announce that I have gone LIVE with my new web site! Yes, the address is the same; only the presentation has changed!

This has been a taxing project because it has involved more than just a redesign. This is a brand new web site, built from the ground up. I say the ground up, because I went back and diligently worked with each image, using newer photo editing software and technique for web presentation.

It's still a work in progress; I have many out-of-state galleries to complete yet, and will do so soon. Check back often!

I hope you enjoy this new representation of my work.

www.mountainscenes.com

Busy, Busy, Busy!

June was a slow month of blog updates for me. I have multiple projects I've been wrapped up in, and had actually hoped to have announcements out by now for for two of the bigger ones. I also still have all my Death Valley images from early April to edit and share, with my Glacier National Park trip just a few weeks away! No stress here!

My first project has been an update of my web site. Well, update is not accurate. It's a brand new web site. It's been a bigger project than originally planned as I realized I wanted to slim down the content, and re-edit my images using more current software and digital darkroom technique. I am also being much more thorough with my SEO on each individual page and image. It's been a lot of work, but I think it will be worth it.

My second major project isn't quite ready for sharing yet - sorry. You'll just have to stay tuned!

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.

Olympic National Park in June

June is a wonderful time to visit Olympic National Park, especially for rain forests and waterfalls. New growth has plants colored in a fresh light green, temperatures are warm enough that snow is melting in the higher elevations to create larger volume flow in streams, and lets face it - chances of rain in June is excellent (especially this year) making for wonderful photographs of such subject matter!

A couple weeks ago I visited two of my favorite waterfalls in the park: Marymere Falls and Sol Duc (or Soleduck, depending on your preference) Falls. Neither one disappointed!

Marymere Falls is accessed from the the Fairholm Ranger Station on Lake Crescent. It's a short trail that begins with a tunnel under Highway 101, then proceeds to travel through the lush forest of the Barnes Creek drainage. It's a beautiful rain forest full of moss and ferns.

The Sol Duc trail head is probably my favorite trail head in Olympic National Park. It serves as the starting point for such high aspirations as High Divide, Appleton Pass and the Bailey Range - all incredible high country destinations and some of the best the park has to offer.

However, it also offers one of the parks most beautiful waterfalls: Sol Duc Falls.

Sol Duc Falls is reached in a short 3/4 mile hike and is absolutely stunning - especially in June when the snow is melting in the high country. The falls are turbulent and exciting to witness. Many vantages exist, whether from the bridge crossing, one of the observation decks, or a more creative angle.

These waterfalls are a short drive from one another, and definitely worth your time. For an added bonus, the Hoh Rain Forest can be added to the itinerary in the same day.