Category Archives: Pacific Northwest

Skykomish

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If you are looking for a place with a great sounding name, it is hard to beat Skykomish.  What a fun sounding name.  The town is a railroad town heading in to (or out of) the Stevens Pass and it provides space for trains to pass when traveling in opposite directions.  It supports the train theme for visitors too.  The old depot building is kept in good condition and next to it is a miniature railway that is available for public rides.  While we were there, a lot of the volunteers were around but not much in the way of customers, so we didn’t see it in action.  A miniature BNSF diesel loco was set up on the train waiting for customers while the volunteers also seemed to be working on some steam locos.  Hopefully, as the day wore on, they got more visitors.  (It was close to Halloween if you are wondering about the giant spider!)

Every Morning You Great Me (Well, Evening This Time)

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A bit of a crummy song reference for which I should really apologize.  Edelweiss is a Swiss airline that flies to Vancouver.  Their flight arrived while Mark and I were on the north side of the field.  Lighting is less than ideal in that location but, once the plane is passed and turning to taxi to the terminal, you get some nice angles and very good light options.  This was my first encounter with an Edelweiss jet and I was pleased that the livery is a bit more interesting than the average these days.

Deception Falls

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We almost missed Deception Falls.  I had put it in to the GPS when we headed across US2 over the Cascades but the GPS had picked up on the place I marked and decided an alternate road would get us close.  It did but on the wrong side of the road and that had a benefit we hadn’t anticipated which will be the subject of a separate post.  However, we had missed the falls and we continued on our way east.

When we made the return trip, as we got closer to the spot I had marked, we realized it was coming up and started to debate whether to stop or whether we were happy to continue home.  We debated for a while over this but, as we got closer, the sign came up for Deception Falls and, since we were there already, why not just stop.  Thank goodness we did.  The falls are really cool and they are right next to the road.  The level of effort is virtually zero for a great result.

The falls run under a bridge which you can cross but, aside from looking upstream and down from the bridge, it is worth looking through your feet.  The surface of the bridge is metal grate which allows you to watch the water tumbling beneath your feet.  On the other side, you can walk along a path that runs up alongside the flowing water.  You are so close to the water, you feel like you are almost in it.

Steps take you up to nearer the top of the falls where you can watch the water crashing down over the rocks.  All of this is just a few steps from the parking lot.  It is very impressive (and rather popular) so definitely worth the time.  We came away wondering how easily we could have bypassed this location and what we would have missed if we had done so.

Tower, Requesting a Flyby

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Another shot from the Portland Open House of the Redhawks and a gratuitous reference to Top Gun scripts.  In this case it wasn’t really a flyby.  Instead, the jets were launching off the near runway.  They were all doing a nice job of keeping it low on departure and they ended up pulling up as the passed the ramp and the tower.  A nice view as they pulled up with a few of them getting some vapor is they climbed out more steeply than the average departure from the airport!

Washington Park Arboretum

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Wherever we live, we tend to end up at the arboretum and Seattle is no exception.  The Washington Park Arboretum is near the university (and I think the university has something to do with managing it) and close to Lake Washington.  We paid it a visit at the beginning of Fall with some hope of seeing a bit of color in the trees.  The layout of the arboretum is rather long and thin so, while you have a choice of paths, you tend to make an out and back trip as you walk around.

We chose a good day to be there with the sun out and the colors shown at their best but we were either a little early for the full fall colors or the types of trees there were not the sort to turn too dramatically.  This wasn’t a hindrance for us, though.  Walking through the trees was really great and surprisingly peaceful given how many people were there.  When we turned back, we took a larger path and that had a lot more people on it so maybe our choice of outbound trail was a good one for avoiding the crowds.

One end of the arboretum comes up to the lake.  It is rather close to the SR520 bridge across the lake so not normally the most peaceful of spots.  On this weekend, they were carrying out part of the rebuilding program on the bridge so it was closed one way and things were a bit quieter.  Any other day, though, and I suspect that the noise would be rather obvious.

Build a Blackbird Pano

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While I was wandering around by the SR-71 at Evergreen and taking some pictures, one of the museum docents approached me and asked if I wanted to go upstairs.  I had seen the stairs and a gallery but the signage showed it as closed off.  If I had an invitation, I wasn’t going to say no, though!  The location put you above the Blackbird giving a great perspective that you don’t normally get.  However, I was pretty close in so the lens I had was still not wide enough.  Time for a pano instead.  I took a sequence of shots to try and cover the whole thing as best I could.  Then it was up to the software to do the stitching.  The above shot was the result.

It’s a Long Way to Bole

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There are plenty of widebody flights out of Paine Field.  Since the flights are normally not very long compared to the capabilities of the aircraft, they tend to be light and get off the ground quickly.  A delivery flight is a different proposition if it is for an airline based a long way away.  Ethiopian was taking delivery of a 787.  The flight was a direct one from Everett to Bole.  Consequently, it was fueled up well.  Still, it didn’t have much payload and I was surprised to see it get off the ground pretty quickly.  They had a long flight ahead of them.

P-8 in the Wild

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Despite the number of them that are now in service, I have very little experience with the Boeing P-8 Poseidon.  I had only seen one flying and that was a test jet at Boeing Field.  When we got to NAS Whidbey Island, the P-3s were the thing I was more interested in but I certainly wasn’t going to turn down an operational P-8 for the first time.  It didn’t take long to get one.  We had not long arrived when one departed past us on the shoreline.

As we moved around for the arrivals, we got a bit more P-8 traffic.  Some arrivals showed up.  One was lacking in anything colorful for squadron markings but another included a bit more individuality.  I wonder whether we shall gradually see more color showing up on the jets or whether they shall be a fleet of bland, gray jets.  Fingers crossed!

Unnamed Waterfall

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I took a wrong turning as we went over Stevens Pass and, instead of going where I had intended, we took a back road which was probably once the main road across the mountains.  It twisted through the woods, never getting too far from the current highway, but being far more enclosed and far narrower.  Fortunately, not much traffic was coming the other way, so it was easy enough to navigate.  We crossed a small bridge which was over some falls.  I can’t be sure but, judging by the map, the water seemed to be called Martin Creek so maybe the falls are of the same name?

Finally an Air Transat

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Air Transat is an airline that I haven’t seen much of.  I recall them flying to the UK decades ago with TriStars (if I am thinking of the right airline) but, since then I have not really come across them.  To be honest, I actually thought they were long gone but it turns out they continue to ply their trade.  As I was heading to Vancouver International, I saw one of their A330s climbing out and I was a bit annoyed to have missed it.  However, it wasn’t their only scheduled departure for that evening.  A later flight went while I was there and I managed to get my first shots of them in action.