Tag Archives: cascades

Be Careful Coming Ashore on These Islands

While looking down on Diablo Lake up in the Cascades, the light angle combined with the clearer water at that time of year meant it was possible to see the rocks beneath the surface of the lake around some of the islands that are in the lake. I hadn’t really paid much attention to these on previous visits. A long focal length allowed me to focus in on these islands and the hazards that lurk beneath the surface for unwary boaters. Better make sure that you are using the right landing areas and approach them appropriately. Otherwise, things look like they could get soggy quickly!

Hints of Color in the Cascades

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We took a trip into the mountains to see whether the color in the trees was good. We have actually had some lovely colors in our town but a trip into the Cascades is always nice anyway. While I have seen some really colorful shots from up there, our route did not seem to be as vibrant. The leaves were actually more impressive lower down as we were driving to the mountains. However, when we were up at Washington Pass, I decided to use a longer focal length to isolate some of the areas that had color in them.

It is fair to say that things were a little less colorful than I had expected but the little bursts of color that were scattered around the hillsides did make for an interesting contrast. Only a couple of weeks later, the snow had shown up and WSDOT had closed the pass for the winter, so it was good to be there when we were!

Twisted Tree Trunks

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Two different places got me interested in this subject. When we were at Moraine Lake in Alberta, I saw a tree trunk along the shore of the lake that was stripped of its bark and showed a spiral pattern in the wood that was exposed. I was rather curious how this would come to be and took some photos of the log before moving on.

When up at Washington Pass a while later, there were some trees that were still upright but that also showed the same pattern of the wood. I wondered whether exposure to wind over time would cause the trees to twist, perhaps, resulting in this sort of pattern in the wood. Alternatively, does it naturally grow that way? Whatever the reason, it makes for some very interesting-looking wood. Anyone know how this happens?

Looking Down on the Cascades

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A work trip required me to fly across the country for a couple of days. My departure was quite early in the day and, as is my preference, I booked a window seat. Sadly, I was far back in the plane which meant the jet efflux would get in the way of some photos but that didn’t deter me. The view on a sunny day as you head over the Cascades is gorgeous. Lakes atop mountains, deep valleys, peaks spreading into the distance – it all looks great. The return was late at night so no chance to see anything in the dark.

Morning Tahoma

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An early morning flight was needed for a trip that I needed to take for work, and it was taking me south. The departure time was before the sun was due up, but I hoped that I might get a view of Mt Rainier (also known as Tahoma) as we headed south so I had selected a seat on the left side of the plane. The plan was a good one even if the quality of the window of the jet was not. I have not seen such a scruffy window on an airliner in ages! Some random repositioning of the lens to try different parts of the window resulted in some reasonable shots. Nothing special but nice to get when you have to be up early anyway.

Diablo Dam

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The dams along the Skagit River coming down from the Cascades are all pretty interesting but Diablo Dam is the easiest one to access so, when mum was visiting, we made the side trip to go across it. I actually missed the turning for it when we were heading into the mountains but I made sure to remember where it was when we headed back down. Driving across the top of the dam is pretty cool but it is a little narrow if you meet traffic coming the other way. There was a good flow of water coming through one of the spillways while we were there and that looks impressive compared to when everything is calm.

The Mountain Colors Are So Good They Look Fake

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Driving up the North Cascades highway towards Washington Pass, the scenery looked great. I realized that there was a good spot to pull over as we headed up and figured I would stop on the way back. When we returned, I pulled off to take some shots and there were lots of other people doing likewise. The sun was out and shining on the peaks around us but there was plenty of color in the mountains. As I looked at it, I felt like it was somehow a creation of some movie maker rather than something I was looking at. The colors looked amazing. The shots conveyed the color pretty well but I fear that I was going to be assumed to have gone to town on the saturation slider. This is exactly how it looked!

Coming Home Over The Mountains

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My return journey from Chelan brought me over Stevens Pass on a sunny day. I had a schedule to get back for another meeting so wasn’t able to loiter too much but I still managed to take a few minutes out to stop and grab a couple of shots. There aren’t many places to stop going over Stevens Pass but, coming down from the summit heading west, there is a pull out and so I made my first use of that. I also stopped coming in to Index to grab a snack from the coffee hut there which has a nice view of Mount Index.

Cascades In The Clouds

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Snowy Cascades shots are pretty but I was shooting from an airliner on my way for a work trip and the mountains were sitting amongst the clouds. Getting a good shot from a plane of a white subject when contrast is not going to be great is a risk but this came out better than I expected. It won’t be too long before the snow is melted and we shall have to wait for half a year to get something like this again.

Color Along the Wenatchee River

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We made a trip across the Cascades in October to see what sort of colors there were in the trees. Choosing when to go is tricky because the timing of the color in the mountains isn’t the same as it is near us. Things were very pretty as we headed across Steven’s Pass. One the run down to Leavenworth, the road is tucked up against the banks of the Wenatchee River. There are a few places on the otherwise narrow road where you can pull off. The colors were pretty intense in parts providing a focus for the eye of the viewer of the photos.