A Night on the Peninsula

Sometimes forecasted rain isn't such a big deal. We saw nothing but rain in the forecast, but found some absolutely gorgeous sunshine on both Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. I was completely prepared to leave my camera in my pack to keep it out of the rain, but what I saw was dramatic clouds and beautiful sunbreaks.

That said, I recommend not watching old X-Files episodes the night before you go camping. My friend Katharine and I spent the night at the empty Mora Campground, and the sound of the rain pattering on our dining fly sounded like footsteps. Something sneaked amongst the bushes. Our imaginations were both running wild. We carried our hatchets with us to the bathroom. Of course, come daylight, we were just fine. We made coffee and chai on our campstove, packed up, and headed toward home with a stop at Marymere Falls.

Rialto Beach in Black and White

My friend Katharine and I (friends since we were six years old) had a camping trip to the Washington coast planned well before we knew what the weather was going to do. We knew the tides would be ideal midday on Tuesday, so that's when we opted to hike Rialto Beach. There were log crossings on the way out, and then Katharine crossed the log on the way back as I forded the stream. I decided to ford it mostly because I know my balance isn't great, I wasn't wearing pants suited for scooting across a log, and I didn't want to fall off the log into the creek with my camera equipment. It was just beautiful to walk alongside the power of the ocean.

I processed my images in black and white as the high contrast of the sunlight lent itself well to it. I love how the lack of color calls attention to the textures of the beach. I don't consider myself a skilled black and white photographer, but I find part of the fun in art is the freedom found in trying new things.

Lake Crescent

Originally Darin and I had planned on spending the weekend camping on the peninsula, but we knew it was going to be a rainy weekend, and I woke up Friday morning with a cold. Thus we decided to make it a day trip. Rain was in the forecast, but we were so happy to catch a sunbreak while hiking along Lake Crescent before the clouds moved in and it started to pour. As they lifted, the lake was left in moody, mysterious light.

Fun with some water abstracts

Eagle soaring above the lake

Winter on the Mountain Loop

We have determined that from our house in Lynnwood the Mountain Loop Highway is the fastest way for us to get to mountain snow. I've had the pleasure of making the trip up there several times this season with friends and with Darin, and these are some of the images from those trips.

Snow on the Stillaguamish

Through the bones of the trees

A misty portion of Big Four above contrasting trees

Big Four and the Stillaguamish River

A Long Winter Night at 6000'

There's a certain element of craziness to snow camping, at least that's what our friends tell us. Meanwhile, the element of beauty is so tempting and overwhelming enough that we can't resist going.

The challenges are part of the fun. The cold air makes you appreciate luxuries like a home with insulation, or hot water in the tap. The hardest part of snow camping, in my opinion, is keeping our water from freezing. Even the foam insulators on our Platypus hoses stop working when the sun goes down and the temperatures dive with the sunlight. We've determined that keeping water bottles in our sleeping bags seems to alleviate the problem of not having any liquid water to drink. Plus, if you put hot water in the Nalgenes, it even keeps your toes warm.

I made a point of saturating this image because I found that it brings out the amazing contrast in the sky.

At 5am, Darin takes a break from reheating the water in our Nalgene bottles that had cooled off.

The mountain standing silently before the morning light began to kiss its summit,

Rainier's summit is first to feel the warm daylight.

It was insanely windy, as shown with the drifts blowing off the Tatoosh. I had trouble keeping my tripod steady.

Details in the windblown drifts.

Finally, the sunlight reaches me and I start to warm up amid the 30mph sustained breeze.

Mount St Helens is in the distance.