Juniper Dunes Wilderness

A late winter visit to a very unique wilderness area. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the wilderness now measures over 7,000 acres and the entire landscape is fenced in and surrounded by private property with access only allowed through the most accessible wilderness gate at certain times of year. Even at times of year when access is allowed, respect of the property owners and their cattle is a must.

It was quite a breezy day, par for the course at this spot as I understand it, which meant blowing stand and difficult photography. Sand and cameras don’t mix particularly well (usually it’s the camera that loses the fight) and moving foliage presents a fun and frustrating challenge. I still managed to walk away with a few photos, generally taken at fast shutter speeds.

Juniper berries

Waves in the sand

A namesake of the wilderness, the western juniper tree

Afternoon light on the dunes

Sunset over a landscape dotted with juniper trees

We brought ski goggles to keep the blowing sand from getting in his eyes

Last year’s yarrow

Looking Back at 2020

It wasn’t the year we expected, well made plans were put on hold. But nature was there reminding us, perhaps more of us than years past, that seasons keep changing, flowers keep blooming, and leaves keep falling.

Here are a few of my favorites taken this year, from the snowy mountains to the San Juan Islands

Snoqualmie Pass

The Mountain Loop

Mount Rainier National Park

Paintbrush

Cascade Foothills and Mountains

The Tatoosh Range

Mount Rainier

Madrone Trees on Orcas Island

Orcas Sunset

Mount Rainier and Fall Color

Glowing Autumn Larch Tree

Mist & Mountains

The big mountains might not have come out to play, but the dancing mist around their obscured summits are just one of the many reasons I never regret a trip to the North Cascades.

Mount St. Helens | Forty Years

For the past three years I’ve had the privilege of visiting Mount St. Helens and carefully photographing her with wildflowers from the trails around Johnston Ridge. Seeing the way life faithfully returns to what was a barren landscape increases my awe of the place with every visit.

This is a collection of the pictures I’ve taken on those trips.

While I wasn't around when Mount St. Helens erupted, I've heard so many stories about what happened on May 18, 1980.

She fascinated me as a child, watching documentaries in school, visiting the mountain, and seeing piles of ash when driving across Eastern Washington. The mountain continues to amaze me today.

To see her now with wildflowers blooming, springing up from ash and rock thrown in the eruption, just seems so poignant with all that's going on in the world right now.

Beauty from ashes.

Pacific Northwest Spring

One of my favorite things to do in the spring is to stand in an old growth forest, surrounded by ancient trees, as the ferns that thrive in their shadows unfurl.

Deer fern.

Bracken fern.

Sword fern.

Their fronds reaching toward the forest canopy, together.

And to observe other plants putting out their greenery and their flowers.

Pacific rhododendron, our state flower, we often find on the eastern slopes of the Olympic Mountains.

And the tiger lily frequently is seen on the side of forest roads and trails.

And I watch how water pours down from snow melt and sky.

Wallace River

I’m reminded that these things happen every year. Nature holds on to hope. Trees drop their leaves in fall in expectation that spring will come and they will breathe again. Flowers invest all their energy in blooming each spring in expectation that a bee will come and help them create seeds for the next year. There’s comfort to be found in that. In hoping.