Short And Sweet: My Mt. Rainier Trip

You can see some photos from my very first Mt. Rainier photo trip by reading my Heading Back To Rainier post. Take a look!

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Busy, busy, busy. Since Saturday, I've been perfecting the editing on the photos I took at Mt. Rainier. Browsing for the best shots, dodging, burning, saturating. It's taking up a large portion of time, but I'm sure I must overcompensate on post-processing. I only spent what seemed like a quick few minutes at the mountain, due to the fact that it was a family trip and everyone wanted to head back home early. We didn't even stop at any waterfalls on the way up. But in a way it was good, I suppose. Being put into the position to savor my solitary exploration made it all that more special, you know? And savor it, I did.

Scenery near the Skyline Trail.

My last "visit" was in need of redemption. The roads were so bad that they required chains; something we weren't expecting when we arrived at the entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park. This time, the weather was different! Not even two minutes into my hike up to the Skyline Trail, sweat was soaking my brows. The sun was out without a cloud in the sky, the entire trail led up a steep incline, and I was carrying my camera gear and tripod on my back. My god, the ascent was tough on my body; I worked a hard 5 a.m. shift that morning which already wore me out. However, I was so mesmerized by a Mt. Rainier I'd never seen before, that I didn't feel anything until I got back to the car.

Red, yellow, white, and blue wildflowers transformed grassy meadows into colorful works of abstract art. And oh, the smell of them all! The breeze carried the scent over the entire National Park. It was something reminiscent of jasmine. I've never experienced Mt. Rainier with all of those wildflowers before. I knew I had to utilize my opportunity to photograph them - to have them front and center as the focus of my trip.

My spectacular view of the Tatoosh Mountain Range!

When you look south from Paradise, there lies the Tatoosh Mountain Range. Everyone who visits Paradise has seen them, as the view is incredibly photogenic. However, there's something not a lot of people get to see as you ascend the mountain: over the Tatoosh Range, another mountain peeks it's head up and makes an appearance across such a large distance. I overheard two hikers say that it's either Mt. Adams or Mt. Hood! That's incredible to me. We were so high up in elevation that a mountain in an entire different state was visible! So even though I was sweating out all the water I drank, I was thankful the sun was out to grant me that view.

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After I had my fill of beautiful scenery, I made the descent. Everyone was tired, as I mentioned, so they decided to pack it up and head out. I didn't want to leave. Someday, when the idea is reasonable for my budget, I'd like to spend a few nights at the lodge there in Paradise. Several days of nonstop photography, day and night. That's what I want.


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Heading Back To Rainier!

Yep, this friday I'll be making the journey back to my favorite place on Earth:
Mt. Rainier National Park! It always seems like I go there either in late August or late December - that pattern's emerged over the past couple of years... But this year will be different; I'm beginning to plan a possible autumn photo trip!

So before I get caught up in talking about my admiration of Rainier (and before I run out of things to mention after my journey this friday), let me show you some photographs from my very first Mt. Rainier photo trip in 2010! Subject matter, editing, everything - they were what developed the meaning of "solace in the north." I feel that these photos represent that name wholly, by giving a sense of peaceful solitude, quiet introspection, and indifference of nature. All of those things are felt when the following images are viewed; it's how I've found solace in the north.

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Remembering Hurricane Ridge

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I've been looking back through my zillions of folders of images today. I came across the photos I shot at Hurricane Ridge - in the Olympic National Park - two winters ago, and remembered the day both Raychel and myself took a trip out there.

Hurricane Ridge rests on top of a steep mountain side; one that descends like a waterfall of earth and stone into the valley of evergreens below. Also, during my visit, a thick coat of fresh snow laid snug on the ground. What a landscape. I looked out at the expansive mountain range - or, I tried to look beyond my frosty breath - and came to wonder why, in all my time of living here in Washington, had I never made a trek out there!

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It was another world. True, a familiar world altogether because of the mountains and trees, but something felt beyond new. The views went farther, the pines grew taller, the cold more bitterly stung my skin. It was the thick of winter, and we almost didn't get to visit because of all the snowfall. Hurricane Ridge had a temperature of 16 degrees that day, and dropping. Again, what a landscape.

Everyone else there that day had snowshoes or skis to take the trails with... we didn't. Call it unpreparedness or whatever you will, but the story will always end with snow making its' way thigh-deep up my pants, touching bare skin. There we were, Raychel and I, creating traffic on the trail as we trudged and hobbled and fell in the snow - making a scene as everyone else glided right on by with their hip new winter gear. Embarrassment hit maximum capacity. I would have apologized to all of them if I could! But my jaws were practically frostbitten from the snow that got into my mouth.

Sometimes it's better to be silly than serious on a photo trip. I know I tend to keep a straighter face when I photograph, but that's just because I want to make the best use of my limited amount of time on location. I didn't want to take a three-hour car ride to and from our destination, all within the same day, and come back with nothing! Even so, I've promised myself I'd relax on future photo trips. Slow down the breathing, step aside, and enjoy where I am, you know? It may even better my photography. Besides, I'm only 19 (and a half)! I've got plenty of time to go back and witness what the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

 

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Orca Trip In the San Juan Islands

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An island during the ferry trip

In celebration of our two year anniversary, I booked a whale watching trip for my girlfriend Raychel and I for last Tuesday. The weather cooperated (big relief), so I was able to shoot all the photographs I wanted to, including on the ferry! All in all, the trip was everything I hoped it'd be, especially my avoidance of seasickness.

If you've never been to the San Juan Islands in Washington - where our whale excursion took place - I highly recommend you make some room in your schedule. Dense and full evergreen trees pack the summits of every small island, while the coast is abundant with windswept growth - all full of character. Every tree is different, too; each its own bare and gnarly trunk, each their own sparse limbs. And if you look hard enough, close enough, you'll spot a perched bald eagle. On occasion, you'll be able to see a harbor seal poking its head up out of the seawater, and in the distance an orca's dorsal fin disappears back in. It epitomizes the Northwest, and that's why I admire the Islands so much!

We took a ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor and almost immediately left for our whale watching trip. Even though I love living in Washington, my body is oddly intolerant of cold weather (must be the California in me...), so I ducked behind lovely Raychel while the boat "Oddesey" took us where the orcas were last sighted. Our group of whale watchers were the last to join the party - about five other boats were already there, full of people on the deck. After a couple minutes, we saw what we came to see.

The "saddle patch" is the grey behind the dorsal fin.

Black spires began to shoot up from the surface of the water. Shy, at first - but then relaxed by all of the positive attention. It was a spectacular thing to witness! We had a naturalist aboard the Oddysey and a few employees of the business, and they could actually name which orcas we were seeing. I put on my skeptical expression and was thinking, "Yeah, right...." But here's a fact I was ignorant of: the dorsal fin, and the bit of grey behind it, the "saddle patch", are like a human's fingerprint - all are truly unique and therefore recognizable. Fun fact of the day!

The trip lasted about four hours, plenty of time for me to shoot a memory card full of photos. As soon as I knew it, we were headed back to Friday Harbor to conclude our time with the orcas. We booked our trip with San Juan Excursions, who treated us generously aboard a beautiful boat.

Thinking back on everything we saw that day, one word sits and lingers in my head: conservation. You hear it on the commercials watching TV and see it titling news articles every now and again, but you never think twice. Well,  I've realized that the significance of conservation actually means something when you make a connection with nature, like the way we did. Without conservation efforts, the shine on the orcas' backs wouldn't be from the water, but it'd be from slick oil grossly polluting the ocean they swim in. It's nasty to think about, really, and I don't want anything to obstruct my opportunity to go back and see all that I saw.

Since Raych loves orcas so much (and always has), she decided she would symbolically adopt an orca with a donation to the Whale Museum at Friday Harbor (Instead of orcas, I'm researching adoption programs for wolf conservation. They're my favorite mammal.) The naturalist on the Odyssey explained to us that a lot of the money from the donations is put into ensuring an abundance of salmon - the staple of an orca's diet. To those with an interest in orcas or marine life as a whole, these symbolic adoption programs are a great way to get involved.

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