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

Available for purchase at my Solace In The North shop.

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!

Available for purchase at my Solace In The North shop.

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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