Early May is the prime time for wildflower displays in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. There are a number of locations on both the Oregon and Washington side of the river that are great for finding and photographing wildflowers. Here are three of the best places for getting photos with masses of color. Tom McCall Preserve, pictured above, is a Nature Conservancy holding at Rowena on the Oregon side of the River. An easy stroll just a few [read more ...]
In a year with more typical weather, the meadows in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park would look something like this photo around the first week of August, and the place would be swarming with photographers. This year, while much of the country suffers under sweltering heat, summer has barely arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The La Niña weather pattern brought us a long, cool and wet winter and spring, and lots of snow in the mountains. [read more ...]
September is National Wilderness Month, so proclaimed by President Obama. I’ve had the good fortune to hike and backpack in several wilderness areas recently, and firmly believe that our federally designated Wilderness areas rank right up there with our National Parks as some of the best things about the U.S.A. There are a number of new and proposed wilderness areas in the Pacific Northwest, places that are now protected, or worthy of protection, for future generations. Nationally, The Wilderness Society [read more ...]
Saturday, June 5, is National Trails Day, so let’s get out there and take a hike! This annual celebration of hiking and walking trails was started in 1993 by the American Hiking Society to help raise awareness of the benefits of, and needs for, getting outside and enjoying nature. If you want to hike with a group or participate in a trail maintenance project, many events are planned nationwide. Click on the map on this page to find what’s happening [read more ...]
It’s rhododendron season in the Pacific Northwest. Depending on location and elevation, these beautiful evergreen shrubs bloom from April through June in the western regions of northern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. There are several species and many varieties of rhodies grown as garden ornamentals, but only the Pacific Rhododendron (R. macrophyllum) grows in the wild. One of the best known places to see and photograph these wonderful flowers is in the California Redwoods, but they’re also prolific in [read more ...]
By several accounts, this year has been among the best in recent times for the wildflowers at Mount Rainier National Park. After hearing earlier this month that the flowers had peaked, I was afraid I wasn’t going to find much by the time I was able to get up there, but I was delighted to find that there are still several areas of lush meadows with lots of colorful flowers in their prime. The always-helpful National Park Rangers at the [read more ...]
They say that when a lenticular cloud appears on Mount Rainier rain will be arriving within 24 hours, and that’s exactly what happened last week. The first morning there I got this photo, and for the next several days it was nothing but fog and rain. The Mountain, as Washingtonians call it, didn’t show itself again, except for very brief fleeting glimpses, until yesterday morning. The soft light of fog was great for close-ups of wildflowers, however, and the meadows [read more ...]
I’m back up in Washington state this week, photographing the summer wildflower bloom in subalpine meadows. First destination was Bird Creek Meadows on the southeast slope of Mount Adams. With all the heat in the Pacific Northwest last week many of the flowers in the main meadow areas are done for this year, but there are still some great areas. The photo above was taken just below Hellroaring Viewpoint and one below is at Crooked Creek Falls.
I just returned from a week-long trip to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, during which I visited the Quinault Rainforest area, hiked the Lake Ozette-Cape Alava Triangle on the coast, checked out the lavender fields in Sequim, photographed wildflowers and deer at Hurricane Ridge, and spent three days backpacking the High Divide Loop trail in Olympic National Park – which was definitely the highlight of the trip. Totally awesome scenery, great weather and my timing was just right for the wildflowers in [read more ...]
Like many nature photographers, I’ve been chasing wildflowers this Spring. Many miles on the truck and quite a few on foot looking for splashes and carpets of color in meadows and on hillsides. The spring bloom season is about over in the low elevation areas for species like the arrowleaf balsamroot, but other species are just starting to appear. The great thing is that there’s more than a month still to go this season here in the Pacific Northwest – [read more ...]