Dreaming of the Magic Mile on Mt. Hood

Despite the promise of an early ski season, November was a season rife with sudden, inexplicable changes in temperature that took things from freezing one day to near summer temps the next! This has played chaos with the snow on the ski resorts here in the Pacific Northwest, and so I decided to revisit one of this spring's finer excursions high on the slopes of Mt. Hood. I've been to Timberline several times, but this is the first that the Magic Mile has been open, and was it ever worth the wait! I could have spent the day just taking photographs and forgotten about skiing entirely. Hopefully this gallery will help take the edge off your impatience to hit the slopes and fuel your dreams of the coming months of winter.


 

Sawtooth Sunset Odyssey

It is rare to find a roadside hotspring deserted, relaxing in steaming pools along a crystaline creek we surmised that the unexpected solitude might have something to do with the not-so-distant rumbles of thunder. Formidable looking black walls of roiling cloud are inexplicably off putting to most casual wilderness bathers.

Rokinon 14mm F/2.8 Wide Angle Lens Review

If you're on a tight budget, but want to expand your lens collection to open up more creative possibilities, the Rokinon 14mm F/2.8 wide angle lens might be your best option. It's a solid, dependable performer that can deliver dramatic images in a variety of situations, and is available for most cameras at a price that even the most frugal photographer won't find prohibitive.

Mt. St. Helens dons the icy shroud of winter.

The peaks and ridges of the Mt. St. Helens blast zone are finally layered in their winter blanket of snow and ice. Hints of what lies beneath this shroud of winter can still be seen, yet soon the lumps and bumps will be smoothed by the gentle yet relentless accumulation of powder. Roads, blasted stumps, struggling alpine trees, soon all will be indistinguishable until the spring thaw.

Storms over Silver Lake

When the power went out on Monday I decided to take the opportunity to get outside and do some photography. The weather didn't make this easy - as I was capturing timelapses the wind was blowing so ferociously that I had to stand constant guard to make sure it didn't fly off into the seething waters of the lake!

 

Winter comes to Mt. St. Helens

In 2017 the seasons seemed to fade into one another - winter flowed gradually into spring, spring merged slowly with brilliant summer sun, summer melted into the crisper autumn season. However, last week, fall was violently deposed by old man winter with a hammer blow of snow and ice.

Ocean of Clouds

The Willapa Hills rise over the fog-drowned
Cowlitz Valley like a distant continent.

Normally you look up at the clouds, they block the sun, pour down soaking rain, and just generally make the day mildly less pleasant. However, when one is privileged to that rare opportunity of looking down upon the clouds it is an entirely different story. Bright sun, clear air, and the rippling waves of vapor spread beneath you - to stand upon a mountain looking down upon a sea of clouds is a truly special experience.