It’s getting colder and staying damp … signs that autumn is starting to move into winter. The first snowflakes of the fall/winter are in the forecast for this weekend (but temps too warm for it to stick around long). I saw this image and it reminded me that the warm, sunny weather will come again. This is the Upper Dungeness in the Olympic National Forest in the eastern corner of the Olympic Peninsula.
This is the Elwha River from the bridge next to Altair Campground in Olympic National Park. This was an area between the two dams on the river that have now been removed. I like the way the ridge lines head down in the same direction as the river and the clouds add drama to the sky. This was taken with my Nikon D-850 … so a digital camera. I converted the image to Black and White (B&W) using Adobe Lightroom Classic. I like converting color images to B&W instead of shooting B&W film. With film you would need to use multiple filters to get this same image … and not have a way to check the image before processing. In the computer, you can adjust each color channel to get the effect you want.
This was taken from a favorite spot of mine along the North Fork Skokomish River in the Olympic National Park. As you may remember (if you are a regular follower) the North Fork valley burned its full length this summer. With the weather we have had the fire is no longer burning. However, there still is no access to the area due to the hazardous conditions: falling rocks, branches and trees. I have some hope that this is one area that survived with only partial loss of trees. Interestingly enough, the area along the trail on the uphill side in this area was burned back in the late 1980’s (I saw the smoke from near my house in Seattle). There are a few burned snags in the left side of this image. While that area burned, there were many scattered trees that survived. I am hopeful that is the case in this area. I am looking forward to taking a look next spring if the area is open to the public.
This was a photo I took in summer, but as I was going through some images the lines and the light on the fireweed against the dark background grabbed my attention. This is the Dosewallips River in the Olympic National Park. I was hiking the 6 miles into the old car campground that is isolated by a couple of washouts.
We hiked to Sol Duc Falls on the first day of the government shutdown. The ranger station / toll booth was closed so I didn’t have to show my lifetime pass. The Sol Duc River is on the Northwest corner of the Olympic National Park … there is a fully commercialized hot springs about 2 miles below the falls … getting to the falls is a short hike (about .7 miles or 1.1 km) up the Sol Duc Trail – which is a section of the High Divide Loop … the most heavily visited back country area in the park. It’s a well maintained trail, but has a lot of exposed roots from having the dirt eroded away from the hikers constant tread.
