Going to the Olympics!

I'm Going to the Olympics!  (mid August)

First Beach at La Push

So if you are going to the Olympics you need to be properly energized. Therefore I stopped at Poulsbohemian Cafe for coffee and a bagel while enjoying both them and a wonderful view of Puget's Sound before entering Olympic National Park (www.nps.gov/olym). After viewing their 25 minute introductory movie, among other things it gives you a sense of how large the park is and that it is one of the most diverse environments on Earth. Being late afternoon I decided to head west into the park and find a place to stay for the night. Along the way I stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. Just prior to opening the door, I made sure my knife was within reach, the shotgun was loaded, the 9mm cocked and the ejection seat button primed, just in case this 90 lb senior Native American was intent on doing me harm. 

I asked Jill where she was headed and she said home to La Push which is a reservation on the coast and where most of the "Twilight" series is based out of. It was a good 50 miles away and about 40 miles farther than I was planning on driving that evening, but then life has a way of throwing curves at you. So along the way we got to know each other, I decided to take her all way home and somewhere along the way she adopted me as extended family and opened up her home and life to me. So after giving me the tour of the reservation, which took all of about 2 minutes, we parked at her home across from the town's west coast marina and had a few beers while listening to Bob Marley and watching the sun set on the near off shore islands where many of the tribe's elders are buried. 

Later I met her daughter while watching movies on the couch she offered me for the night. And a little later as I returned from the bathroom I found her asleep on that very same couch looking snug and content with my pillow and blanket. So I wound up sleeping in van after all, but Jill made it up to me the next morning with a delicious hot breakfast of fresh Halibut, home fries and coffee! 

Mora Beach

She told me to stay as long as I like and when I hinted that I would probably be moving on she replied to "just do your thing". So my first thing to do was sit at First Beach on the "Res" and watch the boats come and go for a while. After a spell I headed south to 3rd Beach and eventually drove around to Mora Beach to spend a foggy night on the Pacific North West shore.

Heading east the next morning I made my way back into the main part of the park and visited Hurricane Ridge. It was foggy, overcast and a bit drizzly along the way, which is not unusual for this area, but it was enough to dissuade me from the bike ride I was planning and cause me to wonder if I would be able to see anything. However, as I climbed in altitude I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with clear skies and views of Mount Olympus. From there I shot photos until the fog rolled in and with it plummeting temperatures. 

Mt. Olympus Sunset

The following morning on the way down I had to pull over for what seemed like the Tour de France. Gaggles of weekend road cyclists eager to descend at a faster pace than Mage and I were willing to dare while sipping my mornings cup of joe. 

Bainbridge Museum Art

My next stop was Bainbridge Island on the west side of Puget Sound. I had gotten wind that they had recently opened there own art museum featuring the wares of the Pacific Northwest Artists and decided to have a look. Overall I thought it a lovely little museum. The artistic media is very varied and they even have a children's museum. Something for everyone really. I suggest going if you are in the area and have an hour or  two. If you have a little more time you might also consider checking out the adult museum as well! ;p

Bainbridge Harbor Trail Sculpture

To ruminate on the art I followed the museum visit up with a stroll along the Bainbridge Harbor Water Trail while I killed some time before meeting up with an area meditation group. Afterwards, I ventured into Fay State Park on the shore of Puget Sound to spend a quiet evening with views of the Seattle skyline and the sounds of gently lapping waves. I guess I get a bonus point for helping a couple of young ladies set up their tent. Although, you probably have to deduct that point for watching them struggle for 30 minutes before stepping in to help! I probably should have offered to help sooner, but today with the whole "equality thing" I find it tough to judge the timing in such instances.

 

Why do we make life so complicated?..........

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Fireballs and Ice, but no Rain on Mt. Rainier!

Mid August 2013

Milky Way, No Snickers though!

I got a late start leaving Mount Saint Helens, but as long as I got to Mt. Rainier (www.nps.gov/mora) by nightfall for the Annual Perseid Meteor Shower I couldn't complain. Driving through the park and scouting locations around this, the tallest peak (14,410') in the Cascade Range, I made it as far as Reflection Lakes and decided that it was probably as good a place as any on this iconic mountain of the Pacific Northwest to set up for the night. Judging by the group of other photographers there for sunset it was evident that it was a prime location. Normally I find myself all alone in some remote spot shooting photos late into evening, which is fine by me. However, this night would be a welcome change as a bunch of us crazy photographers chatted about gear,  inquired what camera settings we were choosing and recounted our latest expeditions while subtly patting each other on the back for making the effort to stay up late and take advantage of the meteor shower.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn't cooperating very much as fog banks kept rolling in obscuring Mt. Rainier and the surrounding skies. One of the bunch, Jason, drove down the road and came back to say it was totally clear.  So Sherry and I packed up and followed him down there only to set up and have it fog in after about 15 minutes. I did manage to get a few "Milky Way" shots between the moving fog banks. Pretty quickly those two called it quits and I returned to Reflection Lake. Still fogged in, I was getting ready for a nap when I was surprised to see Jason pull back in, this time saying it was clear in the other direction. I decided I was done chasing breaks in the clouds and opted for the nap. Awakening at 2:30am I looked out to see clear skies. It took me about 2 minutes to set up and by the first shutter click the fog was back! 

Caught one Meteor Streaking over Mt. Rainier

The last two summers I was skunked by bad weather and cloudy skies during the Perseid shower and it looked like the third time 'wasn't gonna be the charm', but in the end I did wind up catching one streaking meteor as it tangoed with Rainier. Content that I wasn't giving up empty handed, I took another nap at 4 am. Then I was awake again at 7am for some sunrise shots with some nice reflections of Mt. Rainier in the lake. With the mystery of the name "Reflection Lake" solved I could move on. 

It usually wouldn't take much to motivate me towards Paradise, but this morning being short on sleep I needed to perk some coffee to energize and propel me towards it here at Mt. Rainier where it happens to be the epicenter of the park. There are many different trails to explore from there as long as you can find parking at this extremely popular spot. Otherwise your first and probably longest hike of the day will be from wherever you eventually park your car, back up to the trail heads. I walked a couple of them and was rewarded with very nice views of the mountain capped with glaciers, framed by waterfalls and adorned in vividly colored wildflowers. There was also a bit of wildlife including deer, elk and wabbit. 

It's sort of pretty up there!

Sunset found me once again at Reflection Lake where the water was calmer and the skies clearer than the previous night. Tonight it would be only Dave from The Dalles and myself holding down the fort. The clear skies had great potential, but unfortunately the meteor shower had already peaked and I wasn't able to catch any more still frames of flying fire rocks hurtling in from space. However, Dave had "app" which enabled us to predict two orbits of the International Space Station so I was able to photograph it streaking across the sky which when shot with a long exposure, incidentally, looks very much like flying fire rocks hurtling in from space. 

 

That nights nap started at 3am and ended at 6am awaking once again for some more lovely morning sunrise shots. This morning provided us with the remnants of a large lentricular cloud hanging on top of Rainier. Bad news for the climbers up there trying to summit, but good photography fodder for us.

And with that it was time to beat the lava rush and take my leave of this wondrously immense active volcanic bulge reaching high into the heavens.

With all my recent sleep deprivation experience and training  I was starting to feel  very adept at it, almost expert. So what better place to head to and test my mettle than the Olympics!? Luckily I wouldn't have to wait 2 or 4 years for them to come around, all I had to do was drive a few more hours northwest to the Olympic Peninsula. 

And just like with most Olympic hopefuls, your donations go a long way to covering training and travel expenses. They are greatly appreciated and graciously accepted !    ;)

Glacier Tears

 (But seriously, I have a Paypal account if your pockets are a little too full.)

 (Really, message me and I'll send you the address.)

(It only takes a minute.)

 (Unfortunately, it's not tax deductible.)

(But hey, were you really going to deduct $10??)

(Oh, you were going to donate $1000! Hmmm, maybe we can work something out :) 

How about I give you a percentage of any Gold I come away with......

 

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Stonehenge, Saints and Seriously lost in Washington

August 8-12

After leaving Mt. Hood I crossed over the "Hood River" which is actually the Columbia River. You probably already know that the Columbia River is the longest river in the world having its start in Columbia,  South America, and finally ending along the Oregon/Washington border where it meets the Pacific Ocean. You definitely Should know by now that I often mix in a little fiction with my non-fiction so if you believe that last bit about the Columbia I have a bridge for sale too!

Stonehenge ala Washington State

Regardless of how long or wide the Columbia is, once you've crossed it you are officially in Washington State (no fiction, I swear). As I fought my way through Don Quixote's worst nightmare and emerged on the other side of a large wind mill farm I stopped in at Washington's Stonehenge War Memorial. It's an interesting choice of monument for a war memorial, but then again, as an exact scale replica of England's real deal it's just darn interesting no matter what it's dedicated towards. I stayed long enough to determine that the sun and moon azimuth's were set correctly and then used the Stonehenge to astronomically calculate the exact date for the end of the world. If you're interested I buried the calculated date under the 3rd rock to the left of sign. I also told one lucky Mayan!

Mt. Adams was beckoning me so I obliged and motored its way. I camped in its wilderness area which is sort of like a National Forest, but with about 99% fewer people. It's also similar to a National Park, but with 99.999999% fewer people and 100% less of EVERYTHING else. We are talking "WILDERNESS" people!

Deep in the Mt. Adams Wilderness Area

I weathered the rain, thunder, lightning and hail that evening and was thankful that I didn't literally get stuck there for another night after I found myself slightly lost the next morning amidst some wet and gnarly dirt roads. My guardian angels led me out of the wilderness and in return I made the promise to use GPS route recording in similar situations so as to avoid calling on them again unnecessarily in the future.   

Released from my wilderness captor I escaped and took refuge in the arms of Saint Helens. Of course, she last made headlines about the time I was becoming cognizant of headlines circa 1980 when she blew her top. Literally. Well, almost. She actually blew her side out and the fury unleashed is something to behold. Miles out as you approach you become surrounded by standing forests of dead trees. Large, formally majestic towering Old Growth trees reduced to dead branchless stark gray trunks in a matter of seconds. A little further into the "Blast Zone" the force of the 300 mile/hr gaseous dust storm was enough to rip the aforementioned trees up from their roots like they were tinker toys. A nearly infinite amount of former 2x4 stock, not to mention the countless homes to wildlife, lie strewn along the mountain sides arranged like magnetically driven metal filings clearly mapping the direction of the forces at work. Then things thin out as if the trees were instantly vaporized or carried miles away leaving mostly baron land which till this day 30 years later has little more than shrubs growing on it. As you get even closer you find that Spirit Lake is now the resting place of so many of those huge dead trees. An immense raft of tree trunks forms a floating wooden crust over one end of the lake while it ever so slowly claims the wood as it eventually rots and sinks to the bottom. Making their way toward their final resting place, alongside of Harry Truman, his lodge, custom 1956 Pink Cadillac and 16 cats who were all buried 150 feet beneath the lake by the blast. 

Remnants of St. Helens' blast in 1980

And then, if you're lucky, Mount Saint Helens will emerge before you and reveal herself. I say, "if you're lucky", because I found her to be very bashful and almost continually draped in clouds hiding her nakedness. I spent hours upon hours coaxing her, pleading her to drop her cottony dress even if only for a moment or two! I admit my carnal desires may have gotten the better of me, but what's a man to do when such an incredibly attractive form plays shy and hard to get? It wasn't like she wasn't in good company. The panoramas I will eventually get to share clearly show her companion, Spirit Lake as well as Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier all posing beautifully in the distance. Still she only teased. Now I won't go so far as to blacklist her, but if anyone asks I will have no choice but to say that she wasn't one of my most cooperative models.

Mt. Saint Helens- always properly dressed.

I don't want to make it seem like a regrettable experience. It most certainly was not. I got to meet and talk with some nice people. I also got to do a mountain bike ride on an "active" volcano! (You might ask why anyone in their right mind would go mountain biking along the rim of an active volcano which could blast out 300 mile an hour hot gases at any moment. My answer: 1) It was there! 2) I'm just that FAST! )

 

I even got to see and photograph a wild Bald Eagle for the first time ever! I started out this trip saying that I wouldn't quit before I got a good photo of a Bald Eagle. The photo I got is not what I would consider "good", but then "good" is a relative term. So I guess technically I'm off the hook and can quit the trip at this point. But I think I can get a "better" photo of an old baldie. Besides, I ain't ready to call it quits yet!

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