Orchids and Rainbow Loop Trail

Slept a little later than usual and had breakfast before I left. Started off slow, shooting down the river from the marshy area about three quarters of a mile from Stehekin. Did a couple of pans, with and without polarizer. Went back to Rainbow Falls for Calypso orchids, this time with the 200 mm. Much better background, but of course the depth of field was much narrower. I am more pleased with today's than previous shots.

Went back to Rainbow Loop Trail. Walked the whole thing, even all the way back on the road. The book says it is 5 miles roundtrip, with a 750 ft rise in elevation and rates it as moderate.

Probably close to my limit. Some great views from the summit. You can see the river below, and the orchard, and the mountains seem to be sitting in your lap.

Met a lizard up there too; my first reptile on this trip.

Failure @ the Falls; success on the ground

Started off the day trying to get a shot of Rainbow Falls from the Cool Mist Trail - no way! Although better prepared, I did worse than the last time. The flow has increased so much the lens is immediately covered with heavy mist. Mid-late summer is probably the earliest it would be possible.


After that miserable failure I found some more calypso orchids, and got some fair shots with the 105 mm. Want to go back and try with the 200, maybe even with the telextender for a narrow field of view. Blocked the breeze pretty effectively with the ground cloth and diffuser; used the plamp for the first time to hold the diffuser in place. That diffuser has come in very handy for macro photography of flowers.



Lunch was very pleasant. Two kinds of soups, homemade bread, cheese biscuits, and outrageous brownies. The crew was finishing up their spring cleaning of the visitor center. Washing, dusting, hanging pictures (from the Artist in Residence last spring; fall is still pending from a water colorist). The futon in the cabin was privately owned and returned, but a new one unexpectedly came in a few hours.


Printed a little bit, but thought about what to do next. Wanted to go up to Coon Lake, but was told that if Agnes Gorge is still snowed in, Coon Lake still higher would definitely have snow. Not quite ready to try snowshoes. It was relatively cool today, which is good because if the snow melts slowly enough, maybe there won't be flooding. They had about 7 feet of snow last winter; 4 feet is more typical. If we have a series of hot days there is apparently a real chance roads could wash out at some points. Might try Rainbow Loop again, maybe go all the way.

Heading North

Got up a little earlier today and headed north. The paved road stops at the Harlequin Bridge and it is unpaved road for about the next 6 miles to High Bridge. The road is washed out not too far above High Bridge, so that is the end of the line unless you want to walk; for the most part beyond High Bridge it is too steep to bike, at least for me. The High Bridge campground has a lean-to shelter, pit toilet, table, and fire pit.

View of High Bridge from Trail

The view off the bridge is impressive, and the river is still coming up. They had a lot of snow this past winter, so depending on how quickly the snow melts, flooding could be possible.

View From High Bridge

Just past High Bridge you can pick up the Agnes Creek Trail. I stopped by to visit the guys rebuilding the bridge that was knocked down by a tree a couple of years ago. They are building the ramp, and the 60' steel span is being built in Spokane and will be brought up by helicopter. A pretty big job.

My main destination was the Agnes Gorge Trail which is a little past the Agnes Creek Trail (confusing isn't it? too many similar trail names). I went about .75 miles when I hit too much snow to continue and started back. Lots of Yellow Fawn Lilies, a few Trillium, some OK views, and a fungus that looked like a brain coral.

"Brain Fungus"

Headed back down and briefly explored the Bullion Campground looking for the Loop Trail to take up to Coon Lake. No lean-to at Bullion. Found the lower end of the loop, but not the upper, which should be closer to the Coon Lake Trail. Needed to head back down to meet the boat for groceries.

Mule Deer

While waiting for the groceries I met a resident who said she had an old cabin on her property with some history behind it, would I be interested in photogaphing it. I agreed to go on up after lunch. It was mostly broken down, just parts of some walls are left. She is going to get more details from an 80 year old member of the Buckner family, who started an orchard there in the late 1800s. Coming off her property a mule deer was browsing. The deer are very habituated to people and let you come pretty close.

I have been invited to "social lunch" tomorrow with the Park Service. Looking forward to the social time and someone else's cooking.

Worked hard - took the bike

Was planning to go up lake to Bullion Trail, but the truck wasn't available. Started at Lakeshore again, trying to get good sunrise pictures. Came back for breakfast and took the bike. Stopped for some shots down river right to the mountains. Provides a good view of several in the distance. Went on up the road and was stretched on the ground to get some low level shots of flowers. A local resident came out to see if I was OK. They apparently have a cat; we had a little scratch and purr session and I went back to my flowers. She came up for more attention - typical cat.

Went on to the Rainbow Loop Trail, but started on the south trail head this time. Didn't make it all the way to rainbow creek. It was about 11:40 and the light was harsh, I was hungry and thirsty (forgot to bring water) so bagged it and headed back.

Ordered more groceries this PM, for pick up around noon tomorrow. Mostly just running low on vegetables.

6 PM, time to start dinner, but I sure do miss the news on TV. Some pix to follow.

Easy Day - no shooting

Light was blah today, so I tweaked the images from the last several days. The scenery here is great, but the light is tough. Bright highlights in snow and deep shadows in the early morning make it hard to capture the range.
Orchid and fawn lilly looked good (on yesterday's post) and I posted them at the Visitor's Center. Sarah said that more orchids bloom on the Lakeshore Trail near a seep, but it may be too early. I might check that out tomorrow morning and go a little further on the trail than I have before.

Read through parts of "Stehekin: A Guide to the Enchanted Valley" by Fred T. Darvill Jr., MD. It is helpful, but somewhat outdated. It sounds like more of the valley used to be accessable by vehicle, I guess prior the washout in 2003(?). I think that over the next several days I need to hit the higher spots, particularly the Bullion Trail, Coon Lake via the Old Wagon Road, McGregor Mountain Trail and Agnes Gorge Trail. Also need to hit the south side of the Rainbow Loop Trail. While some of the work has had good lighting and I did one black and white image, I need to start thinking a little more creatively about the images, particularly in my last week. I am not sure what that means, but did do one that is a little outside my usual work (Stones5). The rocks "crowding" around the reflection of the moutain in the water seemed expressive to me. [Comments welcome!]

Maybe a bit more macro too, I enjoyed doing the spider. Effectively 12 days are left. Can still accomplish a lot.

How many ways can you say "Glorious Day?"

It was another gorgeous day. Despite that, I am starting today to make an effort to actually write each day's notes on that day, even if the images are delayed.

Started the morning along Lakeshore Trail again, trying for some good early morning light, and trying to redo the image with the flowers in the foreground, this time using some fill flash to brighten them up. Forgot my polarizer on the 70-300, which I didn' bring with me. Note to self, it is worth the money to get a second 77 mm polarizer for the 12-24. Oh, well!, will try again another day.

After breakfast, I found my way up the "Cool Mist" trail at Rainbow Falls. (Met Wendy and Phil, Stehekin residents. Phil was on the committee that selected me; he said he voted for and I thanked him for his vote.) It leads up a steep hill across from and about two thirds the way up Rainbow Falls. It is called "Cool Mist" for the obvious reason. It was really difficult to try and get a shot without getting the camera too wet. I fussed with the raincape and tried to take a shot the instant I lifted it. Between the narrow trail, wind and mist (more like standing on a tilted chair in a fine shower in a mild hurricane), I only took two shots. I gave up mostly because it was late enough that there were already bright spots that would blow out, so it didn't pay to keep trying. Need to come back early morning when the sun isn't on the water, and maybe the wind is less.

Moved on to a quick look-see at the Harlequin Campground, but couldn't find the Harelequin trail head. Need to ask. The camp ground seemed nicer than the others; quiet, well shaded. Then moved on to the Stehekin River Trail, starting just south of the airfield. Was already warmed up enough for just a tee shirt. Previously I had gone north and found lots of trillium, so today I went south -- good choice. Hit piles of yellow fawn lily, more trillium, and finally, just when I was ready to turn back, a calyspso orchid (Calypso bulbosa). I had heard they were common, but it is still exciting. There may be some near Rainbow Falls, need to look next time I'm there.

Returned around 2:00 and blew off the remainder of the afternoon reading and napping in the sun, till I moved myself to write this. Will download and backup later tonight after a light supper.

Big Photo Day

Yesterday was a big photo day -- from 6 to 6 and south to north. I started out on the lakeshore trail just after sunrise. I don't need to get up before dawn because it takes a while for the sun to get over the mountains. As I face the river, the sun in at my back, shining on the mountains across the river. Finally it wasn't overcast and there was some decent early morning light. I found one place where I could get some yellow flowers in the foreground and still have the background mountains in focus using a wide angle lens and stopping way down. The flowers are arrowleaf balsamroot.

There aren't too many kinds of wildflowers out yet, but I have seen some of the more common ones like misson bells (I think that is a great name). I also saw lots of trillium, dwarf waterleaf, and one past prime yellow fawn lily.

A lot depends on the light, otherwise the mountains start to look the same.

Today was mostly an indoors day, catching up on downloads, file naming, backups and printing. I will meet with the Park Service tomorrow and we will pick an image to put on the notice of my workshop and decide on what language we want to use.

More in a couple of days.