I found a spot between Glacier Point and Wabash point where there were only a few people. Set up my chair and my water supply and tripod etc… and waited for several hours for this to play out…. first sun, then sunsetting, setting, setting, the finality, then stars popped out…. Now you get to see it all in one shot…. you can get prints of it at departing souls
US HWY 395 goes from Canada to Mexico east of the Sierra and Cascades. It is like a time machine.
Blewett Pass and Icicle River near Leavenworth, WA were the preferred areas.
In the River Delta of the Skagit River in NW Washington state are several small towns left over from the very difficult olden days of farming by hand, diking back the tide of salt water, harvesting shellfish and swimming fish plus milking cows and growing crops. If you can keep the salt away river delta land is gold for farming… But you do have to watch the river flooding situation, too. The Skagit floods at any time. Upstream the mountains are getting multiple 10’s of feet of snow and hundreds of inches of rain every year.
This was a quick one day trip and all it revealed was how little of something I actually know even when I have lived in the area most of my life and have driven by numerous times on my way somewhere… with only brief stops. To know this place you probably need Skagit valley mud injected into your veins on a regular schedule. Here’s a few photos to get your interest up.
Between Wenatchee and Vantage, WA the Columbia river and canyons. Wanapum Dam and Rock Island Dam. 50 year old mudflats. Clouds forming to produce rare rain. Rock climbers on the basalt columns.
Dwellers in Western Washington are known to grow moss, and take on Nordic Depression Syndrome, and Seasonal Affective Disorder. Because there is no sky. There is almost always a marine layer of grey crud around here… (go to Aberdeen for the ultimate gray crud experience). To beat this you travel about 150 to 300 miles east and those guys know how to produce a SKY… especially when there is wind and thunder storms forecast. These photos are from between Connell and Cunningham, WA. (You will need a pretty detailed map).
Multnomah Falls, Oregon, 44 exposures for the star trails…
There are only a few days in Spring when the cherry trees are blooming and the sun cooperates.
