Winchester Lookout

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Twin Lakes Panorama

Twin Lakes Panorama

Last Saturday I made it up (finally!) to Twin Lakes and the Winchester Mountain Lookout.

Winchester Mountain Lookout

Winchester Mountain Lookout

Located on the north side of the Mount Baker Highway (Route 542) the trail is approached via the Twin Lakes Road. It’s 7 miles from the highway to the start of the trail, 4.5 miles are easy for any car, and the last 2.5 miles require a high clearance vehicle, its a bit rough!

Weekends in the late summer and early fall will find more than 200 cars and pickups parked along the road over the last 3 miles. There is a veritable network of trails originating along the Twin Lakes Road such as Yellow Aster Butte, Tomyhoi Peak, High Pass and more.

Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes

If your vehicle can make it up to Twin Lakes there are camp sites along both lake shore, out houses and camp fire rings/grates. I saw quite a few parties there car camping with bikes for kids, small boats for fishing along with lawn chairs and coolers.

Here the road ends and the hiking begins. From the parking lot you are right in front of Winchester Mountain, and you can see way up above the flag flapping next to the lookout. Winchester Lookout Flag 3

The trail zigzags up the mountain side, 1,300 feet in about 2 miles to the summit. The lookout tower is open to the public, and you can spend the night there. If you get up there and its already taken there are plenty of spots close by to pitch tents.

The view from the top is choked with stark jagged peaks. Goat Mountain, Mount Larrabee, the Pleiades, Tomyhoi Peak crowd the horizon. Mt Shuksan and Mount Baker loom up about all other summits.

The crisp air is perfect for hiking up a steep slope and the fall colors create a luscious palette.

The Winchester Mountain Lookout was clean and spacious, sporting a table, chairs, bed and a wide selection of books.

Saturday was the new moon, and one of the reasons of our visit was to hope for clear skies at night to capture images of the Milky Way.

The low angle of the setting sun set the blue berry bushes on fire.

Carpet of Color at Winchester Mountain

Fall Colors from Winchester Mountain 2

Fall Colors from Winchester Mountain 3

Fall Colors from Winchester Mountain

Sunset from Winchester Mountain

Winchester Lookout Sunset

An hour after sunset the sky exploded with stars.

I opted to sleep out under them, with no tent.

The early morning found the mountain surrounded by clouds. Just as I arose the sun breached the canopy and the sun dance atop the summits across the valley commenced.

Starry Sky from Winchester Mountain

Milky Way from Big Rock

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The usual thinking of night sky and Milky Way images is that you must travel a good distance away from the lights of towns and cities to get any decent shots.

I don’t live near  big city, Seattle is 65 miles away, but there are several towns grouped together where I live. But I decided to head up to a local promontory called Big Rock to see about a few night sky images last weekend during the last New Moon.

These three images show that although the lights DO wash out the details of the stars there is still a chance to get some interesting images.

Mount Baker is visible as a small bump on the horizon. The green glow is the aurora borealis, adding some alien color to the edge of the sky.

Big Rock Stars 2 Big Rock Stars big rock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next New Moon is October 12th. If you’d like to register for the next Night Sky Photo Tour, here is the link.

New Night Sky Images

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Every month brings a New Moon and with it, an opportunity to get out for more Night Sky Imaging.

Northern Lights and Milky Way Over Mount Baker

Northern Lights and Milky Way Over Mount Baker

Here in Western Washington its not often that you see the confluence of both no moon AND no clouds, but this last weekend we were blessed with both.

Thursday night I met a friend and we hiked in the dark up to a local promontory known as Big Rock. I expected that there would be plenty of light pollution from the nearby towns, but I did not expect to see the green glow of the Aurora Borealis on the horizon!

Friday night I was teaching a field class on Night Sky Photography through the North Cascades Institute and took 14 students up to Artist Point, at the end of the Mount Baker Highway. There we photographed Mt Shuksan at Picture Lake and then drove up to the roads end to get images of Mount Baker and more shots of Shuksan. At a small tarn we posed for a group shot.

 

 

Mt Shuksan

Mt Shuksan

Night Sky Photo Students and Mount Shuksan

Night Sky Photo Students and Mount Shuksan

Mt Baker

Mt Baker

 

 

Saturday night I recruited two friends and we hiked up to the Winchester Mountain Lookout. It was my first time up there and I was ecstatic with the whole trip, the hike, the fall colors, the lookout and the stars were all unsurpassed!

All of these image are for sale, as digital downloads, Canvas Wraps and Fine Art Prints. Here is the link to the Gallery Store.

 

 

 

 

The next New Moon is October 12th. I am conducting Night Sky Photo Tours for Oct. 10th through Oct. 13th.

Here is the link to find out more and register!

 

 

 

 

 

Choosing images for the 2016 Washington Scenic Calendar

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September is here, soon autumn will be with us. This is my signal to start work on the 2016 Calendar.

My task is to sort through the years images and somehow come up with 13 stunning shots.

As I review the files there are a few special shots which will almost certainly be included in this next years calendar and in other cases I have a series of shots from a particular spot and need help choosing which is the best one for the calendar. This is where you come in, I will post a grouping of images from a specific spot. Please vote for your favorite in each section by making a comment below or emailing me at: andyporterphotography@gmail.com

Park Butte Lookout

Ferry Boat

Point of the Arches

Barn

Lake Ann

Sahale Arm

Stars and Tent shot

Enchantments

Here are a few images that have already made the final cut:

Washington’s 5 Best Camping Spots

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Washington’s 5 Best Camping Spots

You have to backpack to these spots, no ‘drive and park’ camping! Each spot can be reached with one days hiking (although depending upon your fitness/motivation level Isolation Lake and Lakeview Ridge may require a two-day hike to get there). All 5 spots afford an absolutely jaw dropping, gob smacking, OMFG view from your tent that you will not soon forget. List out your favorite superlatives: all apply to these scenic camping spots.

Sahale Glacier Camp – North Cascades National Park
This just might be one of the best camping spots anywhere. The camp is situated atop 3 piles of glacial rubble at the toe of Sahale Glacier. Stone rings protect you from the wind. Goats often come for a visit. And the views! An ocean of jagged summits spread out before you… oh, and the toilet has the best view in the state!

Isolation Lake – Enchantments, Alpine Lakes Wilderness
Hiking up Aasgard Pass with a big pack is no picnic, but once you get up, Isolation Lake is there, waiting. This is a land of rocks and ice. The serrated peaks cut the sky and the crystal pure, icy cold lake, blue/green lake beckon. The images of the visit will stay imprinted in your brain.

Point of the Arches, Olympic National Park
Camping on the beach is always awesome: The ocean breeze, the sounds of the birds, the feel of the sand in between your toes, a fire at night. Point of the Arches has it all: surreal sea stacks jutting out of the Pacific, tide pools filled with critters and unbelievable sunsets.

Lakeview Ridge, Pasayten Wilderness
This is one of the highest points along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington, located just south of the Canadian border. The hike in is sublime, from the trailhead at Slate Peak you will meander up Rock Pass and shoot through Windy Pass onto Lakeview Ridge. Covered with wildflowers and affording views in every direction, you will have a hard time leaving.

Snow Grass Flats, Goat Rocks Wilderness
If you want to have it all, this is the place to come camp! Endless meadows carpeted with wildflowers, views of both Mount Rainier AND Mount Adams, great camping spots and…what else is there? From the Snow Grass Flats trail head hike up, up, up, the higher you camp, the better the views. Don’t miss a visit to the Knife’s Edge, its close by.

Please take a minute and send me YOUR favorite camping spots, with a picture, if you can!

If you are interested in buying fine art prints or canvas wraps of any of these images, here is the link.

Panorama of Mount Baker and Park Butte Lookout

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Sunset at Park Butte Lookout

Sunset at Park Butte Lookout

The Park Butte Lookout is located on the south side of Mount Baker, in the Mt. Baker, Snoqualmie National Fores, in the NW corner of Washington State. The lookout was “retired” from use as a fire lookout many years ago and was then adopted by the Skagit Alpine Club, who maintain the lookout for public use.

Diablo Overlook, North Cascades Highway

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Last night I drove up the North Cascades Highway to do a Photo Tour Slide Show for campers at the Colonial Creek Camp ground in North Cascades National Park.

I got there a little early and tooled up a bit further to the Diablo Overlook. The green waters of Diablo Lake and the suns rays as the sunset approached were stunning.

Diablo Overlook

Diablo Overlook

Perseid Meteor Shower

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Perseid Meteor Shower

Every August the Perseid Meteor Shower streaks above Earth creating a fantastic light show. Visibility of the meteors depends upon the moon cycle. If the full moon coincides with the meteor shower it tends to wash out the show. But this year’ s Perseid showers falls upon the New Moon and so we could have quite a show.

Milky Way and Shooting Star

Milky Way and Shooting Star

Here is a quote from the article linked above:  “Every year, from around July 17 to August 24, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of Comet Swift-Tuttle, the parent of the Perseid meteor shower. Debris from this comet litters the comet’s orbit, but we don’t really get into the thick of the comet rubble until after the first week of August. The bits and pieces from Comet Swift-Tuttle slam into the Earth’s upper atmosphere at some 210,000 kilometers (130,000 miles) per hour, lighting up the nighttime with fast-moving Perseid meteors. If our planet happens to pass through an unusually dense clump of meteoroids – comet rubble – we’ll see an elevated number of meteors. We can always hope!”

Stars along the Baker River

Stars along the Baker River

Capturing images of meteors takes some planning, a little luck and dash of persistence. Basically what’s needed is to get out away from city lights and set up your DSLR (use a wide angle lens) on a tripod. use the widest aperture and a 20 to 30 second shutter speed. make sure your focus is on manual and set to infinity. Then you can point towards the Milky Way and start shooting!

Camped under the Milky Way 3

Camped under the Milky Way 3

Of course you can never know when a huge meteor will streak across your screen,  so you just keep shooting, over and over and you will for sure get some sweet shots.

If you live in Washington State and would like some instruction on How to capture the Night Sky images, I am offering Night Sky Photo Tours on August 12th and 15th. We will be heading up into the North Cascades for an (almost) all night Meteor Photo Shoot. Here are all the details.

Looking at the stars

Looking at the stars

Happy Star Trails to you!

Sahale Glacier Camp – 2015

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Last weekend I made the yearly sojourn up to Sahale Camp, in North Cascades National Park. The 6-mile hike in and up was very dry. The winter’s lack of snow fall has jumped the cycle of flowers and melting ahead  a full month.   Link to Buy Prints

Wildflowers on Sahale Arm

Still, there were a few patches of flowers left. Wildflowers on Sahale Arm 2

 

 

 

 

Link to Photo Tours Page.

Clear skies did not lend to much of a sunset panorama,

Camped at Sahale Glacier Camp

Camped at Sahale Glacier Camp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but did present great opportunities for the night sky.

Camped at Sahale Glacier Camp

Sahale Peak at night New link to see all upcoming Photo Classes!

Mount Baker and the Park Butte Lookout

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The Park Butte Lookout is a decommissioned fire lookout from decades past. Perched on a precipice along a ridge on the south side of Mount Baker the lookout commands a wide view of the North Cascades.

Now maintained by the Skagit Alpine Club the lookout is open to the public and if you wish, you can spend th night there.

Which is what I did a few days ago, I hiked up, hoping to get images of the night sky and Milky Way.

But, alas, it was not to be, after sunset the clouds rolled in.

Evening at Park Butte Lookout Mt Baker from Park Butte Lookout 2 Mt Baker from Park Butte Lookout Nooksack Valley from Park Butte Lookout