500th Post

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Andy Porter

January 2009 is when I began this blog.

Time is an illusory creature. 7 years ago seems like yesterday and a different lifetime, all at once.

During that span I have posted stories of hitchhiking, near death experiences and other adventures.

I have posted travel reports and given advice.

But mostly I have posted pictures. Lots of pictures!

Images of the Mountains,

: Sahale Arm

: Sahale Camp

: Enchantments

: Maple Pass

: Sahale Camp

: Sahale Camp

Images of Tulip Fields,

: Skagit Valley Tulips

: Skagit Valley Tulips

Pictures of Ocean,

: Shi Shi Beach

and pictures of Night.

: Night Sky Photo Tour

I hope you have enjoyed looking as much as I have enjoyed sharing.

Thank you all.

I’ll be seeing you soon!

Park Butte Lookout October

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Andy Porter

On Wednesday night I made my way up to the Park Butte Lookout for the 5th time this year.
Each trip is different, unique. Skies and clouds, temperature and wind, sun or rain it is always a fantastical place to spend the night.

This trip was no exception, I went with my friend, Sam and her dog River.

The cool October air is comfortable for climbing up with a big back.

Leaving late we arrived at the lookout as the sun set, had dinner and almost immediately after were out capturing images of the Milky Way, blazing above.

I clambered down below the lookout for a new perspective of the lookout and Milky Way.

The yellow lamp I brought created a perfect yellow-golden light inside.

Finally the excitement ended and we hit the sleeping pads, out on the lookout balcony.

The early morning light was wonderful. I popped up quickly and started my circumnavigations of the lookout, searching for the perfect light.

Here is the link to buy prints

and here is the link for Photo Tour details.

Baker River Trail – Fall Colors

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Andy Porter

The Baker River Trail is at its best in the fall. The cool, clean, crisp air refresh your mind while the bright colors enliven the soul.

: Baker River Trail

The trail is easy to get to, just follow the Baker Lake Road north from Highway 20 to its end (You need a NW Forest Pass to park). The trail starts right there and meanders along the west side of the river. The leaves on the ground create a magic carpet for your feet.

You’ll pass some huge grand trees, actually not just trees but patriarchs of the forest, old wise creatures standing guard over the River.

: Trees along the Baker River Trail

After only a quarter mile there is a suspension bridge spanning the azure waters. Go out on the span for wonderful views downstream as the river bends and the late afternoon light illuminates the colors on the east bank.

Continuing along your path the trail approaches the river at several points where you can easily scramble down 5 or 6 feet of embankment out on to gravel bars affording magnificent views of the wild river. Fall brings salmon to spawn and you can see their bright red bodies darting and splashing.

: Baker River Salmon

But don’t take my word for it, go see for yourself!

If you’d like to go on a Guided Fall Photo Tour, here are all the details!

Sunrise from Winchester Mountain

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Andy Porter

Morning skies in the North Cascades

This image is from Thursday morning Sept. 23, at about 5am. Taken atop Winchester Mountain, along the Mount Baker Highway in the North Cascades. That’s Venus, the bright light on the right.

Exposure: Canon 6D and Rokinon 14mm lens; f/2.8 at 30 seconds

The next Night Sky Photo Tour(s) are scheduled for October 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. If you’d like to come along, here is the link!

Winchester Lookout

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Andy Porter

Twin Lakes Panorama

Last Saturday I made it up (finally!) to Twin Lakes and the 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

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.

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.

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.

Perseid Meteor Shower

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Andy Porter

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

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

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

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

Happy Star Trails to you!

Sahale Glacier Camp – 2015

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Andy Porter

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

Still, there were a few patches of flowers left.

Link to Photo Tours Page.

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

Camped at Sahale Glacier Camp

but did present great opportunities for the night sky.

New link to see all upcoming Photo Classes!

North Cascades Photo Tours and Prints

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Andy Porter

North Cascades Photo Tours and Prints

The North Cascade mountains in Washington State are rugged, lush, stark and colorful all at once.

Lupine and the North Cascades

Abundant rainfall creates fantastic meadows filled with wild flowers while at the same time sculpting the ridges and peaks into serrated knives of stone.

The two main entry ways into the North Cascades are the North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20) and the Mount Baker Highway (Hwy 542)

Mount Shuksan and Picture Lake, along the Mount Baker Highway

While there are a few places, such as Artist Point (located at the end of Hwy 542) and Washington Pass (the highest point along Hwy 20) where you can drive to see the scenery, most of the time a trip here involves hiking.

Liberty Bell from the North Cascades Highway

Along these two byways there are many side roads leading to trail heads that take you up (always up!) into the high country. There are so many trails and choices!

The North Cascades Highway (Hwy 20) is a part of the Cascade Loop Scenic Byway. This is the Best Road Trip Vacation in Washington State!

North Cascades Photo Prints

If you are interested in fantastic, colorful prints of the North Cascades to adorn your home or office here is a link to my North Cascades Gallery. There you can purchase Canvas Wrapped prints (framed prints are available) as well as Fine Art prints.

One of the most popular hikes along Highway 20 is the Lake Ann – Maple Pass Loop. This 7 mile hike visits Lake Ann, cupped amongst peaks snow and flowers and offers spectacular views of the nearby summits.

Wildflowers along the Lake Ann – Maple Pass Trail

North Cascades Photo Tours

This summer I am offering Guided Photo Tours of the North Cascades. We can pick a trail, based on your available time and venture into the mountains for some stunning scenery and photographic opportunities and/or training. Tours are available for both day hikes and overnight trips.

Skyline Divide is a trail reached from Highway 542. This trail leads up and onto a ridge carpeted with lupine, paintbrush and other flowers with grandstand views of Mount Baker, adorned with glaciers.

Mount Baker and Lupine from the Skyline Divide Trail

If you are looking for a guide book that catalogs most all of the North Cascades Trails, I recommend the book “Hiking the North Cascades” by Erik Molvar (Falcon Press). This book provides accurate info about each trail including mileage, elevation gain, and details of flora and fauna.

Another fabulous day hike is the Sauk Mountain Trail.

This trail is an easy(ish) hike up into the high country with smashing views of the Skagit Valley.

If you like a dash of solitude to go along with your mountain scenery then you’ll need to don a backpack and hike at least a day travel from the parking area. Here the crowds disappear and you have the place (mostly) to yourself.

Hiking along Sahale Arm

In the next installment I will describe a few of the most stunning overnight and extended hikes in the North Cascades.

Trail along the North Fork, Bridge Creek

If capturing images of the Night Sky is your thing, check out our Night Sky Photo Tours and the Night Sky Photo Gallery!

Glow of Aurora Borealis

Lake Ann – Maple Pass Loop

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Andy Porter

On July 1 I hiked the Lake Ann – Maple Pass Loop. Usually this trail does not open (due to snow) until late July or even August. But the trail was completely snow free from top to bottom.

I started late to get the evening light. Here are a few images. Oh, and there were a few wildflowers.

If you’d like to go on a North Cascades Photo Tour and get shots like this, here is the place to find out more and sign up!

Lake Ann from Maple Pass

Maple Pass Trail

Stars, Tent and Kids

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Andy Porter

Here is another shot from the other night along the Baker River.

Camped under the Milky Way 3

I had in my mind several images, planning and scheming as we hiked in, having the kids in the tent illuminated with the I-Pad, having them look out of the tent, in awe at the stars.

Here is the i-pad shot. Not too bad! A little overexposed on the face of the kid (Dawson) holding the device.

Then I tried an image with them looking out of the tent. I used the red light function on my head lamp to illuminate their faces and this is what I got:

At first I didn’t even try to edit it, it looked so red.

But later I decided to give it a try. I edited (in photoshop, as a raw file) the foreground, then went back and edited the raw a second time, but edited just the sky.

Then I merged the two and did final editing.

That’s Joe on the left, wrapped in the sleeping bag. And my son, Max is the incredulous one on the right!

Not too bad!

I guess I’ll have to take the kids camping more often!

Looking at the stars

North Western Images – photos by Andy Porter

Images of North Cascades, Skagit Valley, the Milky Way and beyond

Category Archives: Photo Tours

500th Post

Park Butte Lookout October

Baker River Trail – Fall Colors

Sunrise from Winchester Mountain

Winchester Lookout