Trip to St. Petersburg, Russia

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I recently visited Russia. More specifically, I visited Saint Petersburg and Novgorod.

The reasons for the trip were many, my wife, Svetlana is from Novgorod and goes every summer with our son, Max, to visit her parents. This year happened to provide the World Cup Soccer spectacle in Russia, and so we entered a lottery, (never expecting to win) for a semi-final match, on July 10th, (which is Max’s birthday), and we won!

France vs. Belgium, Semi-final, July 10th @ Saint Petersburg Stadium

Winning in this sense meant that we were now allowed to purchase the tickets for the game!

And so we received our tickets and booked the flights to St Pete.

My brief stay in the city took us to several wonderful spots where I managed a few images. Here are two random shots from the streets.

One of the places we visited was St Isaac’s Cathedral. Here is the info on the place from Wikipedia.

Saint Isaac’s Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Russian: Исаа́киевский Собо́р) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral (sobor) in the city. It is the largest orthodox basilica and the fourth largest (by the volume under the cupola) cathedral in the world.[5] It is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint.

And here are some of my images. You can tour inside, AND navigate the stairs to the roof as well!

Next we visited the Peterhof Palace. Again, info from Wikipedia here.

The Peterhof Palace (Russian: Петерго́ф, IPA: [pʲɪtʲɪrˈɡof],[1] German for Peter’s Court)[2] is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the “Russian Versailles“.

And a few images from our self guided tour!

That’s it for now, stay tuned for the next installment, Veliky Novgorod!

Night Sky Images at Winchester Lookout

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The Winchester Mountain Fire Lookout is located in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, along the Mount Baker Highway. This is one of the few remaining lookouts in Washington. Most of them were removed, but several are now maintained by local alpine clubs. The Mt Baker Club does a fantastic job of caring for and maintaining the Winchester lookout, you can donate to their efforts here.

During the summer the lookout is open to the public, you can day hike up and spend the day there, or if you’re inclined, you can spend the night. There are no reservations, its first come, you got it for the night. If you hike up and the lookout of already claimed for the night there is plenty of flat space nearby where you can pitch a tent.

I have hiked up and spent the night atop Winchester Mountain 5 times, three of those trips I slept in the lookout, and 2 times I camped in my tent. Basically, if you want to sleep in the lookout, go on the weekdays and go very early. And bring a tent or a bivvy sack just in case! Oh yes, and bring all your water, there is none there, nor along the hike.

The view from the lookout is unbelievable.

As you can imagine the night sky views are fantastic. To the south and east the darkness is almost complete. The western horizon is aglow in the direction of Vancouver to the north, Bellingham to the west and Skagit Valley south.

These 4 images were taken during the same evening. Check out the green aurora glow!

During the same night, a view of Mount Larrabee from Winchester.

Here is one more for good measure. Good luck and happy shooting! I may see yo there.

If you’re interested, Night Sky Photo Tours are available, you can find out more here. 

Silesia Camp and Copper Ridge, North Cascades National Park

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The North Cascades National Park turns 50 this year! Learn more about its history here.

This is the 4th post in a series highlighting spectacular places in the North Cascades National Park. You can access earlier posts here.

Silesia Camp is located along Copper Ridge in the northern section of the North Cascades National Park.

You can hike there in one day, access is from the Hannegan Pass trail head. You must have a permit to camp there. Details here.

There are few camp sites with a better view then Silesia Camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diablo Lake Overlook, North Cascades National Park

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The Diablo Lake Overlook is located on Highway 20 (North Cascades Highway) at mile marker 132 and is a part of the Cascade Loop .

From the intersection of Highway 20 and Interstate 5, its about 90 minutes drive to get there. The overlook is just east of Colonial Creek Campground. Open to traffic year round, its a wonderful place for sunsets.

Diablo Overlook Panorama

Night sky imaging is also wonderful at the overlook, the lake below and Colonial Peak above make for some stunning shots.

Diablo Overlook

Night 4

Cascade Loop

Stars at the Diablo Overlook, North Cascades National Park

Lake Chelan

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Lake Chelan in eastern Washington is a wonderfully friendly and scenic space. At the south end of the lake sits the resort town of Chelan. Here are a few images of sunset from the hills above Chelan, from last weekend.

The local area is filled with orchards and wineries, spring is a wonderful time for a visit. Chelan is part of the Cascade Loop, so you can get all sorts of info for your trip at the Cascade Loop page.

Cashmere, Washington

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Just back from a Cascade Loop Road Trip to Cashmere.

Located on the Cascade Loop along Highway 2, Cashmere is about 20 minutes east of Leavenworth and about the same distance down to Wenatchee.

I stayed the night at the Cascade Valley Inn. The images speak for themselves!

Panorama from Cascade Valley Inn, April 2018

Spring is very pleasant here, my visit to Cashmere was wonderful!

Here are a few more images from around town.

No trip to Cashmere is complete without a visit to Aplets and Cotlets! I arrived just in time for the tour!

Washington Pass Overlook, North Cascades Highway

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The Washington Pass Overlook, North Cascades Highway is one of those places I most always stop when I drive along the North Cascades Highway.

Most Overlooks are a one time deal, once you’ve seen it, no need to go back!

Um…. not the case here.

The Washington Pass Overlook is one of the most scenic spots along the entire Cascade Loop Scenic Highway. Crossing the North Cascades at Washington Pass and Stevens Pass, the Cascade Loop is one of the most scenic highways in the Lower 48!

The Washington Pass Overlook, North Cascades Highway is in the Okanagon National Forest, and maintained out of the office down in Winthrop. The Overlook is well marked, and the parking area is about 1/4 mile off the highway. There is ample parking, several rest rooms and some lights. There is a 200 yard paved path to the overlook, and lots of railings preventing a plunge.

Night sky imaging, where you capture images of the Milky Way, only works well where you can escape the ambient lights from what passes for our civilization. Here are a few images from my many night time visits! This is one of the locations for the Drive-In Night Sky North Cascades Photo Tours.

The North Cascades Highway closes each winter, usually in November and opens near the end of May. I am always excited for its reopening each spring and eager to visit again.

Spring Trip to the Olympic Coast

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Spring Break arrived and we headed west. For us that means a ferry ride and drive along Highway 101, through Olympic National Park, one of the greenest places on earth. We stopped to see Sol Duc Falls along the way.

And after checking into our B&B we headed to Ruby Beach for sunset.

The next morning was rainy, but the skies cleared in the afternoon for a hike along Rialto Beach.

That night we stayed in La Push and enjoyed crazy skies and a lot of hail!

Port Townsend is always a treat for more eye candy.

For information on Photo Tours, Classes and Order Prints its all right here!

Mount Rainier

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Mount Rainier National Park surrounds the entire mountain, but the thing is just so bloody big that you don’t have to be in the park for the mountain to fill the frame. These images were all taken quite a distance away, across White Pass and deep into the Goat Rocks Wilderness.

We entered the wilderness at Snow Grass Flats, hiked up to an intersection with the Pacific Crest Trail, and hiked north to the highest point along the PCT in Washington, a place called the Knifes Edge.

Prints are for sale here.

Photo Tour info is available here.

North Cascades National Park

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Mount Logan, North Cascades National Park

In the last entry we explored the Northern Unit of the North Cascades National Park.

The Southern Unit of the North Cascades National Park is much more accessible than its northern sister. Lake Chelan created a natural route deep into the eastern flank of the North Cascades, a relatively short trek over Cascade Pass crosses into the western zone. This route was used by Native Americans, the village of Stehekin at the north end of Lake Chelan translates to “the way through”.

Once Cascade Pass was considered a possible route for what is now the North Cascades Highway but thankfully now is only reached on foot via a 3.7mile hike.

This is probably the most popular hike in the summer, a day hike to Cascade Pass and maybe up and onto Sahale Arm.  Late July the wildflowers explode and it’s really a Sound of Music experience…

North Cascades National Park info on trails and permits.

Sahale Glacier Camp is my favorite camp site on Washington. I have stayed the night maybe 15 times.

The North Cascades National Park turns 50 this year! In October, 1968 the park was officially established. Lauren Danner has recently written a wonderful book “Crown Jewel Wilderness: Creating North Cascades National Park” that chronicles the efforts of many to protect the North Cascades.

From Cascade Pass the trail continues east, dropping through Pelton Basin, and then down the Doubtful Creek drainage. The trail bisects the creek in a wonderful spot on the way down…

Before you reach Basin Creek there is a spur trail heading around the shoulder of Sahale Peak and up to Horseshoe Basin. This is NOT a trail to pass up. It’s a short way up into the basin, a wide semicircle of granite teeth sit in a bed of ice, glistening. Impossibly green swards of meadow slash below and bright blue gleams above… you get the idea.

The upper basin is the home of the Black Warrior Mine. A going concern as recently as the 1950’s, the opening to the mine is carved into the headwall of the valley, several rooms are accessible, littered with the detritus of past inhabitants. A road once led from the mine entrance to Cottonwood Camp, and Stehekin, but little by little nature has won back. As recently as 2003 there was a tour bus that ran a daily route from Stehekin to Cottonwood Camp, barely 11 miles from Cascade Pass!

The American Alps Legacy Project is a coalition working to protect more than 237,000 acres of pristine wild country, from Baker Lake to Washington Pass. Their proposal is to expand the North Cascades National Park. You can learn more here.

In the next post we’ll visit Stehekin, Park Creek Pass and the North Fork of Bridge Creek.

Fine Art and Canvas Prints of these and more images here.

Information about North Cascades Photo Tours here.  

Buckner Mountain from Park Creek Trail

 

These are just a few of the many spectacular hikes in the park. Your opportunities for adventure are endless.

I am planning trips to both Whatcom Pass and Park Creek Pass this summer, to celebrate the 50th Birthday of the Park.

Hope to see you out on the trail.