Fine Art Photography Blog

The first time I took I-90 up to Snoqualmie Pass, I was floored, and I assume most people would say the same.  Luscious green mountains line the freeway, tall and steep, with hanging valleys and individual peaks blocking deeper canyons;  the whole scene reminded me of Montana’s Glacier National Park. Of course, this impression wears off with time, and the area begins to feel “old hat.”

Granite Mountain offers an escape from the routine, to rekindle the feeling that Seattle’s immediate surroundings are in fact montane wonderland.

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An easy hike is a double-edged sword; being in nature isn’t really “getting away” if the trail is as densely populated as New York. Talapus is close enough to Seattle, and easy enough, that the US Forest Service web page warns “This area offers little privacy or seclusion due to overuse.”

Snow changes everything, and, this year, the highlands have no shortage of snow. The only hints of winter are above, on the surrounding peaks. It isn’t until halfway up the mountainside that patches of snow start to appear, at first isolated from one another, then more and more often, until the ground is covered in white. At first it’s shallow enough, but soon it becomes impossible to tell; with nothing exposed to provide a frame of reference, the snow could be inches, feet, or miles deep.

About the point where the trail begins to climb switchbacks up the mountain side, a blanket of snow hides the path completely. This is where most hikers turn back. It’s a difficult climb when the ground is slick and the trail is lost completely. Still, it isn’t long before the hill levels off, forming a plateau which leads to the stream forming waterfalls.

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We’ve been treated to especially disjointed weather lately in the Emerald City. Last Friday saw big snow-flakes falling downtown for several hours in a late March storm more appropriate to Colorado than the ocean-side Pacific Northwest. We’ve enjoyed freakishly benign weather ( “that yellow thing in the sky” ) up until last week, and on clear days, both mountain ranges have sported receding snow lines.

The Cascade Range divides eastern and western Washington / Oregon, and the northern edge of California. To the west is a lush valley, while a vast desert lies to the east. Dividing these eco-systems, the spine of the mountains cuts upward, breaking up the path of the clouds overhead, getting many of them to spill their water earthward.

This divide creates an unpredictable series of micro-climates. A storm can be profoundly violent in one area and open up like an eye in others. Above, wide swatches of blue shine through, while below we see thick fog hugging the mountainside while sleet falls on the trees.

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The mountains that hold up the sky above the Columbia River are beginning the long, sluggish process of donning their winter coats. Mount Hood, true to its image, looks like a gargantuan tepee covered in what could well be permafrost. Other peaks are dusted in white along the tops of their ridges, growing large snowfields for the season, but less stark than Hood’s glaciated peak.

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