Fall Reflection

High tide in Olympia, Washington last weekend. We're having a late fall for color change this year; even with all our rain this week, there is still a lot of color on the trees.

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Just Hanging Around

On a rainy day in Washington.

Single Scull

I love stopping in Olympia on a trip up to Seattle.  The rain was just clearing as we pulled in over the weekend, so I made for the water with my camera.  It seems like I usually photograph Percival Landing on the western side of Budd Inlet.  On Saturday we stopped along the eastern side, looking north toward Swantown Marina and a lone rower making his way in.

Gold Creek Pond

We were up in Seattle for a birthday celebration last weekend, which means we got to visit our son at college. He got up with me and Bill well before dawn, and the three of us headed up to Snoqualmie Pass for a sunrise hike around Gold Lake Pond. It was a peaceful time of day for a hike, and we had a lot of fun photographing the mountain and mist reflections. There wasn't a bad angle to photograph, but the prettiest photos happened early in the hike when the mist was the heaviest. I especially liked this photo, because of the rock visible in the crystal clear water.

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River's Edge

Here's my final photo from our hike along the Netarts River outside of Tillamook. It happens to be the first photo I took too. I would have liked to place these rocks differently, but the large rock is half in the water and half on land, so this image is right at the edge of the river, and also at a bend near the trailhead. Not nearly as much movement of the water here. Probably a slightly different mix of trees too (I wish I would have paid more attention to the makeup of the trees!) 

Coastline Dreamscape

Rockaway Beach at low tide during the thickest fog of the morning.
Very dreamy...
In a low contrast sort of way.

Netarts River

Another version of the liquid gold photo from our fall hike along Netarts River last week.  I felt like there was more green than yellow in the trees, so the reflection color was really surprising to me. I compared these images to some from a photo shoot up near Lake Tahoe a few years ago and was surprised by the color difference. Near Lake Tahoe reflecting trees were Aspens, and the reflection color was more of a lemon yellow. I regret not paying more attention to the tree variety along Netarts River, but definitely some evergreen mixed in with big leaf maple which turns a yellow to rusty color, so I guess a gold color must have more green in it.  We're probably still a few weeks away from peak leaf color.

Netarts Bay

Back to the foggy coast for today's photo...salmon fishing in Netarts Bay. When I was hiking along Netarts River I ran into a fisherman catching trout. I should have asked him about the salmon. At some point soon they should enter the river. I imagine myself liking fishing since I'm such a do-it-yourself foodie. The idea of catching your own dinner appeals to me, especially with such high prices for fish at the store. Maybe someday...

Liquid Gold

The road to Tillamook follows the Netarts River down the coastal range. I didn't have to get very far up that road, maybe 15 minutes driving, before I had left the thick fog behind and found myself in a beautiful sunny early fall scene. I could see that the river was reflecting the yellowing big leaf maples so Clover and I made an unplanned stop for a river hike. (Lucky dog! She even went for a little swim!)  After all that thick morning fog, I have to say I felt a little like Dorothy when she arrived in Oz! 

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Bayview Jetty

A slightly foggier scene from my trip to Tillamook, Oregon yesterday.  This jetty just north of Tillamook is connected to a beautiful rock outcropping with some spindly pines growing on it; they reminded me of Monterey.  At the time I didn't see a way down to the beach, and I had trouble photographing them from my angle, but liked the way the jetty was photographing.  It's a good low tide shot, especially with that "beauty mark" rock in the distance. Later, as I was driving home, I noticed that there was a small beach accessible with a little climb, so I'll have to try that out next time...at low tide, of course!

Low Tide

I've missed a few opportunities in the past month for a low tide sunrise photo, but thought conditions would be right for a beach visit this morning.  I started out under a clear sky, following the setting blood moon until I approached the coast; then the moon disappeared behind a thick marine layer.  Sigh.  Still it's always beautiful at the beach, and Clover and I had a great time strolling around here.  I've got several photos to share from this trip; a few from the coast and a few from a sunny river hike just a little ways inland.  One of the things I liked about Rockaway Beach was the ribbon-like tide pools that formed at low tide, so that's why I came back here this morning.  In this photo, the tide had just shifted, and was starting to make its way back up the beach toward the tide pools.

New Direction

Well, I actually wanted to pick up the camera yesterday, which I consider a very good thing.  I'm not really sure why this particular parking lot scene inspired me, but I'm not going to question it too much either.  I've had a couple of day trips in mind to do all month, and hopefully now that I'm feeling a bit more inspired and energetic I'll be up for taking a drive with my camera later this week.  Also, just on a side note, after a long dry summer our rainy season is finally arriving!  I'm sure I"ll be sick of it by March, but right now I'm loving it!!!