Mountain Heather, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington Cascades

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread.” — Edward Abbey
Bristlecone Pine Reaching for the Stars

“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, Yellowstone National Park

“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” — Jim Watkins
Alpine Stream, Cascade Mountains

“Coming near the edge of the snowfield I find running water close to the surface, visible among the rocks. I stop to drink. The water is bitterly, brilliantly cold with particles of glacier silt — utterly delicious.” — Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
Shiprock, New Mexico

“Leave it as it is. You cannot improve upon it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.” — Theodore Roosevelt
16 Images That Show Why I’m Proud to Live in the Pacific Northwest

It’s pretty hard to beat the Pacific Northwest as a place to hang your rain hat. This post illustrates some of the things I love about home in the PNW, which I originally wrote for the Matador Network. It all starts with the forces that form this land. As the Pacific plate slowly slides down […]
Even More Boulder River

My wife and I enjoyed the Boulder River Trail so much last weekend, that we decided to hiked it with friends again this weekend.
Boulder River Waterfalls

The Boulder River Trail is a spring classic in my book. When the high country is packed with snow and I want a quick spring photo trip on a cloudy day, it’s the Boulder River that I turn to for its waterfalls, mossy boulders, canyon walls, old-growth forest and wildflowers. This natural beauty is protected […]
“Autumn Leaves in Duck Brook” Featured by PrintedArt

The curators at PrintedArt.com have kicked off 2013 with a blog post on the moods of water, featuring my image “Autumn Leaves in Duck Brook.” I discovered this little stream-side scene while biking the carriage roads on a fall morning in Maine’s Acadia National Park. To me, the image is about the passage of time flowing […]
Camera Bags Part 3: Lowepro Photo Trekker AW for Nature Photography

The Lowepro Photo Trekker AW is my bag of choice for “serious” nature photography, when I want to be ready for anything with a lot of gear. I also have Lowepro’s largest back pack camera bag, the Super Trekker AW, but that bag is actually larger than I really need. The Photo Trekker AW is […]
Mount Rainier Showing It’s Autumn Colors

Mount Rainier was displaying it’s fall color this last weekend, as seen in this image from near Chinook Pass. Here are a few more images with Tipsoo Lake.
Glacier Peak – Washington Cascade Mountains

While the original 4-day plan was to backpack to Buck Creek Pass, climb Buck Mountain and then traverse the Massie Lake High Route, I had to settle for just Buck Creek Pass due to boot problems. The sole of my left boot came off 10 miles from the trailhead, making extensive off-trail travel and scrambling […]
Peak Wildflower Bloom at Mount Rainier National Park

August 27, 2012 A heavy snow pack and beautiful summer weather have conspired to produce a stellar wildflower bloom in the subalpine meadows of Mount Rainier National Park. I found the meadows in peak bloom this weekend in the Paradise and Mazama Ridge areas, with lupine, paintbrush, bistort, aster, arnica, sitka valerian and more all […]
Rialto Beach

Images of sea stack, sea stars, surf and sunsets on Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington Coast. Rialto Beach offers stunning shoreline scenery, rich intertidal life and makes for a great family backpacking adventure.
Southeast Alaska Day 19 – Wow! Tracy Arm!

July 17, 2012 Imagine a 30+ mile long Yosemite Valley flooded with 600 feet of water with 6000 foot peaks rising straight up out of the water. Imagine more Yosemite Valleys breaking out along the length of this first one, each with 8000 foot peaks rising above the valley floor. Imagine all this Yosemite […]
Southeast Alaska Day 16 – Mendenhall Glacier Evening Walk

July 14, 2012 We are back in Juneau on a late afternoon flight from Glacier Bay National Park. After dinner, groceries and settling in at the Beach House B&B, I take a late evening stroll out to photograph Nugget Falls at bits of icebergs (AKA “berg-bits”) on Mendenhall Glacier. I got some nice shots of […]
Southeast Alaska Day 15 – Wildlife of Glacier Bay

July 13, 2012 Today we toured Glacier Bay on the catamaran operated by Glacier Bay Lodge & Tours. Though it was cold and drippy, and Friday the thirteenth, luck was with us from a wildlife point of view. The tour ran all the way up Glacier Bay to the head of Tarr Inlet, where the […]
Southeast Alaska Day 13 – Whales in Frederick Sound

July 11, 2012 The day was spent on the eight-hour ferry sailing between Petersburg and Juneau, Alaska. The route included Frederick Sound and Stephens Passage, both key summer grounds for humpback whales migrating back and forth between Southeast Alaska and Hawaii. And sure enough, we saw over a dozen humpbacks scattered about in both bodies […]
Southeast Alaska Day 9 – Anan Creek Bears

July 7, 2012 It rained nearly the whole day, but I hardly noticed. We were surrounded by bears, both black and brown, and somehow rain just wasn’t relevant. Breakaway Adventures packed 12 of us into their landing craft style boat The Motivator for the one hour trip around the east side of Wrangell Island to […]
On Location: Columbia River Gorge!

Updated April 29, 2012 Follow along on a photo journey through the Columbia River Gorge. View Columbia River Gorge – April 2012 in a larger map Follow along on a photographic journey through the Columbia River Gorge as we hike to plummeting waterfalls along the Gorge’s “wet side” near Portland, Oregon, as well as tour […]
Columbia River Gorge – Day 4 – Waterfalls!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Finally, a day of sweet spring rain … exactly what I came down to the Gorge for. Time to photograph the waterfalls, creeks and forest wildflowers along the “wet side” of the Columbia River Gorge near Portland, Oregon. The photo above is Wahkeena Falls, a short hike up from the Historic […]
Dawn Over Mount Index

Star trails over snowy Mount Index, Washington Cascade Mountains It’s 5:00am and pitch black when I leave the trailhead for Heybrook Lookout Trail. A screech owl is yammering away as I leave the car and begin the ascent into the creepy darkness. 30 minutes and 1.3 miles later, I’ve climbed 850 feet and arrive at […]
Boulder River

An unnamed waterfall plunges into the Boulder River, Boulder River Wilderness, Washington State I’ve been catching up on my photo processing, working through a few unprocessed photo shoots from last year. Here is a selection of photos from a June hike up the Boulder River Trail, in Washington State’s central Cascade Mountains.The Boulder River cuts […]