After shooting the city from Kerry Park I drove to one of the other locations that the Skokomish man had suggested to me. While shooting the city from a bridge, a very nice Chinese man who was out for a walk stopped to visit for a bit. He and I also had a great conversation. It turns out he used to be married to a Cree Indian woman (she passed away a few years ago), and he was familiar with many tribes throughout the country. After visiting for about 15 minutes, he bid me well and continued on his walk. 
Above: The Space Needle. Featuring an observation deck and a rotating restaurant, The Space Needle is 605 feet high and is a major landmark for the city of Seattle. It was built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude. A trip to the top only takes 43 seconds on elevators that travel at a speed of 10 mph.
Above: I like to call this image "The Rat Race". Its a 30 second exposure of traffic flowing through downtown Seattle at rush hour.
Above: One of the Washington State Ferries leaving downtown Seattle.
Above: Our tour boat, the "Lady Mary", operated by Argosy Cruises.
Above: The U.S. flag on the stern of our tour boat made a nice foreground for the Seattle skyline.
Above: The M.V. "Wenatchee"The "Wenatchee" is a Jumbo Mark II Class ferry operated by Washington State Ferries. It is 460 feet long and 90 feet wide with a carrying capacity of 2500 passengers and 202 vehicles.
Above: The Coast Guard icebreaker "Polar Sea" (boat with red hull) and the Coast Guard Cutter "Mellon". From the U.S. Coast Guard website:The "Polar Sea" is based in Seattle but has operated around the globe, including both poles. With a reinforced hull and up to 75,000 horsepower, she can break up to 21 feet of ice. The "Mellon" is a High Endurance Cutter based in Seattle. The Mellon conducts Alaskan fishery patrols, enforcing international and domestic fishing requirements. She was also designed to perform search and rescue, defense and environmental protection missions.
Above and below: Container ships being loaded with cargo
Above: "Crowley" company tugboats
Above: A new ferry being built at the shipyards
One of these years I would like to visit Mount St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in the summer. I've been to Mount St. Helens twice and both times it was in the shoulder seasons, which means it was cold and gray. Its still worth seeing, though. Three years ago when I visited Mount St. Helens the the mountain was steaming a bit... I couldn't tell if it was steaming this time or not, as there was too much wind and too many clouds. It looked like it was, but I can't be sure. 
Above: My trusty Honda Element (now 100,000+ miles and going strong!) with Mount St. Helens in the background.
After visiting Mount St. Helens I decided to drive up and see Mt. Rainier as well, since the two mountains really aren't that far apart. This was my first visit to Rainier, and it sure made me want to go back when the weather is nicer. The first few miles of the park road winds through some very dense forest with some HUGE trees... after those first few miles the terrain starts to open up a little bit and before long you're into some pretty serious snow. Unfortunately the further up the mountain I went, it soon became apparent that I probably wasn't going to be able to see the summit. Sure enough, when I got to the Paradise Visitor Center, the summit was shrouded in fog/haze and blowing snow. Bummer. But, at the same time, that's an excuse to come back for another visit :-)
There was a LOT of snow at the end of the road, and this is only the first week of December! I can't imagine how big these snowbanks will be in another couple of months! The image above shows my car next to a snowbank on the side of the road near the Paradise Visitor Center.
Above and below: A couple of views of the road up to the Paradise Visitor Center.
Above: View of the Columbia River Gorge from Vista HouseBelow: I had to include a picture of this sign, because I thought it was an interesting bit of roadside trivia. I saw this sign just before I crossed into Oregon from Washington. Of course, I couldn't see any of the mountains because it was too hazy.... oh well!
I spent the entire day today hiking and photographing waterfalls within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The Columbia River Gorge is home to no less than 77 waterfalls (according to a sign I read). There are, of course, a few that are more well-known than most of the others. The undisputed most-popular waterfall in the gorge is Multnomah Falls, so of course I had to stop there. Multnomah is a very high two-step falls, the upper falls is 542 feet, the lower falls is 69 feet. There is a gradual 9 foot drop in between the two falls, making for a total drop of 620 feet. It is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon.
After visiting Multnomah, I went to a couple of other waterfalls that had big drops. Pictured below is Latourell Falls, a 249 foot waterfall that drops straight down from an overhanging basalt cliff. The patterns within the rock were fascinating here, as was the green lichen.
The third major waterfall that I visited was Elowah Falls, pictured below. Elowah Falls is a 289 foot waterfall that drops into a beautiful side canyon of the Columbia Gorge. The trail to Elowah Falls is a treat in itself, winding through a dense section of forest riddled with ferns. 
Today I visited Palouse Falls State Park, which is in the southeast corner of Washington state. I find myself drawn to water, whether its a lake, river, ocean or a waterfall. I had heard of Palouse Falls before starting this trip, so naturally I wanted to see it for myself. Its a pretty small state park, but has nice views of the river gorge and the waterfall. Its also definitely the "off season" for visiting the park, as I was there for a couple of hours and had the park entirely to myself the whole time. 
Although its somewhat difficult from the photos to tell just how big this waterfall is, at almost 200 feet tall it is quite a bit taller than Minnesota's highest waterfall, which is High Falls at Grand Portage State Park (120 feet tall). The size is also deceiving because the falls is down at the bottom of what is a rather deep gorge. 
I found the view of the canyon looking downstream to be just as impressive as the view of the falls. In fact, it sort of reminded me of the Grand Canyon, except with grass. The shapes of the canyon walls are reminiscent of the shapes of some areas of the Grand Canyon. If you ever find yourself in southeast Washington, Palouse Falls is definitely worth a visit. 
Yesterday as I was driving across Idaho on Interstate 84 I saw this wind farm coming up on the right side of the road. Then, I looked directly to my right and saw that the moon was coming up just as the sun was going down on my left. I pulled over onto the shoulder and drove along the shoulder until the moon was lined up with the wind turbines, then got out to take this picture. I don't usually stop along the freeway to take pictures, but this one I just couldn't resist.
Well, what can I say.... 18 pictures for one blog entry is waaaaaaaay too many, but I can't help it! Grand Teton National Park and the town of Jackson, Wyoming have quickly become one of my favorite places. I spent two very productive days in the Tetons, with lots of different light and atmospheric conditions. Fog, frost, moonlight, stars and storm clouds all played a part in giving me two very incredible days of shooting. 
After my long drive from Yellowstone down to the Tetons I arrived in the park just in time to catch the last bit of light from the setting sun. 
Above: This image of Mt. Moran at Oxbow Bend was captured about 45 minutes after the sun went down. There was still quite a bit of color left in the sky, and it was already dark enough and the moon was light enough that the mountains were lit up from the rising moon.
After the sun was long gone I spent some time along Jackson Lake making images of Mt. Moran and the Teton Range, then I drove further south along the range to capture the image below of Grand Teton mountain in the moonlight. 
After a long day's drive and a couple of hours in the cold shooting the moonlit mountains, I was really longing for a hot shower and a warm bed so I headed to Jackson to check in to my hotel for the night. But, along the way I drove past the Elk antler arches in Jackson and saw that they were all lit up with christmas lights.... so, my hot shower was put off a little while longer while I made some images of the antler arches :-)
The next morning there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, which made it perfect for watching the light creep down the mountains as the sun rose behind me. To make things even better, there was a fog bank at the base of the mountains!
As the sun rose higher and higher the fog seemed to intensify...
Once the sun was up high enough so that the "warm" light was gone, the fog bank took on a very dark, ominous look....
After a while I drove up to Oxbow Bend and the view of Mt. Moran, then I realized that the fog was being generated by Jackson Lake. Since the lake wasn't frozen, all the warm air rising off the water was meeting with the cold air left over from the night, making for lots and lots of fog. 
Another benefit of the fog was that all the trees and shrubbery had become encased in frost. What a beautiful morning! And, a photographer's dream :-)
Above: This image is one of my favorites so far from this trip. There is a large hillside behind these trees, which was in shadow as the sun was above and behind this hill. The sun being behind the hill made a big dark shadow on this side of the hill, yet the trees and fog were far enough away from the hill that they were backlit from the sun. This is the sort of image that photographers live for!
Above: Mt. Moran, fog, and frosted trees
Driftwood and (perhaps fox?) tracks on the shores of Jackson Lake. Mt. Moran is in the background.
Above: Mt. Moran and Jackson Lake after the fog had lifted.
After the fog lifted I spent part of the afternoon looking for a good spot along the river to shoot the sunset with the mountains in the background. Once I found a spot, I returned there about half an hour before sunset and sat on the river bank waiting for the sun to go down. Once it dipped below the mountains, the sky just lit up with this awesome orange glow. The tallest peak in the background is Grand Teton mountain.
The next morning was a totally different situation from the morning before. No fog, but there were lots of dark, ominous clouds looming over the mountains. Just as the sun broke the horizon behind me, the clouds parted for a few minutes around Grand Teton and the tip of the peak was catching the sunlight. A few minutes later and the clouds were hiding the peak once again. What a great ending to my time in the Tetons! Now I'm going to hit the road once again and make my way towards Washington.
