Mountain Loop South

I headed north chasing the clouds, starting at the Mountain Loop Highway out of Granite Falls and seeing how far the day would take me. The first shot to catch my eye was a cascade on Twenty Two Creek, near the trailhead to Lake Twenty Two. I'd noticed it before, but never really stopped to photograph it. It turned out to be the best location of the day.



My primary destination was Deer Creek Road, so I could do the easy hike out to Kelcema Lake and see what it was like in the summer. I didn't get to the trailhead until mid-afternoon, and everyone else was on their way out as I hiked in, so I had the entire lake to myself. There were some wildflowers on the drive up, primarily fireweed, but there was nothing to speak of at the lake, and with the overcast skies and no vegetation to shoot, photography was pretty much out. I had lunch with a few mosquitoes and explored the network of footpaths around the lake, then headed back.

My final trek of the day was driving out to the Headlee Pass trailhead so I could investigate the viewpoint there overlooking Morning Star Peak. On the way I found a nice shot in Panther Creek, but my batteries were running low so I only managed a few. The views of Morning Star are promising, but I fear the sun is too far south in the sky this time of year to illuminate the visible faces at sunrise or sunset. I took a few snapshots, but the mountain was barely visible in the clouds.



I'm having some serious issues with battery life in my camera, and it's really starting to affect how many photos I can take in a trip. I suspect it's the battery charger, but it could be the batteries themselves or even the camera. Time to start buying some replacements.