artist point

Road to Artist Point at Mount Baker

The Mount Baker Highway (SR 542) winds towards Artist Point in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington State, USA

road to artist point in the north cascades

The road to Artist Point

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   Having finished photographing the Heather Meadows area back in early October, I headed up the Mount Baker Highway to Artist Point. These three photographs were made from Artist Point, but show the highway (SR 542) on the way up between Heather Meadows and Artist Point.

parking spot near artist point under table mountain north cascades

A scenic parking spot in the North Cascades

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   I photographed this small car in this way to not only include some of the late evening light on the rocks above (the lower part of Table Mountain) but also to make it look a bit like a car in the middle of nowhere. The photograph below shows the scene in a bit more context. I think someone had pulled out into that spot for a nap, even when I left after dark they were still in there with the back hatch open.

scenic parking spot near artist point in the north cascades

Scenic parking spot near Artist Point

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You can view more of my photography from the North Cascades in my North Cascades Gallery.

Sooty Grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus)

A Sooty Grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus) walking warily near the trail to Table Mountain in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State, USA

sooty grouse dendragapus fuliginosus)

Sooty Grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus) (Purchase)

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   Last week I made the trip up to the Mount Baker Ski area and Artist Point at the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State, USA. First I made the obligatory stop at the iconic Picture Lake (more on that soon) to eat my soup, then I photographed some of the fall colours in the Mountain Ash and Blueberry bushes in the Heather Meadows area. After arriving at Artist Point I photographed this Sooty Grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus) on the trail to Table Mountain. As with most of my wildlife photography, this was an opportunity I happened upon rather than directly seeking it out. Wildlife was not on my mind but there were 3 of these Grouse foraging near the trail. Well camouflaged, I didn’t even see them until one of them flew out of my way from the edge of the trail. I switched lenses and got ahead of their direction of travel, and they walked right past me. There are a lot of visitors here, so they are likely used to people, but it is still always better to let wildlife approach your position than the other way around.

You can view more of my wildlife photography in my image archive’s Animals & Wildlife Gallery.

The Border Peaks (And Google+)

canadian border peak and american border peak
The Border Peaks
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   This is a photo I made back in 2010 of Canadian Border Peak and American Border Peak (with Yellow Aster Butte in the foreground) from Kulshan Ridge in the Mount Baker Wilderness. On Sunday I was going through some of my older photo files and decided this composition deserved some reprocessing so I could post it on for “Mountain Monday”.

   Google+ launched back in June 2011 (in September to the general public) and has been a big success. The photography community has been especially taken with it – and it is now my main social network for photography related pursuits. I am still active on Twitter and my Facebook Page but Google+ is where most of the action takes place. Every Monday I curate a theme called “Mountain Monday” where many photographers post their mountain photos and “tag” their post with a #mountainmonday tag. At the end of the day I post a selection of these images. Every week there is a substantial amount of fantastic photography.

   If you have mountain photos you would like to share – Mondays on G+ are a great time and place to do so. If you are not yet on Google+ you can read my earlier blog post about Google+ and photography back in September 2010.

Huntoon Point & Mount Shuksan

A few “leftovers” from my trip to Mt. Baker back in October. I like these shots but never found the will to make dedicated posts about them. So here they are.

First I have always liked the angle of the Hwy 20 near Artist Point from this vantage point. The short hike to Huntoon Point from Artist Point has a few small tarns but I think this was a bit late in the year to have them full and capable of reflecting more of Mount Shuksan.

mount shuksan above sr 542 mt shuksan reflected in a tarn near artist point

mt shuksan reflected in a tarn near artist point canadian and american border peaks and mt larabee

Canadian Border Peak, American Border Peak, and Mt. Larrabee from Artist Point (above).

Finally, Mount Shuksan reflected in Picture Lake.

mt. shuksan reflected in picture lake

Cascade Range Peaks from Artist Point

10 exposures stitched, Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM @ 35mm

Click for larger version…
mountains to the north of artist ooint

  For the past few years I find myself wishing that I’d spent more time in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest photographing the peaks in the Cascade Range. The classic/cliche Picture Lake is awesome and can yield interesting photographic moments almost every time but the wide range of possibilities from up at Artist Point make it more appealing to me. The trouble is the road remains snow covered until sometime in July (this year it opened on the 30th of July – a bit late). As the road closes with the first major snowfall, this year in late October – this isn’t a lot of time to enjoy it. I live only an hour away just north of the border in Canada but always seem to get caught doing other things. At this time of year I know I will be waiting at least 7 months until I can get back to Artist Point. Editing images like this always give me ideas as to what I want to do next time I am there… but so long to wait!

This panorama is from Artist Point looking north into the Cascade Range peaks north west of Mt. Shuksan. The peaks are (from left to right): Mt. Herman (foreground), Tomyhoi Peak, Canadian Border Peak, American Border Peak, Mt. Larrabee, Winchester Mountain, Goat Mountain, Goat Mountain East Peak, and Mt. Sefrit.

If only the last light of the day lasted longer!