Panorama of Mount Rainier and Tipsoo Lake in late October. Yakima Peak is on the right.
8 exposures stitched, Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM @ 17mm
What a difference a week makes! I shot this panorama of Tipsoo Lake 8 days ago in Mt. Rainier National Park about 90 minutes after sunrise. A bit late in the season for the good fall color (a Ranger told me I missed that by a week only) but still a pretty spot to be. It was cold that morning, probably about 20°F (about -6°C or so) and sunny with a few clouds all weekend. Less than one week later it began to snow. Right now SR 410 (which was right behind me at this spot) at Chinook Pass is closed here due to avalanche danger. It would appear that Paradise has a few feet of snow and more coming fast. Many of the roads are closed, some for the season. I was quite fortunate to be there on the last weekend of fall before all the snow.
I missed the autumn color at Chinook Pass too… I chose to go south to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Indian Heaven Wilderness) and was going to hit Chinook Pass for a couple days on my return north… ‘didn’t make it though and then the next week things came up and I missed out.
Peace
Fall color that I have sought out this year has been hit and miss – mostly miss. Has been a weird year all around for weather and seasonal changes at least this far north. Now that its fully into rain mode the big leaf maples have decided to give a decent color display, but I suspect that won’t last long in this rain.