Subalpine firs filter fog atop Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, Washington
I missed Friday Foto Talk, out camping. The conclusion to my series on tripods will post this coming Friday. In the meantime, here’s an image from a great time I had last week in Olympic National Park. It was taken hand-held, no tripod.
An unusual display of fog and weather greeted me when I arrived on top of Hurricane Ridge on Washington’s northern Olympic Peninsula. It had rained the previous couple days, though not hard, and a transition to drier weather was taking place. The fog and low clouds that had formed over the coast of the Strait of Juan de Fuca started rising and dissipating as the air cooled toward sunset.
The stately subalpine firs that dominate the forest near tree-line on Hurricane Ridge not only were filtering the fog as it rose up the steep slopes, they seemed to be adding their own moisture (via transpiration) to the mix too. The result was really beautiful as viewed through the low rays of the sun to the west.
As I hiked to the top of Hurricane Hill, the quick-moving fog several times enveloped me, causing me to stop and look around in wonder at the dreamy atmosphere. I’ll post some more shots in a future post. I was distracted so many times I barely made it to the top for sunset. It was a memorable evening.
We traveled to Hurricane Ridge today Mike but decided to move on as the visibility was next to zero. We will be heading back that way in a couple of days and are hoping for better views. Love this shot!
It changes so quick up on that ridge. I’ve had a lot of great light up there, so it’s definitely worth returning to LuAnn!
We are definitely going back. 🙂
Outstandng!
Thanks “Livingston Kid”!
The distractions like this are such wonderful surprises.
Yes they are Lyle!
Gosh, that’s stunning! Well captured – it feels, indeed, dreamy 🙂
Thanks a bunch Indah, it was a little disorienting but so nice!
Cool photo. Hmm Something I would like to understand better is blur. How to use blur to my advantage in a photo. I understand depth of field but I think a lot can be done with it. I love the Olympics.
Thanks Annette. Blur is easiest to do when things are moving quickly in the environment, as this fog was doing.