To me, Mt. Si has always been that mysterious, imposing mountain over the town of "Twin Peaks" (the greatest TV show ever). On a nice break in the weather, I finally got around to climbing it and experiencing one of the most amazing viewpoints around the Seattle area. If you go, watch out for the birds at the top. They might look nice on camera, but they will steal food right out of your hands.
Read MoreIt may be called Mt. Forgotten, but I don't see why. The amount of biodiversity in the area was amazing. Beginning from rarely seen deciduous forests, passing through the evergreens, and finally ending up at an alpine meadow with a view of Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak was quite a unique experience. As usual, here's 10 from an exhausting, yet very rewarding hike — that really should've been an overnighter.
Read MoreAn interesting contrast between recovering and live forests was found on this ridgeline adventure that featured buffalo along the road.
Read MoreWith the sun setting earlier as fall starts, we found a perfect opportunity to hike up to Tolmie Peak and watch the Mount Rainer sunset. This was my first time using the built in timelapse app on the Sony A7Rii, and I completely blew it. Instead of text, the annoyingly slow app only has iconography for important settings. In this case, I inadvertently filmed a three hour time lapse without saving the raw images. All that I was left with was an auto-exposed 1080p AVI video file — all but useless. The photos, however, were not so bad. Here's 10 of some of my favorite so far:
Read MoreThe dry summer continued into September with smoky skies hovering over the Enchantments. A hike to Colchuck Lake gradually turned more orange as the day went on and the wildfires crept closer. By the time we got back to the trailhead, forest rangers were closing off the trail and telling people to head back in case the fires spread and stranded them.
This photo series shot on 35mm film with the F100
Read MoreYes, the water is really that blue. North Cascades National Park is an amazing place.
Read MoreStarting from the Johnston Ridge Observatory, we hiked down to the valley and through the blast zone of Mt St. Helen's 1980 eruption on our way to Loowit Falls. The ever-changing landscape and volcanic activity gave way to sights unlike any other. 17.5 miles and a few thousand feet of elevation gain made for some very sore bodies at the end of the day.
Read MoreLast week I met up with Sander Rodenhuis who was exploring the United States for the first time, beginning in New York and moving westward over a couple of months. Born and living in The Netherlands, he was certainly amazed at the contrast in cultures, as evidenced by our visiting of a Walmart in Aberdeen and his excitement when seeing a wall of Budweiser branded socks. He purchased a quite a few pairs and a grip of 4th of July beer koozies that proudly displayed a bald eagle, US flag, and the slogan "BEER ME!" (OK — I'll admit I purchased a pair of socks, too.)
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