A week in Olympic National Park

The forecast didn't look good on the Olympic peninsula but as I had nowhere else planned to visit I figured I would take my chances. 

For the first 2 days it was cloudy and rainy which was not great for the coast which was my main reason for coming but gave me time to explore all the beaches and plan what shots I would want to get and at what time of day. I found my perfect sunset spot on Ruby Beach and even though I knew tonights sunset would be rubbish I couldn't take the risk of by not being here. It was rubbish so sadly I will have to come back.  
It was however perfect weather to explore some of the amazing forests they have here now that I knew my coastal locations for when the sun would hopefully rear it's beautiful head. 

Hoh rainforest had a famous Hall of Mosses trail which for a brief period had some sunlight. I find it interesting how I expected to walk through a whole forest like this bit it was actually only a small section that you see in the picture. Still an amazing lace to walk through. 

I was hoping to photograph some of the giant trees they have here but couldn't find a decent shot to take that would show just how big they were. 

On the way out of the forest I was passing one of the densest forests I had ever seen so I went wandering through to get this. Not a place you would want to get lost in as I couldn't see the sky!

The main waterfall of the park, Sol Duc falls was next on my list, but I was more impressed by the small creek along the hike and ended up taking a detour off trail up the stream for this gem. 

And here is Sol Duc falls. 

The great thing about most national parks is that they are so big you can visit so many beautiful places and by completely alone, not one person came to see Madison falls whilst I was here which is rare for a waterfall in a national park. 

On a misty morning of my third day I hiked 3 miles to Shi Shi beach on what was the muddiest trail I had seen yet. 

In the end I gave up trying to avoid it and got incredibly muddy. 

It was certainly worth the trek as the mist created a great atmosphere with the rocks and waves. 

The clouds finally disappeared in the afternoon and so I went to Ruby Beach to get some shots I discovered on my first day here. 
It's a great beach with lots of rocks sticking out of the sand and the thankfully it stayed clear until the evening to get these. 

As it was so clear sunset again was a disappointment, it seems it's either too cloudy or just too clear for any decent colour here. 

I stayed over night nearby the beach so I could get up early and take some shots with the different light. 
I found myself waiting for ages for the water to hit just right.

A small town called Forks was my regular stop near the park and it turns out it was the town from the Twilight books, but no shooting for the movies was done here due to the rainy weather. There were plenty of hotels advertising Twilight themed rooms but  I decided to pass since I wasn't a fan. 

Everytime I drive into the town I would see someone taking their in picture in front of the sign, I don't recall one time I didn't see someone in over 10 passes!

A feature of the park I had yet too see because of the clouds was the Olympic mountains, but sadly I wasn't so impressed by them, most likely because I had just been to the Rockies, and area that's is truly hard to beat. 

At this point I had explored most of the park an it was now a waiting game for my main sunset shot on Ruby beach. I parked up a mile away at a spot that gave me a good view into the distance so I could watch the clouds and take a nap. Foolishly I left the radio on and a camera battery charging which meant when I woke I had a dead car battery. 
Eventually a state cop came by and jump started me but I did miss the first sunset in the meantime, not the greatest sunset but what if it's the only one?! Ahhhhhhh.

The next morning I visited Cape Flattery which is the most north western part of continental USA and a great spot for viewing  wildlife if only I was interested in shooting animals. 

At first the light looked a bit dull but slowly some mist blew in for this shot. 

It was interesting as the mist almost seemed to breath in and out as it would leave and come back every so often. 

On my return the forest I was met by this spectacular view, I have never seen this before and after taking a shot on my Mamiya 645 I rushed back to get my 617 camera as it was too good to miss getting it on film. 

The clouds were looking promising today for getting a great sunset finally after 6 days of waiting. I got it but it wasn't easy, firstly now the tide times had changed meaning my spot from the first day was under water, so I chose a spot a little further back, but slowly as I waited for some colour the tide got higher and by the time sunset was in full swing the water was breaching the top of my waterproof hiking boots. I also managed to drop my light meter which normally wouldn't be a problem but it landed  onto wet sand which clogged all the buttons up so it no longer worked meaning all my remaining film exposures had to be guessed. So I will see if they turn out. 

Luckily I got it on digital as a backup as it would be a huge disappointment to have blown the best sunset of the trip. It made me remember why shooting on beaches can be annoying with changing tides and sand. 

With that in the bag I could head back to Vancouver and I am happy to have a break from driving and shooting, I've seen so much in the last 4 months I'm happy to just do nothing. 

To fix my light meter I had to completely take it apart and clean out the buttons so now it is working again but it made realize how important it is so I quickly bought another from eBay. 

My last day in the Rockies

I woke at 5am ready for sunrise in Mistaya Canyon but unfortunately too many clouds ruined it. I took the shot anyway, but the weather is going to be cloudy all week and I can't hang around for the sun so this is as good as it gets. 

I then went for a major hike up to Eiffel lake near Lake Moraine, 12km with a 1500 foot elevation gain, the first 3km had all the rise and was a killer. 
Lake Eiffel is a nice area with lots of rocks and even had some snow up there at 8000 feet I had to hike through. 

On the way back down the peaks above the lake looked great slowly hiding behind the mist so I had to get a shot. 

Next on my way out of the Rockies I stopped in Yoho National Park, since it was a dull day I didn't have many options for great shots but the sun did come out briefly at the natural bridge.

 

I also hiked down to Wapta falls which would also be great with some afternoon sun. 

If only I had more time to spend in the Rockies and could wait around for the good weather next week as Yoho has some gems I would like to shoot. 

As I made my way back to Vancouver I also passed through 2 more national parks, the first beige Glacier National Park (Canada has one too) and I got this shot on one of the trails. 

And then Mount Revelstoke national park which had a lovely trail through an ancient forest of giant cedars. 

They had a meadow up on the peak I wanted to visit but this was closed as it was still covered with snow so that is as good as it got unfortunately. 

And with that the Rockies were done, its been funny mainly watch all the tourists pose for their usual pictures in the same locations as everyone else, I feel for kids these days now parents can take as many pictures of them as they want so I would see kids stood in one spot posing for minutes at a time. Boy I hope I don't do that in the future!

As I drove west I eventually found great sunny weather again, how I wished I still had that in Yoho, but I am very lucky as apparently until this last week the weather has been terrible with no sun!

Back to Banff National Park

After a nice lie since it was cloudy today so I won't have missed a nice sunrise I headed back towards Banff. 

Along the way I first stopped and had a hike up Beauty Creek, a not very well known hike that I only knew about from a great Rockies book I have. I only saw one person on the trail whereas usually there will be atleast 30 which was nice as it felt like I was seeing something not many have. 

There was a nice waterfall at the top of the creek. 

Next I went on a glacier tour onto athabasca glacier which required a ride on this beast which took us out a few km onto the glacier.

I even drank fresh glacier water up there. 

And of course couldn't leave without one of very few shots of me. 

 I headed back to my epic Rockies sunset spot hoping for some decent clouds, I didn't get any amazing colour but the dark clouds give it a nice moody look and atleast you can see all the mountains into distance. I quite like this shot.

Jasper National Park Day 3

This morning I was completely prepared for sunrise having already seen the perfect light land on this mountain during my failed sunrise shot. 

Passing my planned sunset position for the evening  I noticed it also looked great in the morning sun too so stopped to take a shot. Many of my shots in Jasper have been taken on this river as it's the main one through the park and so has become a feature in my shots with the mountains. 

After exploring north of the park I soon started to feel exhausted as the 5 past days of late sunsets and early rises along with all the exploring had taken their toll. I  decided I should relax for the afternoon and check into a hotel early which also gave me chance to look at the last 3 days of photos and make sure technically everything was great. 

My sunset position was back on the athabasca river which I only took on 617 film. I think it will be a great shot though.

Jasper National Park Day 2

This mornings sunrise was a complete fail. I found what I though was a great spot yesterday and it was a clear day but the light just landed on the mountains all wrong. I did however spot some great light on a mountain in the distance so I will look for a good spot to take this another morning. 

But all was not lost, afterward I passed this pretty lake. 

Walking back to the car I almost stepped on this web. 

I then saw a sign for Athabasca falls, normally I wouldn't waste a clear morning checking out a waterfall as it's very rare the light would be right especially since it was in shadow at sunrise but I figured since I was passing I would have a quick look. Initially it didn't look all that great, but when I walked past again returning to my car the sun had now risen above the mountains to create this magnificent backlight. It took a while to get as my lens would keep getting covered in water spray from the falls. 

The next stop was Tangle falls, an amazing falls that trickled over many ledges down the creek and split into different streams.  

The obvious shot to take was the one above that everyone took of the whole thing but I as usual wanted to do something different so climbed up to get this shot. 

Mt Edith Cavell was a great area you could get right up close to the mountain and even a glacier lake. 

I decided foolishly to take both my cameras which was exhausting as parts if the trail were very steep but it was worth it as sone shots I can only get on the 617 camera. One of them you will have stay tuned to see when I scan it. 

Driving back down from the mountain I took this shot of Mt Edith and the great winding road up to it although it's not steep enough to make it easy to see in the shot. 

On the way to my sunset spot I passed this lively little rock pool. I just love the one plant growing right in the middle. 

My sunset spot was along the athabasca river which turned out quite nicely but I reckon the long exposure version I took on 617 film will be nicer with softer clouds and a smoother river. 

5 minutes after the light had gone another guy cane along to take the same shot where I informed him that he had sadly just missed it. 

Jasper National Park

I set my alarm 30 minutes before sunrise at 5am so I would have some time to quickly explore for the right spot. 

Quickly I came upon the athabasca glacier and surrounding mountains, which unfortunately had no interesting features on the ground so I just took the mountains on their own. As the sun rose I couldn't have asked for better light. 

I could see some mist had settled in the valley a few km away so I then headed there to see what I might find and I certainly wasn't disappointed. I'm wondering how this scene would have looked with those first rays of light. 

I also explored around the athabasca river as the mist flowed though the valley and had never got so many shots around sunrise here in the Rockies. 

I then headed for the famous maligne lake and hike around the area exploring to discover the best spot that so many had taken pictures of was Spirit Island that required a boat to access, something that wouldn't be possible when the light is best after 8pm. So I left to explore elsewhere for a sunset position.
The spot I chose didn't quite work out as the light had faded by the time I was all set up. 

Driving toward my sunrise position 25 minutes after sunset suddenly the sky burst with colour, something I didn't expect so late but was due to some very high almost invisible clouds. I raced along looking for somewhere to stop before the light faded and luckily I just found it. If I only I was in a better position but even then I would have left   already not expecting any colour much more than 10 minutes after sunset.

Banff National Park Day 2

My sunrise position this morning was on the waterfowl lakes, it's tough to plan for these here as you never really know how they will turn out with all the high mountains around, getting the very first rays is tough but if you wait long enough something comes, I'm very happy with this as it also has some dark clouds looming above.  This shot was taken just where a small stream feeds into the lake. 

As I went back to my car those clouds came over and it's started to rain, something that seems to keep happening to me here in the Rockies, I'm just thankful I get my sunrises!

Afterward as I hadn't planned any more shots I just drove around seeing where the light looked best on the nearby mountains and then would look for a feature to go with it.

Crowfoot Glacier didn't have any surrounding features worth adding other that trees so I took this on it's own. 

Herbert Lake was a nice colourful lake that had interesting features within it great for a vertical panoramic. 

Once golden hour was over i headed for breakfast before  a hike to check out chephren Lake, a 3km hike over the worst terrain of tree roots and swampy mud so it felt like it took forever as I tried to avoid getting my feet soaked. I also saw a few bear paw prints in the mud along the way. 

I can't quite decide if I should go back early one morning, I think the terrain would kill me with my heavy kit, normally I can do 3km in 30 minutes but this took over an hour!

Since it was a sunny day I headed back to Lake Moraine to get my shot from yesterday,  I fouls myself waiting around forever as there where too many clouds but eventually I got this. 

My last location of the day was back to my epic valley location, annoyingly I was disappointed  yet again so decided to leave it a few days and try again. 

As the light faded I drove north towards Jasper National Park looking for sunrise spots, I arrived at the park with it being too dark so I parked up and slept for the night near the entrance ready for a 5am wake up.