Downtown Seattle

I recently made a quick trip to Seattle/western Washington.  All of the iconic/popular spots for photography were hit during the trip, including Kerry Park, Rizal Park, and the shoreline of West Seattle.  A waterspout occurred earlier in the day over Pudget Sound, and prompted the weather service office in Seattle to issue a tornado warning, the first in 17 years.  While shooting from Kerry Park, a legit supercell with obvious updraft rotation moved across downtown Seattle.  The storm put on a great lightning display as well.  I tried my best to capture lightning in the background of the skyline, but nature axed that idea.  It was a still a cool experience nonetheless.

Downtown Seattle from Kerry Park.

Thunderstorm over downtown Seattle.  Viewed from Kerry Park.

Downtown Seattle at dusk.  Viewed from Kerry Park.

The moon lighting up Elliott Bay.  Viewed from the shore of West Seattle.

Downtown Seattle viewed from the shore of West Seattle.

Mount McGinnis - Juneau, AK

Tim Steffen, Wes Adkins, Courtney Wendel and her brother Matt, as well as myself hiked Mount McGinnis during early August.  The weather was abnormally sunny and warm, at least for Juneau, which was in complete contrast to the miserably wet, cold, and cloudy conditions I encountered while doing McGinnis a month or so earlier.  The trail starts out flat for the first mile or two as it skirts past the west side of Mendenhall Lake, then begins to gradually climb the slope below McGinnis.  The views become progressively more spectacular as the route wraps around the northeast portion of McGinnis...with the vastness of Mendenhall Glacier in all its crevassed glory laid out a couple thousand feet below the trail.  Some class 2/easy class 3 sections are encountered periodically as the route progresses.  Once above treeline, a series of false summits are surmounted, with the final summit coming in to view during the last half mile/thousand feet of ascent.  The summit is pretty narrow and covered in grass, which was also a new experience for me, given my previous ascent was made when the mountain was covered with snow.  All in all a fun day in the mountains, the upward slog being a bit grueling due to a 20-30 mile bike ride I did the day before, with most of the time being made up during the steep downward descent.

Melting Ice Cave of Mendenhall Glacier

After hearing recent news that the entrance to the popular Mendenhall Glacier ice cave had collapsed, Cleo Lagunas and myself decided to go check it out in person.  The remnants of the collapse were scattered at the entrance, though obviously smaller in size due to a weeks worth of melting.  Even more interesting though was a noticeable thinning of the ice cave roof.  We walked to the end of the cave were a moulin was located, which was also the location of significant sub-glacial melt water flowing from some distant source through an exit in the cave.  The diameter of this feature had expanded significantly since I had last visited the cave over the winter...no big surprise.  But the entrance of the cave is also shrinking...the end result being a reduction in the length of the cave.  This, combined with the thinning roof adds up to an ice cave that doesn't have long to live.  I'm estimating it will be gone within a few more years.  After exploring the ice cave, we hiked up along side the glacier on a lateral moraine until we encountered a tower of glacial ice slowly flowing downhill from the upper glacier.  We looked back from where we came from and viewed a vast area of thinning glacier that is apparently not being replenished by new ice.  Sadly this part of the glacier will likely melt away during the years to come.

Recently collapsed entrance to the Mendenhall Glacier ice cave.

Sub-glacial melt water finding an exit through the ice cave.

Beneath the cascade of ice exiting the upper glacier.

View of the thinning glacier.  This area doesn't appear to be replenished by new glacial ice, and thus will likely melt away during the near future.

Granite Creek Trail - Juneau, AK

I hiked the Granite Creek Trail via Perseverance Trail on July 10th.  I would argue that this trek is one of the top ten alpine hikes in the United States.  After departing Perseverance Trail, the Granite Creek Trail meanders through thick brush, and then emerges out of the thicket next to a cascading waterfall.  Continuing on past this first waterfall, the trail skirts past a ravine that shows clear signs of avalanche scars.  After this section, a large glacially carved basin blanket with grass and flowers comes into view, with snow fed streams crisscrossing the valley.  After another mile of hiking, the trail begins to steeply ascend up a series of moraines.  Signs of past glaciation become more and more obvious as you hike past several cirques.  The trail apparently ascends to the top of a ridge located a couple thousand feet above the basin.  I didn't get a chance to reach the ridge, but without a doubt will be back to finish the trail in the future.

Upper Antelope Canyon - Page, AZ

Upper Antelope Canyon sits a couple of miles upstream of it's lower counterpart, and five miles or so southeast of Page, AZ.  You must purchase an advanced reservation in order to tour this canyon...I once again went with the more expensive photography tour, with the primary advantage coming in the form of a guide who will work to keep people out of your pictures.  This canyon is very crowded, especially during midday when light shafts penetrate from the rim of the canyon to the sandy bottom.  I took a couple of decent pictures during the tour, but the overall experience would have been better without the constant jostling with all of the other people jammed into the narrow canyon.

Gastineau Peak and Mount Roberts - Juneau, AK

After four failed attempts to summit Mount Roberts during the winter, I finally found success during the summer on June 18th.  Won't go over the boring details of ascending up past the tram station and then a broad ridge leading to the Roberts summit plateau.  Instead, the highlight of this experience was the knife edge ridge that was covered in cornices leading up to Gastineau Peak.  The exposure was exhilarating at times, but not frightful.  The only concern I had was breaking through the corniced ridge...I delicately worked my way past these areas without incident.  I was greeted to partially clearing skies as I arrived at the summit...as always the views can't be beat.  I then retraced my steps along the ridge, and then hiked over to the highest point of Mount Roberts.  After doing the knife edge ridge, the summit experience on Roberts was anticlimactic to say the least, given this mountain is pretty featureless with little fear factor.

Lower Antelope Canyon - Page, AZ

I recently had the opportunity to walk through both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon's during late May.  Both canyon's are unique, the lower being slightly less crowded, and displaying more intricate and colorful structures in its sandstone walls.  And unlike the upper canyon, you can pull up to the entrance of the lower canyon and schedule an immediate tour.  I choose the slightly more expensive photographer's tour, the main benefit being that your guide directs traffic inside the canyon, which allows you to take pictures without people walking into your shot.  My Navajo guide was awesome...he worked hard to give me and my fellow tour-mates the best possible pictures, made suggestions on where to position our cameras, and gave friendly conversation during the 2 hours we were together.  All in all a great experience.  If you come to Page, AZ to visit the upper canyon, the experience won't be complete without a visit to the equally beautiful lower canyon.