Brief Visit to Ecola and Hug Point

The first part of the afternoon was spent exploring Indian Beach at Ecola State Park with my step daughter Nadia and her partner Mike, including a hidden waterfall and an hike/overview of the steep and beautifully forested Tillamook Head.

With an incoming tide, Hug Point was the next destination. It rained most of the day, but cleared as evening approached. Unlike the many beach lovers in summer, it was serene, lovely and the falls had plenty of water.

 Especially this time of year, one has to be very careful of wave surge, particularly north of the falls. This is the first place to be inundated with waves. It was quite disconcerting, especially alone. 

Water moving in over the rocks, and my boots. 13 sec. exposure.

  
The top of falls is thoroughly safe, from the waves at least. A special place, with many places for the imagination to roam.

Heading south now after sunset, a parting shot of this lovely area.

 There are a number of small headlands between Hug Point Beach and Arch Cape. Beautiful confluences of basalt and sandstone is found here.

Second Beach Light

The rain and clouds of autumn on the Olympic Peninsula make it a guessing game when to go out and attempt to capture the beauty of the coast between storm fronts. At our cabin at Lake Crescent, there is no internet access, so those fronts are even more elusive. Weather can also vary quite a bit location to location, and change in a matter of an hour.

The main players at Second Beach are the sea stacks, from large tree covered mini islands to just the bare rock towers, and the very long slope of beach. At very low tides, you can walk nearly a 1/4 mile from shore. Sunset is most dramatic. At this time of year, one can be quite alone here.

The north end of the beach, with it's famous sea stack, is a beautiful and active area. Luck was with me, for after searching for sea otters earlier this year, two appeared in this channel. I was away from my camera, and they disappeared in minutes after spotting me. The last photo was taken just before leaving.

 Last Light

 Afterglow and Cirrus Monster

Fading light on the beach

Rain=Waterfalls

Although it's been very busy this week with projects, getting out of town, even when it's drippy, is needed therapy. Even an hour in a beautiful location that you love can be rejuvenating.

One of those places is the lovely Elowah Falls. It's off the beaten path a bit, and a very nice hike is well rewarded. One interesting perspective to return to again and again is to drop down to McCord Creek and place it in the foreground.

22mm, 8 sec. exposure, f/11, Nikon D800e, Nikon 16-35mm f/4

Here in the Northwest, breaks in our weather can be difficult to time, especially with our busy schedules, but rewards can be found.

In Search of the Elusive Sea Otter

Although rarely seen, there are sea otters on the Washington coast. I have seen them in the past, but haven't spent dedicated time to find them. One goal of this one day hike north of Rialto Beach (near La Push) was to see if any sea otters were floating merrily in the kelp. It was more an exploratory hike than a photo shoot. No tripod along.

We headed out to Johnson Point during a low tide. Once you are north of the popular Hole in the Wall, the true, rugged nature of the Washington coast becomes apparent. Rocks, kelp, and boulders are more the norm than beaches.

 Pelicans Resting and Prining 

Johnson Point is about 3 miles from the parking lot, but the terrain makes for slow going. Some areas had beautiful boulder fields or eroded sandstone. 

 Beautiful Anemone surrounded by pink

Upon reaching the bay, the only mammals in sight were a large group of seals resting on the rocks offshore. With the advent of the returning tide and nightfall, we headed back. Kayaking may be the best way to see this area, but it requires certain special conditions, namely calmer seas and low wind. We had those conditions on this day, but not the kayaks!

One added bonus was the atmospheric conditions at sunset. Due to distant but numerous fires inland, and an offshore breeze, the sunset was especially unusual and beautiful.

First Time in Hawai'i

After living on the Northwest coast of the US for nearly 40 years, I finally was able to go even further west than Cape Flattery. So in mid-June, we headed across the Pacific. Having never really spent much time in a tropical climate, it was a first in many ways.

Something totally new for me was taking photographs underwater. I purchased a small Canon SX230 and an underwater diving case for it instead of taking "the plunge" for a case for my Nikon.

Not 12 hours after our arrival, my sister and I went on a "see the dolphins in the water" tour not far from our hotel on the west coast of O'ahu in Poka'i Bay, Waianae. Spinner Dolphins are a delight to see. The weather was a bit stormy, which added to the drama. Some dolphins were doing their wonderful acrobatics and I wished I had packed my more capable SLR along for those shots from the boat.

Storm and waves off Waianae, O'ahu from the surface

So, after lathering up with sunscreen, we jumped in the water. I had all new gear: mask, snorkel, fins, camera, case. In the waves and wind, jumping off the boat, it was a initially a bit overwhelming. Hadn't had a diving mask or snorkel on in any real way in 12 years. It was wavy, stormy, beautiful. Just what I like! I settled down into just the love in being there. It was truly a wow.

 After awhile, the weather cleared, and we were greeted with sun and some fleeting glimpses of the dolphins near the bottom in beautiful cobalt blue water.

 The lovely Spinner Dolphins in the depths

One could also view the dolphins from above, as these Japanese tourists. They even had their own flag flying. I was delighted to be in this fabulous water, surrounded by wildlife below. I was reminded of the ovoid patterns in the water found in the art of Northwest First Nations peoples. An interesting juxtaposition of thought for a moment.

Tour boat looking for Dolphins

Next stop was off Makaha Beach and the Hawaiian Green Turtles having their bodies cleaned by the fish. It was also pretty deep water here at this reef, but there were quite a few turtles and lovely fish.

A turtle being in need of a the fish "carwash"

 Beautiful markings on their shell

Photographically, it was quite a fast immersion, both figuratively and literally! I did wish I could have shot in RAW format, and occasionally needed better resolution at higher ISO's for faster shutter speeds when it clouded over, but most of the time I was able to shoot at iso100 to 200 to maintain reasonable image quality. Both the fish and turtles are moving as well as you, so minimums are in the 1/125 or faster range. Always used wide apertures.

I'll be posting more additions regarding this trip, but if you would like to see a selection of overall photos in a larger format, please visit my website>

Welcome to Hawai'i. More to come...