Happy Mid Autumn Supermoon
Coupled with alpenglow on Mount Hood, got some luck with the supermoon rising above the overcasted Portland skies. Happy Mid Autumn Festival Everyone! :)
Coupled with alpenglow on Mount Hood, got some luck with the supermoon rising above the overcasted Portland skies. Happy Mid Autumn Festival Everyone! :)
Off to Yukon. Here's one from the ice cave in Juneau that I visited again yesterday. The glacier retreating and melting is so so real. I was here standing at the exact same spot 2 months ago and the amount the ice changed is ridiculous. The cave also lost a big part of the entrance about a month ago and a couple smaller caves we found the last time has melted so much and their entrances are way bigger. It's so amazing yet scary.
Juneau, miss ya so much and I am back! Did a morning hike yesterday to Mendenhall Glacier to search for some new ice caves and found a couple. Travelled quite abit of distance today. Juneau -> Haines -> Skagway -> Whitehorse.
Btw Happy long weekend everyone! More updates later.. Stay tuned! :)
Finally saw Rainier's reflection from Reflection Lake. Was here last year and the winds was too strong for an reflection to form. Thought of using the tree and the wildflowers to form an inverted V. Also met ART WOLFE! What an exciting morning! :)
This shot was taken about an hour before sunset and 10 mins before a thunderstorm came by, stayed around soaking us all and we had to hide behind a big rock as lightning was way too close for comfort in the open fields.. Didn’t get too lucky with the weather at Glacier National Park 3 days of rain and 1 day of thunderstorm. Hence had to find comps that didn’t include the overcasted sky and here’s one shot of me at the bottom of triple falls trying to get it without the sky. Will be back again someday and photos to come soon. :)
ps. does this place remind anyone of Keller Fountain? :p
A single 20 mins exposure from Lost Lake. Of cos the sensor wasn't very happy and had like 15497 hot pixels. Spend a couple hours cloning out 12781 of those red, blue, green pixels and finally gave up. The light on the left was from someone who decided to launch a kayak at 2AM. :)
Carrying 47lbs of camera gear up South Sister totally kicked my a$$. About a 14miles hike roundtrip with 5000 ft elevation gain, I struggled here and there but we made it just in time for sunrise! The entire area looked a little smoky due to all the forest fires in the area. Here's a shot from 10,358ft, Oregon's 3rd highest mountain. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)
Been asked numerous times for things to do in Portland, so here’s a list..
1. Hiking and Waterfalls
Columbia River Gorge. Take a drive on 84 to Historic Columbia River Highway Scenic Byway. Some of the popular places that people like to stop over for photos are Latourell Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah Falls, Horsetail Falls and Vista Point.
These are a couple more in the same loop but some hiking would be involved.
Ponytail Falls (0.8 miles roundtrip with 360 ft elevation gain. Pretty easy hike with some elevation gain. You would start at Horsetail Falls Trailhead)
Fairy Falls (2 miles roundtrip with 800 ft elevation gain. Slightly strenuous hike. You would start at Wahkeena Trailhead. There is 3 trails there and its the right most trail when you face Wahkeena from the parking. You have to walk past the small wooden bridge. Theres been a sign that says its closed for a long time but the closure is past fairy falls, so you can still take the trail up to Fairy Falls. )
Oneonta Gorge (1 mile roundtrip. This is a popular one in the summer but it involves some log climbing and you will get wet. Probably not kid friendly as well. You would start at Oneonta Gorge Trailhead)
Elowah Falls (1.4 mile roundtrip. Easy hike. You would start at Elowah Falls Trailhead)
2. Portland Waterfront
3. Shopping. TAX FREE shopping..
4. Powell’s Books (popular gigantic bookstore)
5. Pittock Mansion has a good view of Downtown Portland and Mount Hood.
6. Food Cart are like everywhere in Portland and heres a few that I like.
7. Brunch and Eats
Below are a few famous ones for brunch but I personally like Broders and Tasty n Sons.
Other Eats...
Finally Asian Fix...
8. Coffee scene. Portland has a huge coffee scene, theres like cafes everywhere. Heres my personal favorites
9. Happy Hour and Breweries. Both places have a good view of the city.
Some Popular Breweries
10. Mount Hood Area. If you still have time, heres some places with good views of Mount Hood, all pretty accessible with a car and basically awesome views with no hiking involved.
11. Oregon Coast Area. If you still even more time, here's some worthy places to stopover along the Oregon Coast.
12. Painted Hills. A really far drive from Oregon but this place has gotten really popular over the years and I got a couple groups of friends visiting from Singapore and Hong Kong that made their way there.
13. Bend, Oregon Area. Some stuff worth checking out around Bend.
14. Crater Lake. Finally the furthest away from Portland but totally worth a visit.
Missed 3.00am alarm. Missed 3.30am alarm. Missed 4.00am alarm. Missed 4.30am alarm. The 6am "get up for work" alarm went off. Picked up my phone and to my horror... 6.03am. Swear. Swear. Swear. Checked my messages. A msg from Lance at 5.07am. Scrambled around for my bag, gathered change of clothes, wetsuit and some stuff, washed up, got changed and made coffee. Ran out of the house.. 6.17am. Drove towards Eagle Creek. More swearing. Finally got to trailhead. Left a note on Lance's Jeep. Started running, continued running past Metlako Falls, kept running past Punchbowl Falls. Finally got to a landmark, High Bridge, 3.2 miles. Only halfway.. Got so demoralized. Stopped running and started walking instead. Lol. Walking, kept walking. Finally, I saw a familiar couple in sight. Hey that's Lance and Annette! Just in time before the sun peek through the top. Mission accomplished. Tunnel Falls checked.
Long story short, the 5am 12.6miles hike became a 7am 4mile run and 8.6mile hike. Lol. Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! :)
I used to think that the Milky Way was something you could only see if you’re an astronomer- it is super elusive and when you do see it, you might mistake it for some haze or fog in the night sky. Was at Lost Lake over the weekend because the forecast said it’d be clear. And it was, before sunset. Set my alarm for 11pm and took a nap. When I woke up, Mt Hood was barely in sight, enshrouded by clouds. Disappointment mounting, I set up my gear to take a test shot anyway. Worst fears confirmed as pictures turned out cloudy. Since I’d driven 2.5 hours there, I decided to muck around and be optimistic. There were a couple of flashes across the sky coz there was probably a thunderstorm going on some where in the West. That distracted me for while, and before I knew it, the skies cleared and the Milky Way was totally visible! Took many shots (probably too many) and this is my favorite amongst them. I guess some things, like Portland’s Voodoo donuts, are worth the wait? :)
It was a steep hike that was off the beaten track to get to this amazing spot where you could get the overview of the Grand Prismatic Spring. I wasn't sure how high to hike to, but I kept going until I found this sweet spot with the absolute best unobstructed view of the spring. From this vantage point you could see the colors of the Grand Prismatic come to life in full bloom; something you can't quite get when you're at the spring itself. The myriad colors spreading out on the Spring is reminiscent of a painter who had tipped over bottles of paint, and the colors had somehow amalgamated purposefully on his canvas. So as I was perched atop the hill looking at that chromatic marvel, I thought to myself, this must be the pot of gold at the end of the Grand Prismatic rainbow.