Middle Rock Lake Backpack

Angie, Scott, Cami and Warren backpacked to Middle Rock Lake in the Mt Hood Wilderness in mid July. This was a fairly short backpack for us (~4 miles round trip), but the hot weather (~95 degrees) that weekend convinced us that a short backpack was a good idea. We enjoyed a nice day at the lake with the warm water and sunshine. The mosquitoes were pretty bad on this trip, but with enough deet on they mostly left us alone. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Middle Rock Lake is currently the central location of a search and rescue operation for a guy who has been missing since early July. He was reported missing the day we arrived at the lake. Other than his tent, we didn't see any sign of him. Hopefully they figure out what happened to him.

Large rock slide on the slopes around Middle Rock Lake.
Some wildflowers at Middle Rock Lake. 2 exposure blend, 1/3 sec and 1/13 sec at f/16, ISO 200.
Rhododendrons in bloom.
Upper Rock Lake. The lake was like a mosquito breeding pool and Scott was bitten about 6 times just trying to get this picture!
Middle Rock Lake looking east.
Warren and Cami both playing with the same stick.
Cami, Scott, Warren
Cami, Angie, Warren
Sunset at Middle Rock Lake. 1.3 sec at f/22, ISO 100
Campfire under the north star.
There was another group of backpackers across the lake who were in perfect position to capture this photo. This is a 5 exposure blend to capture the glow of the fire and the motion of the stars rotating around the north star. Exposure 1 (34 sec at f/4, ISO 100) was taken at twilight to capture some of the glow in the sky. Exposures 2-5 were started ~30 minutes later. Each exposure was ~22 minutes at f/4, ISO 100.
Cami watching the fish rise at sunrise.
Middle Rock Lake Sunrise
Bear grass

Warren - Our New Dog!

We recently adopted a new dog named Warren. He is a 3 year old blue merle mini-Aussie. He is similar to Cami, but a little bigger (Warren is ~30 pounds, Cami is ~15). He needs a lot of training, but has been a great dog so far. Here are a few pictures.

Warren out on the deck.
Cami trying to steal some attention away from Warren. She didn't care for him much at first, but she seems to be slowly warming up to him. She probably thinks that we will be taking him back any day now!
Warren hiding behind the safety of a chair leg. He was a little afraid of the camera initially.
Warren showing off those eyes and coat.

Upper Twin Lake Backpack

Angie, Cami, Kurt and I backpacked to Upper Twin Lake in late June. Upper Twin Lake (elev 4388') is located in the Mt Hood Wilderness, south of Mt Hood. The trip was ~9.5 miles round trip with ~1500 feet of total elevation gain. We also made a side trip to Palmateer Point (3.4 miles round trip).

Upper Twin Lake is a very nice shallow lake. The lake doesn't hold many fish because it usually freezes solid in the winter. The lake has a partial view of Mt Hood from the very southern end of the lake. There were 3 other groups of backpackers at the lake, but we arrived first and got the best campsite on the east end of the lake.

This was an enjoyable backpack with minimal bugs and almost no snow. It's good to see the mountain snow is finally starting to melt out.

Angie enjoying the afternoon sun at the lake.
Cami, Angie and Kurt
Cami
View of Mt Hood along the trail leading to Palmateer Point. Mt Hood usually doesn't have this much snow in late June, but our cool spring with lots of rain/snow has kept the mountain covered.
Palmateer Point. Elev 4410'
The only wildflower I could find on Palmateer Point!
Cami making a bed in the beargrass.
Cami looking hungry.
Kurt cooking on his new MSR stove.
Angie's bug hat.
Partial view of Mt Hood from Upper Twin Lake. 3 exposure manual blend in Photoshop. 1/20 sec, 1 sec at 1.6 sec at f/16, ISO 100. Not much of a sunset, but I still like the photo.
Moonrise over Upper Twin Lake. 3 exposure manual blend in Photoshop. 1) 5.5 sec at f/16, ISO 100 taken during twilight to maintain some texture in the water/trees/logs.
2) 30 sec at f/4, ISO 200 - 30 minutes later for the stars/sky.
3) 27 sec at f/22, ISO 400 - 45 minutes later for the "moon star".
Early morning at Upper Twin Lake.

Salmonberry River Backpack

Angie, Scott, Matt, Jaclyn, Cami and Cirque backpacked to the Salmonberry River over the Memorial Day Weekend. The Salmonberry River is small river found in the northern Oregon Coast Range. The backpack was ~3 miles and was relatively flat except for the trail going down to the river. This was a relatively easy backpack, but the challenge was fording the Salmonberry River. Everyone made it without going for a swim, but there were a few close calls. Here are some photos from the trip.

Cami having fun chewing on a stick.
Snake! Angie found this little guy near the river. We believe this is a Northwestern Garter Snake.
Cirque, Jaclyn, Angie and Cami around the campfire.
Cirque looking hungry.
Angie and Jaclyn laughing at Matt's sock. See next photo.
Matt's sock. He was trying to dry his socks around the fire after fording the river earlier in the day. Unfortunately the fire was a little too hot and melted the Smartwool.
Salmonberry River.
The following morning we explored some of the abandoned railroad tracks/tunnels in the area.

Train Tunnel. 2 exposures manually blended in photoshop. 1/2 sec and 9 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer.
Group photo outside one of the railroad tunnels.
Damaged railroad tracks on the Salmonberry River. The tracks are suspended ~20 feet above the water and are only supported by the strength of the steel tracks and the railroad ties. In December 2007, this area was significantly damaged by heavy rain. The rain was due to 2 typhoons that combined in the Pacific Ocean and then slammed into Oregon/Washington. The mountains in the coast range received 10-14 inches of rain in a 60 hour period from December 1-3, 2007. The question now is what to do with this rail line. I'm in favor of retiring the rail line since the cost of fixing the damage is likely greater than $25 million and the Salmonberry River is home to one of the largest wild steelhead runs in the Pacific NW.

1/5 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer.

Matt, Jaclyn, Cirque.
Scott and Angie

Wailea, Maui

We spent the last 4 days of our trip in Wailea, Maui. The beaches are great here and the condos and houses are amazing. Wailea reminded us a lot of Arizona since it is climate is very warm and dry.

The view from the lanai at our condo in Wailea. We stayed in Ekahi Village in Wailea. The trade winds were really going this day. You can see the wind in the coconut trees in the distance.
Angie and Scott hanging out with the locals at Ulupalakua Ranch
Wailea Sunset. This was at the beach near our condo.
2 exposure blend, 1/20 sec and 1/2 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer.
Green Sea Turtle at the Maui Ocean Center
Angie and Scott at the Maui Ocean Center.
Wailea Sunset - Another one from the beach near the condo.
1 sec at f/22, ISO 100, polarizer, 3 stop reverse graduated neutral density filter
Maui Taco on the beach in Wailea. Their fish tacos are amazing. We went there two days in a row for lunch. You wouldn't think Maui would be the best place for Mexican food, but Maui Taco is actually quite good.
Plumeria flowers.
Scott and Angie on the beach in Wailea.
Coral and Waves - 1/4 sec at f/11, ISO 100
Wailea Sunset
1/2 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer, 3 stop reverse GND filter
Scott and Angie on the beach in Wailea on our last night in Maui.
Wailea was our last stop on Maui before we headed back home. We really enjoyed our trip and can't wait to get back to Hawaii.