Ferns and Rocks, Artist Point
Posted on 31 August 2010
Ferns and Rocks, Artist Point
Ferns and Rocks, Artist Point. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. August, 28, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Ferns grow among the rocks of a sub-alpine talus field at Artist Point, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.
New mountains!
I have (barely) visited parts of the Cascades range of Washington, but it was some years ago and I did not make photographs at the time. This past week I finally had an opportunity to do some real photography in this spectacular mountain range when I accompanied my brother (Richard Mitchell to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest where we visited Artist Point, a spectacular sub-alpine ridge located between the peaks of Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan.
As a long time “Sierra guy” (who has probably spent a total of over two years of his life on the trail in that range) I compare everything to my “home range.” While the Sierra is (are?) in my blood and that isn’t likely to change any time soon, these Washington mountains have (as Washington residents know) a lot to offer. The first thing that I noticed – though you won’t see it in this photograph – is that you quickly get up close and personal with some very large and impressive ice fields and glaciers. In the Sierra we see small glaciers, but they are tame compared to the hulking monsters of the Cascades. As we approached this area and I caught my first view of Shuksan the glaciers were the first thing that I noticed. In addition, you reach sub-alpine and alpine terrain at much lower elevations than in the Sierra. The 5,000′+ area where we photographed felt like a about 10,000′ in the Sierra.
I made this photograph near the end of our visit to Artist Point, in the very late afternoon as the sun dropped and the light began to warm and back-light these plants. These ferns were growing among the rocks of a talus field alongside the trail.
This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email
5 comments to Ferns and Rocks, Artist Point
Leave a comment
G Dan Mitchell
Sponsors
Recent Comments
Flickr
-
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, and night photography.
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
Flickr
Google+
Superb!!!!
The place deserves its name.
How long hike is it? I hope it’s far so that I’m not tempted to go.
Gary and Joshua, thanks! This is, indeed, a spectacular place. It is located a couple hours north and then east of Seattle and is not far from the Canadian border. Surprisingly, access is really easy – almost embarrassingly so – once you get there. Artist Point is a very short hike from a large and popular parking lot at the end of the road to and past the Mt. Baker ski area. It appears that lots of other, longer trails also depart from this spot, but Artist Point itself is very accessible.
I can’t believe that a spot like this is not part of a national park!
Dan
Oh my goodness! I hadn’t scrolled down to see this one before commenting on the picture above. This is gorgeous too! WOW! Looks like you are on a roll here. I hope you have more like this!
I do have a few more from this location, including at least one more “grand landscape” from more or less this location – and perhaps more than one. We also went down to photograph the iconic Reflection Lake area at and just after sunset, and I’m thinking that one or two of those images may also be good.