LT Murray

 

Tiring of the rain,I headed east for sunshine and flowers.  The LT Murray reserve is at exit 101 on your way to Ellensburg.  It is famous for its bugling elk and flowers.  I saw one elk, but he didn’t have a bugle. The arrowhead balsam root is a little past its prime and it is about three weeks early for the extensive lupine displays, but I like the open hill sides of eastern Washington.  You can wander where you will.  I ran into hail, sunshine, wind and thunderstorms, but it didn’t snow on me.

There were still plenty of flowers, though it will be incredible about the middle of June.

 

The hail was interesting.  I was going down a scree slope when it started hailing.  It bounced off of the rocks and continued bouncing  down the hill.  It was like being in the worlds largest Pachinko machine.

Then I realized that hail stones are formed in thunderstorms along with lightening, high winds and other undesirable things to experience while hiking.  I quickly headed back to my car thinking the whole time that may be I would get some of those nice carbon fiber hiking poles instead of carrying around aluminum lightening rods disguised as hiking poles.

LT Murray Photos

Humpback Creek

 

I went hiking along Humpback Creek with the intention of taking pictures.  It was a sunny day and taking pictures of creeks requires a lot of time laying on the ground and pre-visualizing the picture.  To some it might might look like I was taking a nap, but it is an important part of the picture taking process.  And of course you might have to remain seated until the sun is just right.

Actually, I had to bushwhack along large sections of the creek to find a good spot that didn’t have five or six large trees fallen across it.  Now I know why professional photographers take their pictures in State Parks.  Somebody else cleans out all of those trees.

 

But the sun was shinning and it was warm in the shade.  Here are the rest of the pictures

Humpback Creek Photos

Olallie Lake

Spring is climbing higher up the mountain side, but it is still winter at 3600 feet. Last week I ran into snow at 2800 feet, so things are getting better.

Below is a picture of a bird that I loved for his audacity.  He/She, how do you tell with a bird in the bush, roosted in a tree where I was eating my lunch.  The bird watched me eat  my sandwich and then when I took out a Hersey Bar, it flew down and tried to knock it out of my hand. Actually it succeeded, but I was quicker on the up take than the bird was.

 

I walked along the outlet stream taking pictures and was fascinated by the ice breaking up and flowing out along the stream.  Since, I was fascinated, you get to see lots of pictures.

 

Well, actually, I only posted two, but you can see the other ten if you are ever at my house and ask.

Olallie Lake Photos

Talapus Lake

 

I went up to Talapus Lake with the intent of taking pictures of water falls at slow shutter speeds to make the water look lacy.  The first thing I learned was that modern digital cameras with their ISO equivalent 200 film speed are hard toset to a slow shutter speed.  I was surprised to learn that it is difficult even in the dark forest on a cloudy day.  I still managed to get a few

 

I had not planned in hiking in the snow, but I hit snow as soon as I stepped out of my car, but you know, the trail is the trail.  I’ve noticed lately, with alarming frequency, that the universe is not lining up to my hiking plans.

But the hike was a pleasant stroll through the trees and the lake was beautiful. The sun came out which didn’t help the slow shutter speed problem, but was a tremendous boost to the spirits.

My other goal is to someday take a good icicle picture, but that also requires water to be in a clearing, the sun to be just right and the ability to get close without endangering life and limb. And I’m still having trouble getting the universe to align to my wishes.

 

Talapus Lake Pictures