A day in the North Cascades

scole

Friday's forecast was for sun and a high in the low 50s so I decided to take advantage of the good weather (before winter returned over the weekend). I decided to drive up the North Cascades Highway to its winter closure point near Diablo Lake.

1. Skagit River and Eldorado Mountain from Milepost 100.



2. Diablo Lake Island from the overlook area.



3. Mount Rose



4. From the overlook, I started to experiment with a new purchase: some Cokin P series ND Grad filters. Here's a stacked 0.6 + 0.9 ND soft edge along with a circular Polarizer. I was pleased at the time I took it but now I'm kinda put off by the purple-ish tint that's present in the sky.



5. Harsh mid-day light limited my options but I soon found interest in the many icicles from snowmelt found in the sheltered areas along the highway...



6. Ice bouquet



7.



8. I really liked the contrast between the color of the ice and the greens from the moss..



9.



Thanks for looking..

dseidman

Nice series! I think #8 is my favorite.
I had no idea that you could get up as far as Diablo Lake this time of year. Were there many people at the overlook?

coscorrosa

#4 and #5 for me - excellent. Love those icicle shots.

I never went past Marblemount for the eagles in January, I might have to amend that next week sometime weather permitting.

scole

Thanks, guys.

The highway has several winter gates but I believe it is generally open to either the Colonial Creek Campground (~1 before the overlook in my photos) or the next gate location which I believe is just beyond the overlook. Of course, WSDOT has started their clearing of the highway so its probably opened a tad further than normal. Between the Diablo Dam turnoff and Colonial Creek campground, there still are a few spots of snow on the road (this is where you'll find several sections of the road with icicles). Nothing major but be mindful.

Colonial Creek Campground has several feet of snow on it and the Thunder Arm of the lake has ice (which could be cool for compositions). The overlook parking lot is completely snow covered with about 2' of snow on it. If you can get up there for sunrise or early morning light, your photos will be better than mine. I had a commitment in the morning so I was late getting up there.

Steve

bryanj87

Nicely done. I particularly like the ice and moss shots.

I also have a similar purpleish tint from my HiTech grads. I can usually fix it post, but I usually leave it when shooting sunsets as it adds to the colors!