happy new year

January 1st marks the new year, but people are generally pretty settled in a routine around that time. Since grade school we've become accustomed to new beginnings in the fall; a change from summertime chaos to order and pattern. Here's a collection of stray images from the end of spring through early autumn, that period of chaos that precedes settling in for the winter.

Lake Wenatchee. Cascades holding off a front.

A mushroom in the pan is worth two in the car seat.

The simple joy of the last day of school.

Learning how to mill lumber in the backcountry.

Summer days at the pool, when there's still daylight after they close.

Blading is cooler than it was when you were a kid.

Moving all my stuff from here to there.

Digging up old dashboards.

Injuries are not as cool as when you were a kid.

Living and working from here all week.

Finding sweet hidden beach shack palaces.

Mobile shacks and wood shacks.

That landscape shot at the end.

summer high

Call a friend, put some food in a backpack, maybe a tent, walk up a trail for a few hours, pick some berries, sing songs, look at the plants. The high country provides. Summertime in the Olympics.

Steve, right where he wants to be.

Blue huckleberries, get some.

Flattering light threads its way into the understory.

July. Subalpine and sublime in the Olympics.

logging roads

Clear cuts aren't the best thing, but they can be beautiful. Wood comes from somewhere, and the logging roads provide ample access for exploring some of the less glamourous nature zones.

Skokomish River Valley.

Vance Creek train trestle.

Clearcuts.

Edge of the forest.

Steel bridge over the Skokomish.

Trevor, exploring alternative fishing techniques.

Bluegill caught on a hazelnut cane rod with flower blossom bait.

Beaver pup.

Secret spot.

Ancient beaver pond.