Returning from a visit to the legendary Grove of the Patriarchs, in Mount Rainier National Park, I thought we had seen something amazing. We had. Douglas firs, western hemlocks, and western red cedars, nearly a thousand years old and sheltered on an island in the Ohanepecosh River, evoked a grand sense of smallness amidst the stately giants. Yet setting out upon the trail, little did I realize that the most visually interesting part of the hike would involve looking down through clear stream waters at small stones. The ever-changing, never-duplicated interplay of prismatic twinkles, with which I spent nearly an hour of observation, fascination and photography at various scales, nearly was missed by crossing a footbridge off that island, and high above these scenes. Instead, the simple act of exploring the riverbank and looking down (in a place where most look way up high) opened up a fluidly kaleidoscopic experience of fascinating fun. The old life-lessons adages about the journey versus the destination quite often are for real even on scales of minutes to hours, more commonly than we may notice.
12 NNE Packwood WA (16 Aug 16) Looking SSW
46.763, -121.5563River Rock Ripples
Returning from a visit to the legendary Grove of the Patriarchs, in Mount Rainier National Park, I thought we had seen something amazing. We had. Douglas firs, western hemlocks, and western red cedars, nearly a thousand years old and sheltered on an island in the Ohanepecosh River, evoked a grand sense of smallness amidst the stately giants. Yet setting out upon the trail, little did I realize that the most visually interesting part of the hike would involve looking down through clear stream waters at small stones. The ever-changing, never-duplicated interplay of prismatic twinkles, with which I spent nearly an hour of observation, fascination and photography at various scales, nearly was missed by crossing a footbridge off that island, and high above these scenes. Instead, the simple act of exploring the riverbank and looking down (in a place where most look way up high) opened up a fluidly kaleidoscopic experience of fascinating fun. The old life-lessons adages about the journey versus the destination quite often are for real even on scales of minutes to hours, more commonly than we may notice.
12 NNE Packwood WA (16 Aug 16) Looking SSW
46.763, -121.5563