Cascade Mountains

While we've been getting more frequent breaks in the clouds cover allowing us a bit of sunlight, it is not often that the clouds clear away from the Cascade Mountains and give a clear view of the snowy peaks.

Sunshine on Our Shoulders

As the day progressed and the sun rose higher, the fog gave way to some clear skies and we could see a few of the snowy mountain peaks on a drive back west toward home.

Water Flows Downhill

The Skykomish river flows near the highway in sections of the route and there is a place to stop and have a look near the town of Index. Since there was a dab of sunlight peeking through the trees and around the rocks, this seemed like a good place to make a few long exposures.

As you can see above, there is a lot of green in the water. I suppose this is partly due to the silt lead the stream is carrying and partly due to the reflected light of the trees. Whatever the source, it give the river a delicate pastel color.

Actual Evidence of Sunshine

Once you leave the floodplains of the rivers near the Puget Sound where we live, you enter seriously wet areas that really represent the temperate rainforest that this portion of the state is known to be. Here we find trees with branches covered in moss everywhere. I periodically try to photograph the way the sun lights the fringing moss along these leaves and am never happy with the result. At least in this image you get the general idea.

Headed East (a Little Ways)

With all the rain we've been having lately, when there was a break in the clouds, E and I took the opportunity to drive towards the Cascades to see what we could see. At the beginning of the trip, before the sun (ha, ha!) had a chance to burn away the fog, we got to see some extensive fog on the mountains.

Cascade Sunrise

Finally back in Snohomish, we resume our morning routine of taking the grandkids to daycare. At 47 degrees north this time of year it still happens at or before sunrise. Once in a while, there is a break in the clouds and we can actually see the sunrise.

Sunrise over the Cascades

 

To take Seamus and Charlotte to daycare in the mornings, we drive down the hill that the town of Snohomish if built upon, across the farmland of the Snohomish river flood plain, and then up Seattle Hill Road to the densely inhabited and paved areas where the school is located.

We do this about 7:30 or so each morning and, at this latitude, this means we get to see the sun rise when it is possible to actually see it. With the recent rains, much to farmland is underwater and this makes a nice reflecting pool for seeing the distant mountains to the east as the sun rises.

The Cascade Mountains

After a week's worth of rain, we finally got some sunshine and I headed east to the small town of Sultan, just east of Monroe. While we've been getting rain, the mountains have been getting the season's first dusting of snow. This makes images of the Cascades much more interesting.

Fields and Mountains

Not far from home, along the south shore of the Snohomish River is a field full of those plastic wrapped hay bales so common everywhere. I thought this made a nice panorama. Today, we are in between rainy days and we have a sky full of interesting clouds and expanses of blue, so it all worked reasonably well.

As you can see in the tall grass alongside the road, there is lots of the reddish color from the seed heads of the plants. This you see everywhere since there's been no roadside trimming for several months.

A Few Vistas

According to the all-knowing GPS in the car, the large flat area just south of the Snohomish River is very near sea level. We live on a hill at the glorious altitude of about 115 ft.

But out in the flats are barns, more of which you'll see later, and some interesting vistas of the Cascades to the east.

The Local Scenery

We finally had a day with a little sun peaking out at sunset, so we jumped in the car and rode across the Snohomish River to the marsh lands. These seem to mostly be for farming now and most likely the reason the city development hasn't engulfed Snohomish...can't build in the floodplain.