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.

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.

Crescent Lake and Skykomish River Near Monroe

Found a small oxbow lake beside the Snoqualmie River, not far from Monroe and decided to visit one morning to have a look about. Seemed like it might be a place to see a few water birds. No such luck. Lots of lily pads and a good bit of morning fog, but almost no birds at all. We saw one duck as we were leaving and heard one or two sparrow-like creatures that we could never get a good look at. Other than that, all was dead silent and still. Didn't even see insects on the surface of the water.

Our Weekly Ride in the Country

For our ride this week, we headed east on US 2 to the small settlement of Index. This village sits on the shore of the Skykomish river nestled in a narrow valley. As you can see above, the river here is as clear as a swimming pool.

Along the Skykomish River

I made a visit to a city park in Monroe to have a look at the Skykomish River. This is a tributary of the Snohomish River that joins up between Monroe and Snohomish. With the cloudy sky portending rain, I have elected to make it a significant part of this image looking downstream.