Fog in the Valley

Fog in the Valley. Ricksecker Point, Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington, USA.

October 1, 2010. © Copyright Richard Mitchell,

Touching Light Photography - all rights reserved.

Last weekend, as I arrived at Mt. Rainier National Park, I first stopped at Kautz Creek, hoping to catch the last light of the day and fading alpenglow on Mt. Rainier. A few hours earlier, I'd been driving through the traffic of Puget Sound as the weather turned progressively worse. I was trying to decide whether to turn around, or to continue on to Mt. Rainier. What were the chances that I'd find anything worth photographing with Puget Sound totally socked in with building clouds?

I continued on, realizing that I'd already passed the majority of commute hour traffic, and remembering that I'd had the same thoughts a week earlier on my way to Mt. Shuksan, but had arrived at Shuksan to find a spectacular lenticular cloud above Mt. Baker nearby.

Sometimes it pays to be persistent and to have faith! I pressed on, and as I neared Mt. Rainier and gained altitude as began the ascent up the apron of the great mountain, I broke through the tops of the clouds to a beautifully sunny and clear late afternoon. Passing the entrance station to the park, it was only a short drive before I arrived at Kautz Creek. I was hoping to shoot a telephoto image of Rainier with the evergreens on each side, that so nicely frame the mountain from this perspective. Parking my car at Kautz Creek, I grabbed my camera gear and crossed the road to the short trail to the viewpoint. Arriving at the viewpoint, I started setting up my gear as the mountain began to cloud over. At first, the clouds were really beautiful whisps of clouds in front of the mountain, but over the course of just a minute or two, the mountain became completely obscured by the rising clouds.

After a few minutes, I accepted that I would not see Rainier from Kautz Creek again that evening.

I got back into my car, a bit discouraged, but determined to press on. I headed up the road towards Paradise (quite the name, isn't it?!).

Just past Christine Falls, there is a one-way "scenic route" that drives past Ricksecker Point. I decided to take the scenic route, and headed southwest out to the point under diminishing light. Arriving at the point, I looked back to see the beautiful Rainier rising above the fog in the Nisqually River Valley, with the beautiful evergreens on the cliff under Ricksecker glowing under the light from the West. I once again grabbed my camera gear and headed out to the side of the cliff and shot a few images. In a matter of minutes, the clouds filled the valley and enveloped me in their humid flow.

Picture-taking at Ricksecker Point was over for this evening!

This image:

Canon 5D Mark II, ISO 800, Canon EF17-40mm f/4 at 17mm, (oops - I forgot to change it to a lower ISO!), exposed for 4 seconds at f/6.3 (it was dark at this point!). By the time I lowered the ISO (only a minute later), the images I shot were softened too much by the rising fog of the clouds.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used in electronic, print, or any other form, without advance permission from Richard Mitchell.

Richard Mitchell Touching Light Photography

Flickr Twitter Facebook Blog Email