Amazing – it's late winter, and the mountain snowpack in my local Cascade mountains is only 5-10% of normal.
Check-out the darkest red spots on the map below, the March 2015 update from the USDA's Nat'l Water and Climate Center:
I couldn’t believe it, but this weekend, in a fit of curiosity, I drove into one favorite area – southeast of Mount Rainier – and went up, up, up above 5,000 feet until I finally saw traces of snow in the dry road. And the road wasn't even south facing! Normally, I have to wait until mid-June to get up here. It was all quite disorienting, since I've never explored these well-known forests in winter time, early or late – not even before Memorial Day.
Naturally, some of my favorite springtime waterfalls are in this region. (They call these mountains "The Cascades" for a good reason!) I've posted them here over the years. Even more beloved – the snow-melt streams, which wind through mature Fir-and-Hemlock woods where owls call, cougars snarl, and black bears roam...
Looks like my personal shooting habits might trend away from the water's edge and waterfalls this spring (though dry waterfalls could provide new image opportunities) – and I might concentrate more on rocks and trees . Well, at least the "shooting season" in these higher elevations will start a lot earlier this year. I should say the season has already begun, unless the snow starts falling fast, furious, and late.
And if the map is any indication, it looks my LF peers in Oregon and California might be thinking along similar lines...
Bookmarks