Tales of a Travel Photographer

A Memorable Weekend At Lake Quinault

On the Memorial weekend of 2012, I was sitting in my home office—sunlight tumbling out of the Seattle sky—complaining on one social media site about how I could not understand how to use another. Ironically, I stumbled upon a photo on that site that made me sit up. I had not even heard of a place called Lake Quinault located on the Olympic Peninsula. Before I knew I was calling up hotels in the Lake Quinault area. They were all booked

What are the chances that a room will be available on a long weekend, I thought? I decided to make one last phone call. Luckily Rain Forest Resort Village had just one last room available. They even offered me a deal! That sealed it.

Rattlesnake Ledge: The best eastside hike

An afternoon well spent. A 20 mile drive on I90, a 0.1 mile walk to the trailhead. A 2 mile gentle climb for the most satisfying view of the turquoise lake.

Seattle Super Moon

I reached a full hour before the alleged moonrise time. The car park was already packed, I had to park semi-legally. A dozen cameras stood on tripod with foot long lenses pointing ominously at downtown Seattle. The appointed hour came and went. A theory quickly circulated that the hill behind the space needle was the culprit.

Then at 8:51pm, tersely, an orange scar was carved in the dark sky. Conversations stopped midsentence. Half eaten tacos were abandoned. Photographers melded into their cameras. The curve turned into an orange globe. It ruled over the downtown sky for what seemed like a few seconds and quickly darted behind a conveniently waiting cloud.

It happened so quickly that I had time to grab three meager frames with the moon full. A few minutes later when it emerged from the cloud, it had changed out of the orange cocktail dress into satin white pajamas.  

The biggest and brightest moon of the year rose over Seattle today and I was at the Ursula Judkins viewpoint with the l’il girl in tow.