CITY DAILY PHOTO JANUARY THEME DAY - PHOTO OF THE YEAR

If you are a photography junkie like me it's hard to select a single picture out of a year's work. I considered some that reflected the tumult and  anxiety of 2021. In the end, I decided on something peaceful and beautiful, hoping it might be therapeutic. This is Ruby Beach on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula, photographed in September.

On the other hand, if you care to see what I really thought of 2021 click here: https://saintlouismodailyphoto.blogspot.com/2021/10/armageddon-st-louis-style.html                

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - DOWN THE SPECTRUM

 

Some of you know that I occasionally shoot infrared and I brought my IR camera along to the Northwest. You can convert a digital sensor for a reasonable cost and choose from different parts of the IR range. I got the default. Bright green plants go almost white and blue skies get very dark. This is a view across Lake Quinault, the place we stayed when we visited the Olympics.                 

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - WHY THE ROCK CAIRNS WON'T CONFUSE ANYBODY

Still on Ruby Beach. This is why putting non-functional rock cairns on drift logs does no harm here. It's just an open expanse of rough beach where you can see on and on. If you walk up into the forest, though,  you're on your own.            

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - COMMUNICATION WITH ALIENS

Strange signs on Ruby Beach. These little piles are usually referred to as rock cairns. They are designed to mark trails in our national parks, often with very specific meanings. However, I've seen them in other places I love and love to photograph, particularly the side canyons in Death Valley, where they are obviously just for fun. 

If you do a little Googling on the subject, the outdoorsy sites tell you not to do this. The purpose is to prevent people from getting lost. But there is no getting lost straight across the beach. These cairns on a huge drift log look to me like a system of antennas. Whom they communicate with is left to your imagination.

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - WHY WE COME HERE

Greetings from beautiful Dallas - Fort Worth International Airport, where American Airlines customers spend part of their lives. This is another shot of Ruby Beach on the Pacific coast of Washington's Olympic Peninsula. I think it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, with different approaches to photography in every kind of weather and every hour of the day. (It would be something special with a tripod on a clear, moonlit night.)

Home in a few hours but I'll be running trip pictures for a while.               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - FRONT ROW SEATS

It's late Thursday night here in Seattle and we have to get up early on Friday for our flight home. I'll edit on the plane but for now another Pacific beach picture. Whoever sits in these chairs might be waiting for the apocalypse to arise out of the mist on the ocean horizon.       

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - RUBY BEACH

Ruby Beach on Washington's Olympic Peninsula is one of my favorite places in the world to photograph. We've been here a couple of other times over the years but every visit is different. We got there yesterday not long before sunset and the light was stunning. I've got more of these I'll publish somewhere.           

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

We took a roundabout route from Seattle to the place we are staying in the Olympic National Park, Lake Quinault Lodge. Our plan took us to the ocean for some distance before cutting back inland to the rain forest. The Pacific coast up here is wild and desolate, with a few pullouts from the coastal road. This beach was wide and flat, damp and packed enough you could drive well out in a 4WD vehicle. The sky was clear above but a constant mist rolled in. That's the kind of optics I like in this part of the country.                 

Ruby Beach

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I'm having problems with my computer, which is getting in the way of uploads. These are a couple of shots of Ruby Beach at sunset. It's 10 minutes drive north of Kalaloch Lodge.

Hoh Hoh Hoh

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The western side of the Olympic Mountains in Washington State has lots of rain forest. The Hoh river valley is one of the most beautiful. There are images from the Hall of Mosses trail.

Back to Seattle this afternoon so should be able to post regularly.

Land's End

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We can get Internet access at the visitor's center in Forks, Washington, a logging town in the middle of the forest. The second and third shots were taken from just outside our cabin on the bluffs at Kalaloch. The first and fourth are at Ruby Beach, 10 minutes north.

I'll do a post for tomorrow morning now. Back to Seattle Wednesday afternoon.

Today's Destination

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We spent last night at a hotel at the Seattle airport. Today we're headed for Kalaloch Lodge, located on the Pacific Coast of Olympic National Park.  This is the extreme northwest corner of the main body of the U.S. (Alaska and Hawaii are off on their own.)

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The photos are from our last visit to the area four years ago. We love it. It's wild, remote and isolated. The area is a cool weather rain forest. You can take walks along the rough beach or wander up trails along the rivers descending from the mountains. Might see a moose. It's not going to be as bright as the top picture when we arrive. In fact, it may be pouring rain. That's one of the reasons people go there. 

No room phone, TV, cellular service or Internet. All they got is a couple of phone booths in the parking lot. We have to drive 40 minutes to the little logging town of Forks, Washington, to get online. Forks, by the way, is the place where the Twilight series of vampire stories is set.  Under the circumstances , I might not get out any posts until we get to Seattle of Wednesday. Same for comments.