Page 0:  Highlights of Washington State, USA

Photographs Copyright 1982-2008 by Tom Dempsey. Custom Print Prices. 
I last updated this page on January 31, 2009. Send comments to: tom@photoseek.com

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Right: Mount Shuksan (in North Cascades National Park) reflects in Highwood Lake, located in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

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Index to Washington: map ~ 0 ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7

• Page 0 (this page): Washington highlights, selected from pages 1-7. Guidebooks.
  
• See also Tom's Photo Tips Show #3: "Wonders of Washington" (PDF file 3 megabytes).
  
• Page 1: Seattle Area: Seattle ( fireworks , Space Needle & EMP , University of Washington ) ; Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island
• Page 1a: Seattle Aquarium 
• Page 1b: Volunteer Park Conservatory
  
• Page 1c: Woodland Park Zoo
• Page 2: North Cascade Mountains : Mount Baker , Mount Shuksan , Sauk Mountain , Anacortes , Grasshopper Pass , Maple Pass , Rainy Pass SR20 , Hidden Lake Lookout , Sahale Arm , 2a: Skagit Valley Tulips
• Page 3: Islands: Whidbey Island: Deception Pass , Ebey's Landing , Fort Casey , Meerkerk Gardens
• Page 3a: San Juan Islands
• Page 4: Mountain Loop Highway: Glacier Peak , Mt Pilchuck ,  Green Mountain , Gothic Basin  , Lake 22 , Walt Bailey Trail , plants, flowers, insects , southern Mt Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest
• Page 5: Central Cascades, Highway 2 & Interstate 90:  Alpine Lakes Wilderness (mountains, larch, mushrooms) , Surprise Lake , Granite Mt , Lake Serene , Carne Mountain
• Page 6: Southwest WA: Mt. Rainier , Goat Rocks , Mt. Adams , Mt. St. Helens
• Page 7: Olympic Peninsula: Lavender Farms , Olympic National Park , Port Townsend , ferries , Mount Townsend rhododendrons
• Page 7a: Marmot Pass & Big Quilcene River

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This page 0 shows my favorite images from seven Washington pages 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 .  Click any image or link to see more from that area:

Left: Spectacular fireworks explode over Gasworks Park, witnessed by a large audience of boats in Union Bay, at dusk July 4, 2007 in Seattle.

Below right: Ripples on the water surface distorts this view of an orange and red sea anemone at the Seattle Aquarium, Washington.

Above: I captured this view of downtown Seattle, the Space Needle, Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains at sunset, on July 4, 2007. (Panorama stitched from 4 images; photographed from the 33rd floor of First Hill Plaza, 1301 Spring Street, Seattle.)

Left: A landscape of avalanche lilies (Erythronium) & buttercups in Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park. [Published in 1996.]

Below: The Spokane, part of the Washington State Ferry system, cruises in Puget Sound from Edmonds to Kingston in sight of Mount Baker (10,775 feet elevation), Washington.

Washington Map

Left: A partial solar eclipse sets over Puget Sound in 1991, seen from Sunset Hill Park, in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. [Published on the cover of The Mountaineer, September 1996, the monthly magazine of The Mountaineers club. Winner of Best Scenic in their 1996 cover photo contest.]

Left: The Lime Kiln Lighthouse first shone in 1919 from the present tower. The red-orange bark of a Pacific Madrone (or Madrona) tree peels characteristically at Lime Kiln Point State Park, on San Juan Island, Washington, USA.

Below: A white Avalanche Lily (Erythronium) grows by a yellow Glacier Lily on Tolmie Peak, Mount Rainier National Park.

Left: Afternoon sun hits Mount Rainier and lupines near Sunrise Visitor Center.


Below: A side stream foams past Big Quilcene Trail #833.1 below Marmot Pass, in Buckhorn Wilderness, Washington.

Below: Panorama of Mount Baker (summit 10,775 feet, upper right) and Baker Lake (far left) from Artist Point (stitched from 4 images):

Below: Western Anemone seed heads blowing in the wind, in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.

Left: a yellow tulip is tinged with red-orange in the Skagit River Delta, Washington.

Above: Summer sunset reflects in Seattle buildings. Photographed on the day of my first date (June 26, 1995) with Carol, and we married two years later!  [See my page of published images ]

Below right: Exterior of 2004 Seattle Public Library, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, finished in 2004.

Above: Three Tiger Lily (also known as Columbia Lily, Lilium columbianum) flowers on Granite Mountain.

Left: Icicles at Alpental, Snoqualmie Pass, Interstate 90.Left: Icicles at Alpental, Snoqualmie Pass, Interstate 90.

Above right: Upper Falls in Twin Falls Natural Area, Ollalie State Park, makes a short and rewarding hike near Interstate 90 Exit #34. (Pictures of Lower Twin Falls also available upon request.)


Left: Snow geese fill the sky in a farmer's field on Fir Island in the Skagit River Delta.

Below: Kendall Peak (5675 feet elevation) in winter, near Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90.

Below left: Five-Finger Fern (or Western Maidenhair, Adiatnum pedatum aleuticum), in Twin Falls Natural Area, Ollalie State Park, in the Cascade foothills of western Washington, off of Interstate 90.

Below right: Stone and sand Japanese garden, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, Washington..


Left: looking up into backlit Japanese maple leaves. Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, October 19, 2005.

    Below right: Hydrangea in the Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, October 19, 2005.


Below: mossy branches of a Japanese maple tree, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, October 19, 2005.

Below: Yellow larch forest in the fall, beneath Little Annapurna, Enchantment Lakes, Alpines Lakes Wilderness Area, Washington.

Left: Dogwood flowers (Latin name Cornus), Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

Below: Snowy branches near Alpental, Snoqualmie Pass.

Below: Mountain Goat and Mount Daniel, near Robin Lake in Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Washington.

Left: This plant is a species of Pinesap (monotropa hypopithys L.), which has a cluster of 3-10 nodding pale yellow, tan, or sometime reddish flowers on a single stem. This plant is saprophytic and doesn't use chlorophyll.  Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

Pine-drops grow about two feet high (Scientific name: Pterospora, in the Heath Family), and are a saprophytic plant that doesn't use chlorophyll.  Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

Left: The Columbia Monkshood flower, Latin name Aconitum (Buttercup Family), with a fern in the background. Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

Below: A camouflaged Crab Spider (Family Thomisidae) kills a bee in this thistle flower. Crab Spiders can change their coloration to match the flower within 24 hours. They are widespread in Washington and other states. On the trail to Rachel Lake in Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

Below: Granite Mountain Lookout (5629 feet elevation), from where you can view Rainier 42 miles to the south. Located in Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Granite Mountain is a hike of 8 miles with 3800 feet elevation gain, accessed from Exit 47 of Interstate 90.

Left: Closeup section of a Coral Hydnum mushroom (Hericium coralloides), Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Wenatchee National Forest.
 
 

Below right: Two Admirable Boletus Mushrooms (Boletus mirabilis), each about five inches across, in Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Wenatchee National Forest.

Left: Chanterelle (Cantharellus) mushrooms, Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Wenatchee National Forest.

Below: Beautiful backlit orange mushrooms (maybe a false chanterelle / Clitocybe aurantiaca?), Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Wenatchee National Forest.

Above: Mount Adams is seen from a day hike in Goat Rocks Wilderness Area.


Above: Yellow sage and purple lavender on Purple Haze Lavender Farm, in the town of Sequim. The Sequim Lavender Festival is held yearly in mid-July in the town of Sequim, "The Lavender Capital of North America", on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington.

Below: Old farm equipment rusts in a field of lavender, on Cedarbrook Lavender & Herb Farm, Sequim.

Above: Mount Olympus, seen from the High Divide Trail in Washington. In 1981, UNESCO listed Olympic National Park a World Heritage Area, and described it as follows: "A great variety of landscapes and ecosystems can be found there, with a great wealth of marine life along its rocky coast, forests of giant conifers in the valleys where huge herds of wapiti [large deer] roam, and craggy peaks overhanging some sixty active glaciers."

Above: A wild native rhododendron flower buds in Buckhorn Wilderness, in Olympic National Forest, on the Mount Townsend trail #839 in late June.

Left: A Tiger Lily (or Columbia Lily) grows on Church Mountain in mid-July, with Mt. Baker as a backdrop. Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Below: Hikers descend the "Railroad Grade", a lateral moraine of the Easton Glacier, looking into Mount Baker Wilderness.

Below: Pretty blue butterflies rest on Church Mountain.

Left: A Glacier Lily blooms on Sauk Mountain, near the town of Concrete. Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Below: An old ship docks in Anacortes, with Mount Baker (10,775 feet) rising in the distance.

   
Below: An old dock gathers barnacles in Anacortes.

Above: We hike the Maple Pass Loop Trail above the North Cascades Highway (Washington State Route 20) at Rainy Pass, Okanagon National Forest.

Left: Girders form a pattern on Deception Pass Bridge between Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island.

    Below right: Lichen covers old growth trees in Deception Pass State Park, Whidbey Island.

Left: Admiralty Head Lighthouse was built in 1890 to help guide ships into Puget Sound, but became obsolete in 1927 when its lantern was removed. Fort Casey State Park is part of Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, Whidbey Island.

Below: Pioneers built Crockett Blockhouse in 1855 for protection from Indians, then built the barn in more stable times. Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, Whidbey Island.

Below: Tugboats guide a log raft through Deception Pass fog. A native madrona tree blooms on the left, on Whidbey Island.


Left: Spectacular hybrid rhododendrons bloom in Meerkerk Gardens, Whidbey Island (April 27, 2005).

Below: A Great Blue Heron stands patiently on one leg in the forest on Fidalgo Island, in Deception Pass State Park.

Above: Doubtful Lake and the Stehekin Valley, as seen from Sahale Arm, in North Cascades National Park, Washington (Panorama stitched from 9 images).

The above Highlights are taken from Washington pages 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7
(Click any image, link or page to see more from that area)

Page 0:  Highlights of Washington State, USA

 

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Washington Guidebooks: I recommend any of following books from Amazon.com for hikers and bicyclists: