Maple leaves. University of Washington Arboretum.

This page 0 shows highlights of 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.)

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

Washington Map:

Left: A white Avalanche Lily (Erythronium) next to a yellow Glacier Lily on Tolmie Peak, Mount Rainier National Park.

The state of Washington is more ecologically and scenically diverse than any state in the Lower 48 contiguous United States, due to many factors. In altitude, the land varies from sea level to 14,411 feet at the summit of Mount Rainier, an awesome active volcano covered in glaciers. The Carbon Glacier of Mount Rainier flows to a lower altitude than any other glacier in the Lower 48 states. A huge glacier actually covered Seattle 3,000 feet deep in ice only 15,000 years ago, gouging the scenic fjord of present-day Puget Sound. Washington's latitude lies in a transitional belt between sub-Arctic northern forests and warmer drier regions. Moist temperate air masses sweep onto the west coast and hit the spectacular Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges, dumping heavy rain on the southwestward (windward) slopes, creating dense temperate rainforest. The mountains wring the air dry, creating extensive rain shadows to their east and northeast, such as in the sunny San Juan Islands, and in the desert lands of Eastern Washington, irrigated by the mighty Columbia River. Washington's soil varies from shallow forest layers to windblown sand and agriculturally rich loess with basaltic outcroppings. Rocks vary widely, with tectonic uplifts of andesite, argillite, or granite in some ranges. These and other factors have created a tremendous variety of scenery, native plants and wildflowers in Washington, a great state to explore.

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

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.

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

Left: The 1991 partial solar eclipse over Puget Sound, seen from Sunset Hill Park, 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.]

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

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

Above: The Washington State Ferry "Nisqually" docks at Port Townsend, in view of Three Fingers Mountain (6854 feet). (This ferry connects to Keystone on Whidbey Island.)

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Below right: 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.

Mount Adams, seen from 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: Five spiny grey flowers at Cedarbrook Lavender & Herb Farm, in the town of Sequim.

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


Left: Mount Shuksan (North Cascades National Park), reflects in Picture Lake, which is located in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. [Published in January/February 2002 Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club Outings]

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

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: Tiger Lily (or Columbia Lily), on Church Mountain in mid-July, with Mt. Baker in the distance. Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Below left: Glacier Lily on Sauk Mountain, near the town of Concrete. Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Below right: Old ship at dock in Anacortes, with Mount Baker (10,775 feet) rising in the distance.

    Below right: Decaying old dock in Anacortes.

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

Left: A pattern of girders on Deception Pass Bridge between Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island.

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

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

    Below right: 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: A Great Blue Heron rests in the forest on Fidalgo Island, in Deception Pass State Park.

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

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

Page 0:  Highlights of Washington State, USA