As I get older, I have increasingly become more liberal in my environmental stance. Driving down I90 is the worst, a bit of me cries as I watch fancy exits and carpool lanes extend out into what was once pristine forest; now torn down for big-box stores surrounded by vast oceans of cars and mono-culture "planned communities".

...But the torture is worth it. This summer I hiked into Melakwa Lake - one of the many lakes that dot the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Thankfully the early June weather had not melted the high-elevation snow--leaving the lake-area desolate, save for the few brave hikers willing to trample over the snow covered trail. Sadly, I was not prepared and should have brough a neutral density filter; thus most of my high-elevation pictures are trash.

High Melakwa Lake One of the many falls as the snow melt makes its way down into Denny Creek Water More Water

a trashed picture looking back down where I came from

There is no other way to describe the part of William O Douglas wilderness we hiked. Starting from our camp next to a real, live burbling spring - we hiked 4.7 miles to Penoyer Lake. From there, we hiked another mile, past small sub-alpine lakes and prisine grassland to where the trail, Cowlitz Trail #44, intersected with the Pacific Crest Trail. Sadly, since we only had a day to hike, we had to turn back. I highly recommend this area for hiking. The only thing I'd do different next time is come in from the north side by Bumping Lake (on the big map, it's just right of Twin Sisters Lakes). This way you avoid all the elevation gain and are only .5 miles away from the fun stuff. Also, if you can - please do this as an overnight trip. Shannon and I have every intention of aquiring some good backbacks and doing this overnight later this summer. There is SO many trails past literally hundreds of small lakes that you need a few days to explore.

The Map Really big map (430kb)

While we are at it - does anybody have good tips for forest pictures? All mine tend to have really muddy looking trees. I've bitched about my cameras green response before, but I wonder if it is my camera? There is a lot of contrast in trees, and I am wondering what kinds of tips people have for high quality shots? Should I dump my digital camera for these kinds of trips and go film? (yes) If so, what kind of film?