Good Morning Rainier!
It simply doesn't get much better than this!
Cool, crisp air fills the nostrils as the sun emerges to illuminate this sleeping giant. Who could ask for more?
The Class (above)
The Pro (below)
Randall Hodges, professional photographer.
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
This man's passion for the outdoors and capturing the essence of the beauty God placed before us in unparallelled. He gave attention to the group as a whole, as well as taking special care to individually instruct and assist each one present. Since my camera was LACKING greatly compared to all the rest...I had the privelage of being Randall's "shadow" in order to learn to operate a professional grade camera. I had it in my mind to obtain one prior to the class...but now that I've had the lesson, I am 100% hooked. I am obsessed with getting my Cannon 50D...
Randall taught me how to optimize my little Sony though, and I spent the rest of the weekend maxing out it's capabilities as I hiked around Rainier taking in God's artwork.
A beautiful buck!
Wildflowers
A snowy trail from the top.
Very questionable whether or not I wanted to brave this trail as it was VERY steep and slick. (duh!)
Okay...so I made it past the first little portion. You can see the many places along this path where people did slip and slide probably 20-30 feet though!
Here you can see how steep it actually was...and I caught someone who was in the process of sliding down the little glacier lol. (I probably would have been laughing had it been myself...so I can "lol"!)
I made it to the end of the snowy part!
My self-pic with the magnificent view behind me.
Another of natures very interesting creatures...a marmot catching some rays on a rock.
It was like he was posing for me!
All great things must come to an end and this day was no exception.
I found a marvelous spot to shoot sunset...unfortunately, my baby camera didn't capture it as well as I would have liked, but it did the best it could!
The next day I did make it to the opposite side...the North side of the mountain, but the weather was not near as cooperative. In fact, I hiked about 5 miles from the Sunrise parking area. When I left, it was 61 degrees. In the middle of my hike, the fog rolled in so quickly that I could only see the trail in front of me and not much else. It cleared periodically, but by the time I got back to the lodge, it was raining and 39 degrees! It was amazing to observe the fog rolling across the trail as quickly as it was. I've never seen anything like it! I have always layered up for my hikes and taken extra clothes and rain gear with me, but this is actually the first time I've had to use any of it! I took a few pix, but haven't managed to download them yet. They pale in comparison the those I've already shared...
Looking forward to my next "In the field" lesson with Randall!
(Hurry up May 2011!!)
