OUT ADVENTURING: DEATH VALLEY AND MOUNT SAINT HELENS

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Nikon D800 multi-frame panoramic merger from Mount Saint Helens' crater rim.

This past few days I was hoping to be up on Mount Saint Helens camping, skiing and doing some panoramic work . However, after an entire winter of spring like weather, the cascades are finally getting some colder storms. I am so excited to test out my new F-stop Satori EXP bag on an overnight ski trip that I've had it packed for over a week now as you can see below...

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Gear for a multi-day ski touring adventure. Click to see bigger.

I've been wandering in the mountains long enough to respect their moods, so... I'm pivoting and taking off with Stacey for Death Valley today. A non-profit client is hosting an event down there and asked us to come photograph it. I love Death Valley in the Spring.

We'll be back Monday. If the mountains are in a better mood, then I'll be headed up Saint Helens on Tuesday. Fingers crossed...

-Hudson 

Death Valley's Racetrack Playa

Sunrise Over Kilimanjaro

This image is from a climb of Mt. Meru, outside Arusha, Tanzania . I left the saddle camp with my Climbing-Ranger Jafari before 2am to make Rhino Point at 13,000 feet before dawn. (Jafari is a saint and an artist at heart). Rhino Point has an EPIC view into Mt. Meru's massive crater.

As I finished shooting the first light on the crater, the clouds lit up with color around Mt Kilimanjaro across the valley. I pivoted the tripod. Then... serendipity! The rest of my crew came up the trail into my frame. I merely shouted "stop and check out the light on Kilimanjaro!" Then I framed up the image you see above.

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Dawn Lights Mt. Meru: Technical Details: Nikon D700, Nikkor 14-24 at F5.6 for 1/320sec at ISO200 (click image to enlarge)

I always advocate that people planning a trip to climb Kilimanjaro allot an extra three days to first climb Mt. Meru (15,000 feet) in order to acclimatize. Having climbed them both, I can positively say that Meru was my favorite of the two. There is more wildlife, better views, less regulation, fewer people and much less expense involved. It's a wilder, more scenic mountain in many ways.

I've been slowly auditing my collection of past images. It's fun to look at favorites like this one with a fresh eye. One of the amazing benefits of our digital age is the ability to go back to a RAW image and rework it like a fresh piece of undeveloped film.

-Hudson

First Look: Expedition Denali Trailer

I got a nice surprise this morning as I was unpacking from last weeks assignment. My friends at Distill Productions have finished their promotional trailer for the forthcoming documentary on Expedition Denali and it looks amazing. It was an incredible experience being a part of the film crew documenting this historic climb. Thanks to the Expedition Denali team, NOLS, our Kickstarter backers, and Distill Productions for helping to make it happen.

Without further ado, here is the fun stuff...

Purchase an Expedition Denali print in the adventure gallery of my store.

-Hudson

Expedition Denali Sierra Magazine Cover

This past summer it was my honor to join Distil Productions, and NOLS (the National Outdoor Leadership School) to document Expedition Denali, the first African American expedition to take on America's highest peak. 

The January / February 2014 Issue of Sierra Magazine, the Sierra Club's national magazine, celebrates the historic expedition with the cover, a number of pages of my photos from the expedition as well as an interview with expedition members: Erica Wynn, Scott Briscoe, Rosemary Saal, and Stephen Shobe as well as our legendary NOLS instructor KG (James Kagambi).

Sierra is a world class publication with a very broad, intelligent and informed subscriber base; I'm more than pleased to have my image grace it's cover.

It's fun to watch the media coverage ramp up as Distill Productions continues editing the feature-length documentary.

Purchase an Expedition Denali print in the adventure gallery of my store.

-Hudson

The Enchantments

Perched high above a small, Bavarian-looking village and surrounded by jagged peaks lies an adventuresome backpacker’s dream: a glacier-carved granite valley filled with pristine blue lakes, sparse colorful trees, and abundant wildlife.   For those of us fortunate enough to live in Pacific Northwest this magical valley is neither far away nor expensive to reach.  We need drive no further than five hours from Portland, to the Enchantments of Washington state.

Early in the 20th Century the first European American visitor, US Geological Survey topographer A.H. Sylvester, named the area Enchantment Lakes.   Sylvester wrote of his discovery: 

"I found 5 or 6 most beautiful small lakes grouped in a wonderful glacial valley all ringed with alpine larch. From the highest lake over an entrancing fall tumbled the water it received from a small glacier. It was an entrancing scene."

Technical Details: Nikon D700, Nikkor 70-300VR at F5.3 for 1/400th sec at ISO 1000.

Today a part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area, the Enchantments is about 15 miles southwest of Leavenworth, Washington, a wonderful town where it always feels a bit like Oktoberfest.  Rare among Cascade basins, the lakes of the Enchantments rest above 7,000 feet in glacially carved granite.  This makes the basin strikingly different.  Here a hiker will not tread muddy forest trails to reach brushy lakeshores.  Instead granite trails connect jewel-like lakes set against the rugged, panoramic backdrop of the Stuart Range.  Scattered throughout the valley are mountain goats, waterfalls, and stands of Tamarack trees waiting to turn golden in the fall.

Like all great things, this scenic splendor does not come without sacrifice.  There is no easy way into or out of the Enchantments.   Each of the two main routes to reach the basin presents challenges.  The more commonly recommended Snow Lake trail enters the Enchantments’ lower basin from the east and climbs 6,000 feet over a very long ten miles to get there.  The shorter but more grueling route climbs Aasgard Pass above Colchuck Lake to reach the Enchantments’ upper basin from the west.  While the Colchuck route is just under 6 miles long and gains less than 4,500 feet, more than half of that elevation is gained in the final mile ascending Aasgard Pass.  Because ice, snow or sudden storms can make the steeps of Aasgard Pass highly treacherous, only experienced mountaineers with adequate equipment should consider this approach.

Once inside the basin memories of the rigorous ascent quickly fade.  Find a campsite by one of the many pristine lakes and explore to your heart’s content.  Fish, swim, hike, scramble up one of the surrounding peaks like Little Annapurna, or rope up and follow Fred Beckey’s route to the top of Prusik Peak.  Commune with the mountain goats, but be careful to keep a safe distance.  Photographers will be overwhelmed by the endless scenic possibilities.  Here are a couple of inside tips: the larch trees are magnificent in the fall and the views afforded by a side trip up Prusik Pass are well worth the effort.  

-Hudson

Where Sky Meets Sea

Don’t you love when you go out looking for something specific and wind up finding something totally unexpected along the way? That is exactly how I felt after capturing the photograph above one evening on Kauai.

I had spent three evenings at Ke’e beach waiting for the right sunset light to strike the island’s Na Pali coast. Na Pali is Hawaiian for “the cliffs,” and this coast is well named.  It’s rugged mountain cliffs, swift rivers, waterfalls, and hanging valleys have kept this spectacular northwestern part of the Island wild and undeveloped.

Technical Details: Nikon D200, Nikkor 12-24 at F22 for .6 sec at ISO 100.

One afternoon while exploring Ke’e beach, I encountered a series of rocky pools stretching far out into the tidal zone. I thought to myself that these pools would make a great reflecting foreground at sunset with the westward facing cliffs of Na Pali stretching into the distance.

Now after spending three nights wading around with my tripod waiting, I finally had that fleeting golden sunset light that I’d been waiting for. I found a pool that was just out of the tide’s reach and framed up the image you see to the right. I used a wide angle lens with a slow shutter speed and narrow aperture to keep the landscape sharp while blurring the moving waves to illustrate the pounding surf. I knew I had the image that I wanted.

That’s when the unexpected happened. As the sun rimmed down on the watery horizon, I looked behind me and saw the rain clouds out to sea starting to turn red. I quickly turned my attention directly into the backlit sunset. The exposure was really complicated and the light was changing fast. First I stacked two graduated neutral density filters to even out the foreground exposure with the brightness of the sky. Then I stopped down to drag the shutter and blur the surf beyond the pool my tripod and I were wading in.  

I love the way this resultant image dramatizes blurred edges of the earth, sea and sky. It is one of my most popular prints and has run in national publications including Islands Magazine. The lesson? Never get so focused on a subject that you forget to look behind you.

-Hudson

Post Script: One of my favorite adventures on earth is to backpack the ancient Kalalau Trail down the Na Pali coast from Ke’e beach into the Kalalau Valley and back. This is not a trip to be taken lightly, but if you are are physically and mentally up to the challenge, the rewards are incredible.