Mt. Loop Revisited

[Jim Dockery]

I went X-skiing up The Mountain Loop Hwy with my wife last week and had a great time. Fresh deep snow was heavy in the trees so it was a winter wonderland. I only had my iPhone 13 Pro, which did a great job as usual, but I really wished I'd brought a real camera.

After a few days of rain in the mountains and high avalanche and falling tree danger we had one good day yesterday so back up we went. Black ice made the drive slow and tricky, but we finally made it. This time I carried a larger pack loaded with my Sony A7rII + 24-105mm, along with my DJI M2-P and extra batteries. Most of the snow had fallen out of the trees, we were there mid morning so the light wasn't anything special, but it was still beautiful. Debbie kept skiing while I hung out by the river and flew the drone.

Pano view east (click for larger gallery image)

South Fork Stillaguamish River leads to Big Four and Hall Pk.

A7rII Pano

Looking west to Three Fingers framed by Long Mt. and Devil's Pk. You can't see me but I'm standing on the river bank at the far curve.

 

[Ben Egbert]

These are all great but I really love that pano

 

[Alisa]

Beautiful set, I to really like the pano!

 

[AlanLichty]

The drone panorama is fantastic but the Sony pano is definitely worth a shout out as well. Beautiful scenery up there.

What are you using for a landing space when you are out like this?

 

[Jim Dockery]

Thanks for all the comments. I'm partial to the A7 pano myself.

Alan, if you want to fly your drone in rough country, esp. snow, you'll want to learn to hand launch and catch. I have pretty long arms so am not worried about the rotors getting too close to my head. Best practiced many times in a windless safe environment. When landing the drone will stop a couple feet up when it sees your hand below so you have to force it down. As soon as you grab the body it turns itself off.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Lovely set Jim.

 

[MonikaC]

Looks like a beautiful day in the mountains.

 

[JimFox]

Great work Jim! That's good you went back out as these are great images. I think #2 is my favorite.

 

[BlackRockArt]

I went X-skiing up The Mountain Loop Hwy with my wife last week and had a great time. Fresh deep snow was heavy in the trees so it was a winter wonderland. I only had my iPhone 13 Pro, which did a great job as usual, but I really wished I'd brought a real camera.

After a few days of rain in the mountains and high avalanche and falling tree danger we had one good day yesterday so back up we went. Black ice made the drive slow and tricky, but we finally made it. This time I carried a larger pack loaded with my Sony A7rII + 24-105mm, along with my DJI M2-P and extra batteries. Most of the snow had fallen out of the trees, we were there mid morning so the light wasn't anything special, but it was still beautiful. Debbie kept skiing while I hung out by the river and flew the drone.

View attachment 45694
Pano view east (click for larger gallery image)

View attachment 45691
South Fork Stillaguamish River leads to Big Four and Hall Pk.

View attachment 45692
A7rII Pano

View attachment 45693
Looking west to Three Fingers framed by Long Mt. and Devil's Pk. You can't see me but I'm standing on the river bank at the far curve.

Jim, the 2nd one is beautiful

Oliver

 

[Douglas Sherman]

I went X-skiing up The Mountain Loop Hwy with my wife last week and had a great time. Fresh deep snow was heavy in the trees so it was a winter wonderland. I only had my iPhone 13 Pro, which did a great job as usual, but I really wished I'd brought a real camera.

After a few days of rain in the mountains and high avalanche and falling tree danger we had one good day yesterday so back up we went. Black ice made the drive slow and tricky, but we finally made it. This time I carried a larger pack loaded with my Sony A7rII + 24-105mm, along with my DJI M2-P and extra batteries. Most of the snow had fallen out of the trees, we were there mid morning so the light wasn't anything special, but it was still beautiful. Debbie kept skiing while I hung out by the river and flew the drone.

View attachment 45694
Pano view east (click for larger gallery image)

View attachment 45691
South Fork Stillaguamish River leads to Big Four and Hall Pk.

View attachment 45692
A7rII Pano

View attachment 45693
Looking west to Three Fingers framed by Long Mt. and Devil's Pk. You can't see me but I'm standing on the river bank at the far curve.

Nice series of images, Jim. BTW, I saw a great movie about climbing the fourteen highest peaks in the world in one year on Neflix. It is called "14 Peaks: Mission Possilble." If you haven't seen it, I think you would really like it.

 

[Jim Dockery]

Thanks Douglas, I watched it the first day it was released. Incredible feat and great show. They didn't get much press in the western climbing world because they only did the technically easy routes on each peak, and I guess just doing them super fast one after another was seen as more of a stunt than an advance in climbing. When they (along with other Sherpas) did the first winter ascent of K2 last year it finally got them the credit they deserve.