"You Can't Always Get What You Want"

[Jim Dockery]

The words of this good ole Stones tune were playing in my head as I hiked down from an overnighter at Sibley Pass in the North Cascades this week. I'd hauled my Sony A7rII, 3 lenses, extra batteries, and my RX100 as a back-up, up a hot bug infested trail hoping to do a stary night time-lapse, along with lots of other shots into the heart of the national park. Smoke haze from fires had drifted in though and even the peaks across the valley were hazy so instead of traversing the ridge over to a higher point in the morning I just headed down before the sun hit the trail waking up the biting flies.

"But if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need," was my hope as I thought about processing the sunset and sunrise shots I had captured (no stars were attempted).

Hidden Lake Peak trail, which I followed up to just below the pass on the left, then a climbers trail up to Sibley Pk. on the left.

I'm not normally into selfies, but had to get one laughing at myself. One of my rules is to always carry an extra battery (esp. with the A7 which is notorious for burning through it's little battery). I had just charged all my batteries the night before though, and hadn't stopped to shoot all the way up, so thought I was good to go. I dropped my overnight gear at the pass and scrambled up the peak above bringing my tripod, A7rII, and lenses, only to find the battery in the camera had totally failed (first time for that!). I'd left the RX100 below, but had my iPhone, which I used for these shots.

North from Sibley Pk.

Hidden Lake Pk from Sibley Pk., note my little green tarp marking my camp at the pass.

Smoke haze from the pass

Sunset NW, Mt. Baker on right

Sunrise to the SE

Trail down in the cool of the morning sans flies.

In the end I found what I needed, even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I'll be back again, perhaps on skis next time to beat the bugs!

 

[JimFox]

Hey Jim,

There are some valuable lessons here.

That smoke is sure affecting a lot of things, here in California it's going to affect where I can shoot the Perseids Meteor shower from this weekend.

That's a shame your battery had totally died, that is a curse of those otherwise fine Sony A7r cameras. That's good you had your iPhone with you, and yeah, I think I would be laughing too if I was in your situation. We can prep all we want and sometimes things just happen. Your iPhone shots are a nice consolation prize, certainly there was some nice light and compositions you caught. I think you should make another attempt at it before ski season. And it looks like a nice display of wildflowers up there too.

 

[AlanLichty]

Great looking wildflowers - happily the smoke didn't impair things up close. I have visited Mt. Rainier looking like the scene in #5 and ended up with a rather disappointing trip. The haze does add an interesting dimension to the sunset in #6.

 

[MonikaC]

That smoke gave you a killer sunset, Jim; love those layers! We've been having a lot of wildfire smoke here in Colorado's Front Range, too. The wildflowers look awfully good there. The one time I went out with my mirrorless setup without backup batteries (because it was a 10 mile RT hike & I was only interested in the fairy slipper orchids at the turn-around point & I hadn't shot with that battery) the battery died. And the orchids weren't out, either.

 

[Jim Dockery]

Thanks for all the comments.

Now I'm trying to figure out my next climb/overnighter but the haze/bugs/heat have got me scared off for a few days. Some clouds are supposed to come in on the weekend, so I think I'll wait for that to clear things up.

We are unusual for this area, having put in AC a few years ago - it's so pleasant at home I've become reluctant to leave when it's hot. I sometimes question my sanity when I'm covered in sweat hiking up some steep alpine trail with the bugs swarming. My wife is much smarter, she just stays home and says, "Why do I have to go do that when I can just look at your pictures?"

 

[AlanLichty]

......My wife is much smarter, she just stays home and says, "Why do I have to go do that when I can just look at your pictures?"

Sounds like a comment I hear a lot at my house as well

 

[Alisa]

The words of this good ole Stones tune were playing in my head as I hiked down from an overnighter at Sibley Pass in the North Cascades this week. I'd hauled my Sony A7rII, 3 lenses, extra batteries, and my RX100 as a back-up, up a hot bug infested trail hoping to do a stary night time-lapse, along with lots of other shots into the heart of the national park. Smoke haze from fires had drifted in though and even the peaks across the valley were hazy so instead of traversing the ridge over to a higher point in the morning I just headed down before the sun hit the trail waking up the biting flies.

"But if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need," was my hope as I thought about processing the sunset and sunrise shots I had captured (no stars were attempted).

View attachment 10688
Hidden Lake Peak trail, which I followed up to just below the pass on the left, then a climbers trail up to Sibley Pk. on the left.

View attachment 10693
I'm not normally into selfies, but had to get one laughing at myself. One of my rules is to always carry an extra battery (esp. with the A7 which is notorious for burning through it's little battery). I had just charged all my batteries the night before though, and hadn't stopped to shoot all the way up, so thought I was good to go. I dropped my overnight gear at the pass and scrambled up the peak above bringing my tripod, A7rII, and lenses, only to find the battery in the camera had totally failed (first time for that!). I'd left the RX100 below, but had my iPhone, which I used for these shots.

View attachment 10695
North from Sibley Pk.

View attachment 10703
Hidden Lake Pk from Sibley Pk., note my little green tarp marking my camp at the pass.

View attachment 10696
Smoke haze from the pass

View attachment 10697
Sunset NW, Mt. Baker on right

View attachment 10701
Sunrise to the SE

View attachment 10702
Trail down in the cool of the morning sans flies.

In the end I found what I needed, even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I'll be back again, perhaps on skis next time to beat the bugs!

Wow these are great given the cerminstances. I really like the Sunset NW shot. Kind of the same thing happened to me when I first startig documenting my hikes, trips, adventures. I was backpacing the tetons I had two batteries and no way to charge in the backcountry. I will just say I was almost crying when I got up on hurricane pass.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

The words of this good ole Stones tune were playing in my head as I hiked down from an overnighter at Sibley Pass in the North Cascades this week. I'd hauled my Sony A7rII, 3 lenses, extra batteries, and my RX100 as a back-up, up a hot bug infested trail hoping to do a stary night time-lapse, along with lots of other shots into the heart of the national park. Smoke haze from fires had drifted in though and even the peaks across the valley were hazy so instead of traversing the ridge over to a higher point in the morning I just headed down before the sun hit the trail waking up the biting flies.

"But if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need," was my hope as I thought about processing the sunset and sunrise shots I had captured (no stars were attempted).

View attachment 10688
Hidden Lake Peak trail, which I followed up to just below the pass on the left, then a climbers trail up to Sibley Pk. on the left.

View attachment 10693
I'm not normally into selfies, but had to get one laughing at myself. One of my rules is to always carry an extra battery (esp. with the A7 which is notorious for burning through it's little battery). I had just charged all my batteries the night before though, and hadn't stopped to shoot all the way up, so thought I was good to go. I dropped my overnight gear at the pass and scrambled up the peak above bringing my tripod, A7rII, and lenses, only to find the battery in the camera had totally failed (first time for that!). I'd left the RX100 below, but had my iPhone, which I used for these shots.

View attachment 10695
North from Sibley Pk.

View attachment 10703
Hidden Lake Pk from Sibley Pk., note my little green tarp marking my camp at the pass.

View attachment 10696
Smoke haze from the pass

View attachment 10697
Sunset NW, Mt. Baker on right

View attachment 10701
Sunrise to the SE

View attachment 10702
Trail down in the cool of the morning sans flies.

In the end I found what I needed, even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I'll be back again, perhaps on skis next time to beat the bugs!

It is always a treat to go through your images, Jim regardless of how they are recorded. BTW, Picaridin Insect Repellent is by far the best on the market and can be purchased at REI or Dick's Sporting Goods.. Put that on and you won't be pestered by any insects.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

That smoke gave you a killer sunset, Jim; love those layers! We've been having a lot of wildfire smoke here in Colorado's Front Range, too. The wildflowers look awfully good there. The one time I went out with my mirrorless setup without backup batteries (because it was a 10 mile RT hike & I was only interested in the fairy slipper orchids at the turn-around point & I hadn't shot with that battery) the battery died. And the orchids weren't out, either.

Calypso Orchids ae the most beautiful orchids in North America. Too bad they weren't up yet. Have you photographed them before, Monika?

 

[MonikaC]

Calypso Orchids ae the most beautiful orchids in North America. Too bad they weren't up yet. Have you photographed them before, Monika?

Yes, I was there at the right time last year (went in on a run 1 week & spotted them & returned a week later, but had to look on the other side of the trail where it was shadier as they were all toast where I first saw them. It was a good exercise in critical thinking to figure out their habitat & find similar conditions)