In late October 2017, Skagit County was ablaze with Fall color. With the crisp mornings and little rain, the foliage with their vibrant colors lingered for weeks. Mother Nature was showing off, and I was itching to be a part of it and capture the beauty.
It had been suggested to me that I should travel the Rockport Loop, because the Fall colors would not disappoint. Starting off in Mount Vernon, Washington, a friend and I traveled along State Route 9 to the city of Clear Lake and we made our way traveling through other small towns like Sedro-Woolley, Lyman, Hamilton, and Concrete. The air was filled with a morning mist and it was starting to lift. On the way, I spied a meadow of Elk, grazing with the morning mist as their backdrop. It would have made an incredible image, but there was nowhere to pull over. Yet, the journey was starting to look promising!
Just before arriving in Rockport, I pulled over and snapped this photo and I was grateful there was little to no traffic. You can see why.
Canon 6D with 24-105mm Canon Zoom Lens
Settings: f/4.5 Aperture * 1/30 shutter speed * ISO 800
Canon Polarizing Filter
After Rockport we headed south on State Route 530 to Darrington. Darrington is a quaint little town. There is a mountain that soars nearby and we had to find out its name. A sweet old man was working in his yard and the best view of the mountain was from his back yard. So we asked his permission to trespass and he was very accommodating. He told us in the winter when the mountain is covered in snow, it resembles the head of a white horse. Here are a couple of shots of White Horse Mountain from different locations and at different times of the day, minus the snow.
Canon 6D with 24-105mm Canon Zoom Lens
Settings: f/4.5 Aperture * 1/80 Sec shutter speed * ISO 100
Canon Polarizing Filter-Post processing/Dehazing slider in Lightroom.
Canon 6D with 24-105mm Canon Zoom Lens
Settings: f/5.6 Aperture * 1/125 Sec shutter speed * ISO 100
Canon Polarizing Filter
After Darrington we continued south on State Route 530 NE and I captured this image standing on a bridge. With the sounds of the trickling water of the White Chuck Creek and with the Fall foliage reflecting in its waters, it was so peaceful and it also reminded me of a painting. Plus, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.
Canon 6D with 24-105mm Canon Zoom Lens
Settings: f/5.0 Aperture* 1/50 Sec shutter speed * ISO 100
Canon Polarizing Filter
We could have lingered here a lot longer, but we pressed on. The journey took us through more little towns like Tulker, Hazel, Rowan, Halterman, Oso and then we arrived in Arlington. Here we had a wonderful picnic at a park in the heart of downtown.
We continued back to home base on State Route 9NE passing through the cities of Lake McMurray and Big Lake. It was the perfect day trip, which I plan to do again next Fall. I highly recommend it! In fact, I may offer this as a photography workshop trip. More on that later. Stay tuned and read about my latest travel photography and subscribe to my mailing list.
Travel on!