Crews of chairlift mechanics from The Summit at Snoqualmie are kept busy bolting down chairlift towers as a heavy-lift helicopter carries whole tower assemblies and other parts up the hill at the Summit East ski area. The main lift on the front side of the mountain, a triple chair called “East Peak”, and the lift on the back side, “Hidden Valley” are being replaced for the 2010-11 ski season.
October 5, 2010

Recently this shot of a kid on a mountain bike flying off a jump at Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park ran in the paper. When I shot it I was thinking like a straight journalist: show the place and the action. Quite straightforward.

But a few comments from others made me look again. Cropping out the jump, leaving a biker flying high among the trees with no visible launching pad– no apparent connection to the ground– gives an even stronger effect.

I wish I hadn’t been so literal. It isn’t always better to show every relevant thing.

Hoards of powder hounds suddenly converge at Crystal Mountain’s Northway chairlift and wait in “line” soon after the north backcountry is opened with a foot of fresh snow, Saturday, April 3.

Along a dirt road on the Key Peninsula we were fascinated by this muscular stand of shaggy mane mushrooms.

Overnight they must have had quite a party– they seemed terribly hung over the next day.

Spent a day last week up at Northwest Trek listening to the bull elk bugle and wrestle. It’s breeding season for them and the males are vying for the chance to lead the herd.