A strange bug at my frontdoor

Anyone know what kind of bug this is? I've never seen anything like it, and it's fascinating! It was about 3 inches long including his legs.

Mt. Hood Timberline Trail - Day 3

Finally here are the photos from Day 3 of our Timberline Trail adventure! First are pro camera pics then the snapshot pics.

We woke in the morning and these amazing clouds were swirling around Mt. Hood's edge-

Our first view of Hood River Valley... home!

Coe Glacier viewed from Elk Cove-

Indian Paintbrush wildflower-

Western Pasque flower, aka "Old Man of the Mountains" or "Hippy on a stick"

One of the more difficult gnarley river crossings-

Lindsey didn't end up walking across those wet slippery logs. If she did, this would definitely be the last living photo of her-

I walked through it really slowly and hoped I didn't loose my footing-

Little side trip off the main trail led to this view of Hood and glacier melt-

It also led to this awesome huge chunk of glacier snow with a waterfall emptying into it, and water flowing in a cave underneath the snow.

Of course I couldn't just settle for seeing the outside, so I found an opening to crawl though and go inside. Super sweet!!! I brought my tripod so I could do some longer exposures. This one is looking out of the cave-

And looking into the cave, bottom of the waterfall is at that opening-

Cloud Cap Inn-

Dinnertime and campfire-

Colin concentrating on his "sticky fire" on the top so his calzone cooked on both sides-

This is Mt. Saint Helens about an hour after sunset. The sky was basically dark and this is ISO 100, f/4 @ 5 minutes to get enough exposure! Love the whispy clouds and vibrant twilight colors! One of my favorite photos of the trip.

Another long exposure of stars and clouds. Mt Saint Helens and Mt. Adams are visible-

20 minute exposure of Mt. Hood and stars-

Now for the snapshots from day 3-
Kristin and Lindsey, perfect timing for awkward looks on their faces-

Getting into that brushing action-

Kristin got stuck in this position and had to get help to move, haha

Lunch!

This part of the trail had recently been hit with a windstorm so big I can't even imagine! Just about every tree was laid down in the same direction on this whole ridge-

This is the Eliot Creek Crossing which normally has a bridge, but it was washed out in 2006 by flooding. The trail (see it on the other side?) is closed and totally impassable, so you have to take a detour and hike up the mountain a way, then slide down the steep canyon. Pics coming from that on day 4.

Look very closely and there is 2 people and a dog traversing up this steep slope (we got to look forward to that the next day)-

Colin and Kristin about to devour their perfectly cooked calzones-

Colin mid-action eating pic-

Some kind of pizza thing he was excited about-

I call this my cheesy chunky-

Day 4 images are great too... they'll be posted when I get some time! :)

Mt. Hood Timberline Trail - Day 2

I've finally found a few moments on this beautiful Saturday morning to post some more Timberline Trail pics... Day 2! If I remember correctly we did a LOT of hiking this day (set up camp in the dark) so I did more shooting with the snapshot camera than my pro camera.
Anyway onto the photos!

Beautiful Indian Paintbrush wildflowers with Mt. Hood in the background-

A gorgeous spring fed stream in the morning hours, Mt. Hood in the background of course-

Mt. Hood-

Mt. Hood and wildflowers-

Can't remember the name of this canyon, but it was huge!

Some nice waterfalls down there too-

Ramona Falls-

Ramona Falls-

Glacier melt off Mt. Hood-

Glacier melt off Mt. Hood-

A different angle view of Hood that I had never seen, doesn't even look like the same mountain!

This was a gorgeous viewpoint after a very steep climb up from the canyon-

Colin and Kristin-

Last light on Mt. Hood, there was two deer in the field in front of me... such a beautiful sight!

Another gorgeous sunset-

Stars-

Long exposure of the stars-

OK.... Lindsey and I are both so confused about what this is... because we saw the thing moving quite rapidly before I took this photo. It could have been our eyes playing tricks on us... but still. It's sooo bright and I've never seen a star or planet that bright. It's not a plane either. UFO???

Here are the snapshots from the day.
Waking up in the morning, Lindsey and I shared a tent-

Linz waking up... morning face-

We randomly ran into a good friend of ours Holly, I had no idea she was out there hiking too!

She hid behind a rock and jumped out to scare Colin and Lindsey-

Colin snapping some pics-

Lunch break-

Lindsey.... ummm... not sure what she's doing here?

One of my favorite things was wild berries everywhere!!! They are sooo good! These are huckleberries (they look like blueberries in the photo)-

Huckleberries, so good and healthy!

Wild raspberry-

Salmonberry-

Thimbleberry, one of the best tasting berries I've ever had!

Kristin, Colin and Lindsey-

This is what it looks like when you take a photo inside fire (not recommended)-

Lindsey cookin up some curry for dinner!

Lindsey gets cold very easily, so this is what she looks like every night in bed-

Thats it for day 2.... day 3 has the best photos from the trip so stay tuned!

Mt. Hood Timberline Trail - Day 1

*First of all, those of you reading this on a Facebook note, please scroll to the bottom of this note and click on "View Original Post" and it will take you to my blog, the photos are much bigger and better! Feel free to love a comment here or there too. :)

I had the opportunity to join my brother Colin, Kristin (bro's girlfriend), and sister Lindsey on a little 3 night 4 day backpacking trip on the Timberline Trail, which is a trail that goes all the way around the perimeter of Mt. Hood. It's about 40 miles, but with all my little sidetrips for photos and a few wrong turns, it was probably closer to 50 miles in the end.
Not sure how to describe the whole experience with words, so good thing I brought 3 cameras along. :)

I was trying to do one giant post with photos from the entire time but I quickly realized that it was too much, so I'm splitting it up into single days!

Day 1 (super late start so it was less than a half day):

First glimpse of wildflowers (lupine)-

I took a few self portraits on top of this sweet ridge, I was happy to be outside finally!

Not sure what this plant is, but it's everywhere!

Hiking with a view! The remainder of these photos are taken in the "Paradise Park" area and it turned out to be my favorite area of the entire trip... just 5 miles in from Timberline Lodge.

Look at those WILDFLOWERS!

Last light on Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson, looking south

Amazing colors at sunset

Check out all those stars!!! Has to be millions upon millions.... fascinating.

Longer exposure of the stars-

That completes some favorites from my pro camera, now here are a few from my snapshot camera.

The start (I didn't sleep a single second the night before and had been up for about 48 hours, I was basically a walking zombie... Then hiked 6 miles on no sleep... eeek.

Linz strikin a pose!

One of the best things about the trip is endless supplies of huckleberries, everywhere! Sooo good, and they give you a purple tongue. :)

A couple snaps after sunset-

I love my siblings :)

That's it for Day 1... more coming soon so stay tuned!

Timberline Trail, a little preview

I finally got a chance last night to work on some photos from my recent hike on the Timberline Trail, around Mt. Hood! I don't have time to post them now, but hopefully soon. Here is a little preview of what's to come.

Mt. Hood at sunset-