Trapper Creek

I've been putting together a bunch of design proposals lately—an occupation that's satisfying on some levels, and deeply unsatisfying in others. It's a great way to gain a coherence to my nebulous project ideas, and I like making these one-page documents that juxtapose different visual elements (sketches, photos, swatches) in an attractive way. At the end of the process I have an appealing little object that encapsulates my excitement about a potential project—and, of course, I can't show it to anyone for months or sometimes years. That's the part that's less satisfying.

But what I can show you are images from my hiking backlog, this time a walk we did two weeks ago in the Trapper Creek Wilderness at the far southern border of Gifford Pinchot National Forest. What a beautiful place, and a beautiful day. The Trapper Creek trail is right across the road from the Siouxon Creek area where we went walking in late April, but this trail was quite different both intrinsically and in terms of the season.

Whereas Siouxon Creek keeps on a level with the creek, so that you have the constant sound of running water as a companion, the Trapper Creek trail climbs high above the main creek, then dips down suddenly to cross it at various points. It's overall a drier hike (again, some of this is down to the difference between April and July, but I think part of it is also the trails themselves), with springy forest floor underneath and dappled sunlight coming through the forest canopy.

But although (or maybe because) there were fewer waterfalls and streams along the way, the little enclaves that do cross over water struck me as especially beautiful. The photography highlight of this hike was definitely the opportunity to capture the movement and stillness of water.

After about four miles, of primarily forest walking, we came out at the stream above, a series of miniature rapids and landings perched just above an actual falls. I liked the way in which, although all this water was moving toward and over the falls, different micro-areas gave such different perceptions of its behavior. There were points were highly-pressurized water was squeezed into a narrow space, wearing the rock beneath to a smooth slide...

...and pools where the water hardly circulated at all.

There were also areas where the swift flow of water was so steady that it gave the impression of highly-polished, unmoving glass, sculpted into sinuous forms...

...and other places where the stream seemed to spread out and flatten itself against the rock underneath, giving the impression that the stony surface itself was in motion.

Just before the water tumbled over the falls, it gathered in a still-seeming pool that gave an odd "edge of the world" optical illusion, as if it simply ended without actually being contained.

All in all it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. We managed to eat lunch actually on the trail, which we're getting better at but which in the past has been a big accomplishment (we normally get going so late, or get lost due to the poor instructions in our hiking book, that we end up eating while we're still in the car). I have another hike to show you from this weekend, so hopefully I can get that up in the next few days. Along with, you know, knitting content.

Oh, and NW Forest pass tracking: after this outing we were down to $15/hike.