Skyline Divide 2013

Mike, Al, Peggy, me, Amy, Linda (taken by wilderness ranger)

Last week there were fourteen of us heading up to the wilderness, when it was bright and sunny. Yesterday and most of last night it rained, so only six of us showed up today for a hike up to Skyline Divide. I've been on this hike in a driving rain, so I wasn't deterred. Plus, last week's hike in the hot sun and covered with bugs was not exactly one of my favorite excursions, even if the views were spectacular.

Al in a field of flowers, Peggy looking on

In the car on the way up, Al showed me some pictures he had taken with his iPhone in HDR (high dynamic range), which takes three different exposures and combines them into one shot. I was impressed with the difference, so I decided to see what kind of a difference it might make for me. When we reached the ridge, I captured these two shots, which show an amazing difference between my camera and the iPhone camera in HDR.

Canon Powershot on left, iPhone HDR on right

Although I was a little closer in the second shot, you can compare and see that the HDR with my iPhone took the superior picture, by far! Everything is better. This is a dilemma for me, since now I'm wondering if I should just use the phone for most pictures and forget the camera. The only downside for me is that there is no zoom on the iPhone.

Peggy, Amy, Linda, Mike, with Baker behind

Once we gained the ridge, a short but steep hike, we decided to have a quick lunch and then hike a bit farther along the ridge. As you can see here, Mt. Baker had decided to show its face amongst the clouds, but it wasn't for long. By the time we decided to get going again, most of our views were gone. We ended up walking along the ridge until almost 1:00pm before turning around. We ran into another group on the ridge, a bunch of really neat women. We found that they call themselves the "Wilderness Wandering Women" from Seattle, and they also go out weekly for excursions. Once a year they have an overnight stay and go a bit farther afield. Yesterday they hiked Chain Lakes and today Skyline Divide before they return to Seattle tonight.

Wilderness Wandering Women of Seattle

It was fun to meet some other hikers who appreciate the beauty of our wonderful Pacific Northwest environs, even if they ARE younger and do much more demanding trips. I really liked meeting them and hope we run into each other again! Wouldn't that be fun?

Amy in her bug shield and Linda in her smile

On the trip back down, I asked Amy and Linda to let me see what kind of picture I could get with my iPhone HDR, given the shadows and difficulty showing the clouds in the valley below. I couldn't be more pleased with this picture, since everything is exactly right, from the background to their faces, and I didn't need to alter the picture even a little.

Amazing flower display

This picture was taken with my Canon PowerShot, which shows the beautiful flowers we saw today, but it washed out the clouds and mountains behind. I will be making use of my iPhone capabilities much more often after today's discoveries. 

We reached the cars after having hiked somewhere around 7.25 miles round trip and covering almost 2,900 feet elevation gain and loss. However, compared to last week, I feel like I was on a vacation! I am feeling great, happy to be home after having had a wonderful day in the wilderness, and not feeling like I need a week to recover. As I take my last sip of wine, I'll be posting this and giving thanks for yet another wonderful day in the mountains with my BFFs. Life doesn't get much better than this.

:-)