Trip Report: Early Season Trappers Peak Jaunt

Yesterday I took advantage of the nice weather to head up to Trappers Peak for a solo sunset romp. I was able to make it all the way to the summer trailhead with only a little bit snowy driving with three or four inches of snow on the road at the TH. I saw one other car at the trailhead - thanks to them for clearing a bunch of trees off the road!

I started hiking a little before noon. There's currently only patchy snow on the old road grade. After following the trail to where it leaves the road bed at 3100 ft I caught the party of three, fully kitted with snowshoes, ropes, ice axes, and pickets. I booted, following the trail, through the very minimal snowpack to 4,000 feet, where I transitioned to skinning - a marginal 6 inches or so of snow on the ground. Once in the 4,300 foot basin, the snow depth improved somewhat, and I left the trail and just headed towards the ridge - maybe 3 feet of snow on the ground, all of it wet and heavy, with plenty of rain runnels. 

I got on the south ridge of Trappers at 5,100 feet, and, after booting a short steep snowless section at 5,300 feet, was able to skin all the way to the summit without much trouble. There was a nice breakable crust above ~5,000 feet, which made for easy skinning but unpleasant skiing. Pretty windy above tree line, and I reached the summit at 15:30 - stunning views. I hung out on the summit for sunset, then headed down a bit before 17:00, skiing by headlamp.

I ran into the other party, who had turned around at 5,300 feet, and were just finishing up a rappel - glad they got to use their ropes after all!

The skiing improved as I descended below the crust, and I enjoyed entertaining slush skiing as low as I could go, retrieving my boots most of the way down. I called it at around 3,700 feet, and hiked back to the car, arriving at 19:00. What a gorgeous evening!

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Trip Report: Corteo Peak Circumnav via Black Peak, Last Chance Pass, Rainy Lake

Matt and I had a great trip up at Rainy Pass on Thursday, May 11, 2023, to celebrate the opening of the highway for the season. It seemed fun to shoot for a longish loop that would get us further away from the highway. We opted for the Black Peak/Last Chance Pass loop as described in Martin Volken's guidebook, but with a modified exit to go out via Rainy Lake rather than Maple Pass and Lake Ann. Rainy Lake is already quite melted out, however, and so I probably wouldn't recommend going that way, especially after this weekend's hot weather.

After too-little sleep in the East Creek trailhead, we left Rainy Pass just before 6:30. Currently, there's about three or four feet and snow on the ground at the pass, and it had refrozen nicely overnight. We made efficient time up to Heather Pass at 7:45 with lovely views. There's a pretty impressive very large avalanche still visible on the north-facing slopes above Lake Ann which deposited a huge debris pile in the middle of the lake.

We ripped skins for the quick traversing descent to Wing Lake, then skinned up to the saddle south of Black Peak, booting the last 10 feet. The slopes on the south side of the saddle are melting out quickly, and we continued walking up the exposed summer climbers' trail and booting up firm snow to just below the summit. We used ice axes but did not need boot crampons. Dropped our skis below the summit and scrambled the last ~200 feet to the true summit, arriving a few mins before 11. Gorgeous views.

Back to skis and dropped in at 11:30. We had delightful skiing on great corn down through a one of the south face gullies and then on open fast slopes that became a bit gloppy lower down. Once lower down in the valley, we traversed a little skiers' left to Woody Creek at 58,00 ft and headed up towards Last Chance Pass following the route we had scoped from above - one steeper section of traversing above a small cliff band that was not so bad with the easy travel conditions we had. Once on the saddle at 6,900 ft dividing Woody and Falls creeks, it was easy traversing without descending to Last Chance Pass just before 13:00.

The guidebook-forewarned cornice at Last Chance Pass was a non-issue, and we enjoyed slightly heavier and slightly less interesting skiing down the drainage from the pass. At about 5,800 feet we cut out skiers' left and traversed through mostly open slopes down to Maple Creek at 5,150 feet. After fishing some water out of Maple Creek via a treewell, we continued towards Frisco. Followed the creek up to about 5,600 ft, then cut right and picked our way up a steep bench and onto mellower terrain. We followed a small ridge up easily to the saddle just north of Frisco at 15:10. The saddle had melted out so we had to walk the last five feet.

We dropped in towards Rainy Lake and enjoyed beautiful but gloppy skiing to the 5,800ft flats. We carefully picked our way down the steep forest before traversing back south below the big waterfall, as Rainy Lake had melted out enough that we didn't want to ski across it. We traversed as far as we could down to the lakeshore before throwing skins on and traversing around the south side of the lake - the north shore was more melted out and looked unpleasant. A quick skin through the woods and then along the highway back to the car at 16:45 - amazed we didn't see anyone all day!

Trip Report: Kyes Peak via Monte Cristo Pass

Matt and I had a grand time skiing Kyes last weekend. I had always wanted to visit Monte Cristo, and it seemed like a great weekend for it. We brought mountain bikes for the road, and left the car at Barlow Pass at 15:30 on Saturday afternoon. It was fun but slow going up the old railroad grade, with plenty of blowdown, hike a bike sections, and a few snow patches to keep us busy. We made it to Monte Cristo in an hour and stashed our bikes on the far side of town - super cool to see what remains of the the former railroad and mining operations.

At 16:45 we headed up the trail towards Glacier Basin. It was hot going up the deep rocky and rooty section of the trail next to the waterfall. We hit our first patches of snow at around 3,800 ft and the short section after this was annoying, with the trail bed full of snow, flowing water and post holing. Pretty quickly however, the snow became continuous as the trail wrapped around into the hanging valley at 4100 feet. We dropped 20 ft down to the creek and ditched our trail runners and started skinning up the valley at 18:00.

Glacier basin was beautiful and melting out quickly. From below, it wasn't obvious that the route up to Monte Cristo pass would go, although it did without much trouble - nice to not be a week later though. The route has two steeper sections, the first of which gets you into the gentler basin at 5400 ft, and the second of which climbs around a rocky bump and gives you access to the slopes below the pass. The second steeper section we booted the last 30 feet, to find gorgeous views and easy skinning. At 19:30 we reached a lovely spot to camp on the ridge just west of the pass, with both running water a short walk away and a small but dry tent site right on the ridge.

We had an exciting night, getting woken up twice, the first time by lightning and thunder, and to discover that we were in a whiteout, and the second time by rain, which caused us to scramble to hide our things. Nonetheless we awoke at daybreak to find nice weather, with an undercast below us on both sides of the pass.

We left camp at 7:20 and booted down heathery ledges and a short bit of snow to avoid some glide cracks, then carefully skied, linking snow ramps to the Columbia Glacier. At 7:45 we put skins on and headed up the somewhat daunting looking route towards the false summit of Kyes, made more daunting by periodic whiteouts blowing in from the fogbank over Blanca Lake.

We booted 300 vertical feet of steep snow, crossing a few morainal dirt ribs, then started skinning again once above the melted out waterfalls. From here we made a gently rising traverse to the south to cross the rib coming down from Pt. 7025 at about 5850 feet, which was a bit too high, we should have stayed a bit lower and had to remove skis briefly. Past this we cruised up Pt. 7025's SW slopes to the 6600+ foot saddle a quarter mile south of Pt. 7025, and with a little shenanigans, got onto the snowfield on the far side. From here, easy skinning took us to the base of the summit block in fifteen minutes. It wasn't obvious which scrambling route up to the summit was best, but we opted to stay climbers' left, close to the ridge. 100 feet of easy Class 2 scrambling brought us to the summit at 9:25 - All in all, the route was easier than it looked from below, and we didn't use ice axes or crampons (which we didn't bring). The summit was fun and exposed, however it was pretty overcast which reduced views. Per the summit register, we were the first party on top since September.

The weather seemed to be coming in, so we scampered down at 9:40. Once back at our skis, we opted for a slightly sportier line, staying skier's right of our uptrack and bypassing the 6600+ foot saddle by way of a fun couloir closer to the summit of Pt. 7025. Below this, we crossed the ridge dropping from Pt. 7025 higher than we did on the way up, at 6400 feet. We enjoyed fun skiing which was unfortunately in a whiteout down and across the morainal rib and down to the glacier, a bit disorienting. We put skins on and followed our tracks back up towards the pass at 10:20. Fortunately the clouds broke enough for us to ski and boot our route back to camp without trouble, arriving at camp at 10:45.

We left camp at 11:15 and had fun skiing down to the bottom of Glacier Basin, where we saw some fresh bear tracks! Then just a small amount of sidstepping and pushing brought us back to our trail runners at 5200 feet at 11:35. Strapped on the skis and headed down the trail at 11:45 and into town at 12:30. We biked out of town at 12:45 and had a lovely ride, punctuated only by the bummer of a friendly passerby telling us my car had been broken into. Bummer. Back to car 13:20.

Best Photos of 2022

Another year down, and I feel super lucky to have gotten to travel to some incredibly beautiful places both close to home and more distant, as well as both some delightfully familiar places and some exciting new ones. 2022 started out with a fabulous ski season before a long, wet spring that kept some of my bigger ski mountaineering goals out of reach, with a notable exception of a ski descent off the summit of Rainier in May (although no photos from that trip made the cut for this album). Then, once the snow melted, I had a lovely summer, with highlights including another trip to visit the Vincents in the Tetons, with stops in the Palouse and Glacier on the way to and fro, plus trips to the Adirondacks and no shortage of Cascades shenanigans close to home. Adam and I got out for a great brothers’ trip via a less popular route into the heart of the southern unit of North Cascades National Park, and Alex visited from California to join on a great trip with the boys into the Southern Pickets via the more challenging approach of Stetattle ridge. As Fall came around, I got out for one last solo trip to climb Mounts Fisher and Arriva with a camp at Silent Lakes, a place Dad had inspired me to visit. I wrapped the year up with a trip back east for some Fall foliage, a trip to Oregon for Thanksgiving, and then started the ski season strong with an adventurous traverse with Matt through some new-to-me parts of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Here are my favorite photos from the year!

Trees and snow detail on a lovely January overnight near Lake Ann, Mount Baker Wilderness.

Adam tearin' it up on the blades in the sun with stunning views of Shuksan, January.

Mount Challenger and Crooked Thumb at sunset in the northern Picket Range within North Cascades NP from an incredible aerial photography trip with family friend Peter.

Grain bins in the Palouse region of eastern Washington, late July.

Lake McDonald peaking out from behind Heavens Mountain in Glacier National Park, Montana, July.

Grinnel Glacier from above, Glacier National Park, Montana, July.

The Grand and the Middle Teton from Hurricane Pass, July.

Summit panorama from a great trip with Adam to climb Tricouni peak in the heart of North Cascades NP, August.

One of many stunning sunrises from Saint Regis Mountain in the Adirondacks of NY, August.

Trees and fog at sunrise from Saint Regis Mountain, NY, August.

Alex on the first afternoon of an incredible 4 day trip into the Southern Pickets via Stetattle Ridge, North Cascades NP, September.

Sunrise on Glee Peak from high camp near MacMillan Spires, North Cascades NP, September.

Adam and Alex beneath Luna Peak . North Cascades NP, September.

Matt crossing a knife-edge section of ridge below East MacMillan Spire, North Cascades NP, September.

Dad and Adam descending Dingford Creek in the central Cascades, September.

Silent Lakes at dusk during a splendid solo trip in late September. North Cascades NP.

Black Peak from Silent Lakes at dusk, North Cascades NP, September.

Sunrise on Mount Goode, with Glacier Peak at left. North Cascades NP, September.

Autumn leaves swirling in an eddy on a lovely photo road trip throughout the Northeast. Ricketts Glen, PA, October.

Leaves in a hidden glen near Watkins Glen, NY, October.

Leaves in a hidden glen near Watkins Glen, NY, October.

Letchworth State Park, NY, October.

A Channel Islands Fox up close on a fun trip with my parents to visit Becca. Channel Islands NP, CA, November.

A snowcovered abstract of Wizard Island in Crater Lake, Oregon, November.

A pine tree abstract at the Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds NM, Oregon, November.

Stormy sunset at the Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds NM, Oregon, November.

A waterfall detail in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, November.

Two skiers above Snow Lake on an adventurous two day traverse of a remote part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in December.

Alpental to Middle Fork Snoqualmie Traverse via Holy Diver Couloir, Mount Caroline, Preacher Mountain Couloir, and Rainy Lake

Over the weekend, Matt and I skied from Alpental to the Middle Fork trailhead along the crest of the sub-range that runs NW between the Middle Fork and Pratt River valleys. For me, the primary reason for checking this area out was, in addition to seeing some places that I haven't been before, getting a chance to take a look at (one of the) Preacher Mountain Couloir(s) that caught the eye of my brother and eye from Mount Snoqualmie a few years ago. There are a few other TRs out there about other missions over to Preacher, including one in a day (!), but not too many details - and, in fact, since the SE aspect of Preacher seems to harbor several cool-looking couloirs, it's good to be explicit about which couloir I'm talking about - the couloir which drops to the east side of the South Ridge of Preacher, starting a notch on the South Ridge about 1/3 of a mile south of the true summit... which looks like this:

Preacher Mountain’s Southeast Couloir as seen from Mount Snoqualmie, February 2020.

Erik was kind enough to give us to a lift to the upper Alpental parking lot - opening day! Left the car just before 9. It was cold in the shade, in the mid teens! Decided to ski straight to Snow Lake instead of skiing the Chair Peak north slope descent to save a bit of time getting to the Diver. Made quick work up to Source Lake at 9:30, then skied over the Divide and down surprisingly good skiing with cold dry snow to Snow Lake, then started skinning across the lake at 10:20. Passed one party at the far side of the lake, and from there it was breaking trail the whole rest of the trip. Having scoped the route up Roosevelt from the lake, we decided to take the SE face instead of the East ridge because the ridge looked bony and we felt okay about the stability. We skinned up to the bench above Chair Peak Lake, then back north and up one 200 vertical foot but quite steep gully, skinning the whole way. I was glad to not be doing this when it was too much warmer, as it definitely could have significant risk of loose wet slides with fairly high consequences. Above this gully, a very short and gentle basin up to the entrance to the Holy Diver at 12:10. Nice views of Preacher, which didn't seem to have too much snow - foreshadowing? We hoped not.

Matt crossing Snow Lake, looking up the Cache Couloir, with Mount Roosevelt at center right.

Another party following our skin track up towards the Diver above Snow Lake, with Lundin, Chickamin, Thomson, and Snoqualmie.

Matt climbing up the steepest section of the route up to the Diver, with Chair Peak behind.

We ripped skins and dropped in. Absolutely gorgeous views and great skiing - steep for the first little bit then quite mellow. A bit wind effected in spots but mostly great soft pow, and Matt caught me singing the eponymous song while skiing lower in the Holy Diver. Down where the drainage turns north, coverage was surprisingly thin, and we had to shuffle and side step in a few spots. We put skins on a short ways above lower Wildcat Lake and skinned to the lake at 13:00 where we ate lunch.

Matt dropping into the Holy Diver. Preacher Mountain on the skyline to the left.

Matt skiing the Diver.

At 13:20 headed up to the upper lake, following the outlet, then filled some water to carry to camp. At 14:00 crossed the lake to the westernmost lobe, then climbed up the easiest route through steep slopes to hit the ridge between Upper Wildcat and the Derrick lake basin. There was a very strong temperature inversion at Upper Wildcat, with 16 degree temps at the lake and low 30s just a few hundred feet higher. We hit the ridge at 4,700 feet and followed it southwest through some steep, slow, and brushy terrain with entertaining hand-over-handing up bushes. We made our way to the base of the North Ridge of Mount Caroline (Point 5885T) then climbed up easy terrain along the ridge with gorgeous evening views to a nice campsite in some trees below the summit block at 5600 feet.

Matt crossing the frigid Upper Wildcat Lake in a temperature inversion. Mount Caroline above.

Fun-looking skiing above Upper Wildcat Lake. This is the line that drops north of Point 5315T.

Matt climbing out of Upper Wildcat Lake, with Lemah and Chickamin behind.

Summits of Mount Roosevelt and the Holy Diver above Upper Wildcat Lake.

We enjoyed a lovely evening with great views of Kaleetan, Chair, Snoqualmie, Thomson, Chickamin, Lemah, Hinman, Daniel, Garfield, Glacier, and more. We melted snow for dinner and the next day, then Matt and I settled into the tent for our many hours of darkness. Overnight the wind picked up and there was a good amount of blowing snow and wind transport activity.

Matt climbing the slopes of Mount Caroline for sunset. Roosevelt, Chair, and Kaleetan at left.

Lemah, Chickamin, Thomson, and Wright at sunset. I believe the Oyster Couloir is just below Thomson off of Wright Mountain.

Preacher Mountain and Lake Caroline from camp, with Derrick Lake below. Mount Garfield with alpenglow, and Glacier Peak on the horizon.

Morning light on Preacher Mountain and our camp.

Woke up just before sunrise to take photos and pack up the tent, hoping to get a quick enough start to make it over to the Preacher Mountain Couloir with enough time to ski and still have plenty of time for the exit. We ripped skins and at 8:45 we dropped down and enjoyed lovely skiing to Caroline Lake, avoiding cliffs. Skinned up to cross the lake and exit the far side. Climbed over a tiny divide, then ripped skins and skied down into the head of the Hatchet lake valley. At 9:30 we put skins back on and climbed with packs to the top of the couloir fan around 4,750 ft, then dropped camping stuff at a large tree and continued up the gut of the couloir. We made it another 150 or so vertical feet before switching to booting, which was quite wallow-y - would have been nice to have ascent plates. The couloir is absolutely gorgeous though. After passing through the choke and where the couloir eased up a bit, we hit our bingo time and dropped in at about 5,300 feet at 10:45. The skiing was crusty and chunky with soft stuff underneath, but could have been a lot worse - good fun and very aesthetic.

Our objective: The Preacher Mountain coloir, which drops to the east of the South Ridge of Preacher Mountain from a notch on the South Ridge about 1/3 of a mile south of the summit.

Matt skiing down towards the beginning of the climb up the Couloir.

Matt booting up the couloir.

Matt skiing the Preacher Mountain Couloir. Mount Snoqualmie with clouds in the distance.

We retrieved our gear and cut skiers left to descend along the fan to Hatchet lake. Skinned up and at 11:15 crossed to the outlet and started working up the toe of the East ridge of preacher, trying to keep in the most forested and lowest angle parts. It took us about an hour to get to 5,000 ft, very carefully picking our way up the steep terrain. The weather was coming in, and it was lightly snowing with bad visibility. From there, the ridge was quite steep on both sides, and we skirted two rocky bumps to the south before dropping into the basin on the north side of the ridge and making a rising traverse in a total whiteout. We crossed the north ridge of Preacher just south of the notch between the aforementioned and Point 5675T.

Some classic green-belay shenanigans on our route up Preacher.

White-out traversing across the NW slopes of Preacher on our way to the exit. Too bad we couldn't see anything, the skiing on this aspect seems like it would be great.

Ripped skins and dropped in at 13:30, skiing a much-better-than expected couloir down from the notch in the fog. This one needs a name! When the couloir opened, we trended fairly hard skier's left, dodging cliffs to hit the Rainy Lake outlet at about 3,300 feet at 14:00. We attempted to keep skiing down and over downed logs and creek holes, but quickly admitted defeat and set ourselves to downhill skinning, quite slow at times with brush, downed trees, and lots of creek crossings. After an hour and a half, we were happy to see our first signs of the snowcovered trail at about 2,400 feet, but it was still snowy enough at this point to not be of much use. Another valiant hour of skinning and sidestepping down steep brushy slopes brought us to 1,700 feet, near where the drainage jogs NW, and, as it was getting really truly dark, we put the skis on our packs and continued plodding downhill through about 8 inches of crusty snow. From here, the trail wasn't too hard to follow with care, and some very fresh Mountain Lion tracks led the way. We hit the Pratt River trail just before 17:30 and were at Matt's car not much later, the only car in the snowy Middle Fork TH lot. It was snowing all the way down to the road, and we were appropriately soggy and happy to have dry clothes waiting for us.

Matt lower down the 5675T couloir.

Matt falling victim to a spruce trap on the way out Rainy Lake creek.

Precarious side-stepping and down skinning across a log on the way out the Rainy Lake drainage.

Crossing the Middle Fork bridge in the dark, just moments from the car and dry clothes.

We brought ski crampons and trail runners, and used neither. All in all, a fabulous trip to some less-frequently-traveled areas of the Snoqualmie backcountry, and it was fun to do a through trip. It would have been nice to have a bit more time (or just longer days) to explore more of the terrain we passed by, and to do more skiing, and it's too bad the weather came in as we were climbing up Preacher Mountain on the way out, as it would have been nice to have some views to close out the trip.

Winter Flight to the Pickets for Sunset

Last January, I had another incredible opportunity to take a scenic flight over the North Cascades to watch the sunset. We had a perfectly calm and clear day for it, and the views were unreal, climaxing in two incredibly close passes past the Southern Pickets just as the light was peaking. We then continued past Shuksan and around the north side of Baker before heading out over the San Juans as the light was fading.

The steep East Face of Three Fingers peak, with the fire lookout barely visible on the south (left) summit.

Boston and Sahale Peaks, with the Quien Sabe Galcier beneath. Sharkfin Tower at left, below Buckner which is inline with Goode at upper left.

The Triad, with Johannesburg and adjacent peaks behind. Spider a

The Triad

Prmus in foreground left, Tillies Towers in middle with sun. Silverstar, Gardners, Black, and Logan in background.

Pt 7740 just north of Primus in foreground. Ragged Ridge in background. Tower above the shoulder of Cosho. Silverstar in background at right.

The Trapezoid in the foreground, with Little Devil on the next ridge. Snowking in the middle of the frame, on or just below the skyline. Horizon peaks in the distance from left to right include Daniel, Hinman, Big Chief, Overcoat and Chimney Rock, and Sloan with distinctive profile.

Panorama of the Southern Pickets. The Chopping Block in lower left corner. Closer ridge in sun, from left to right, includes Ottohorn, the Twin Needles, The Rake, and Terror (above the Barrier), with Degenhardt and Inspiration at right. More distant ridge is anchored by Fury at right, with Swiss and Spectre Peaks to the left, and remaining peaks stretching towards Challenger less distinct. Mount Redbout is in the distance, shaded on the right.

Degenhardt, the Pyramid, and Inspiration at the right, with impressively steep South Face.

The East Peak of Fury, with Outrigger Peak and Luna behind.

The two summits of Fury, with the spectacular and infamous Mongo Ridge at left, dropping a vertical mile into Goodell Creek from West Fury. Luna with sun at upper right, and Ottohorn in the foreground.

The Crescent Creek Spires: the Pyramid, Inspiration (with steep, rocky South Face) and McMillan Spires. Redoubt, the Moxes, and Spickard in distance.

Degenhardt, the Pyramid, and Inspiration at the in middle with impressively steep South Face. West McMillan at right.

Southern Pickets from the Northwest. Frenzel Spits at lower left, with Ottohorn and other peaks inline.

Mount Challenger and Crooked Thumb, with Redoubt, Custer, Rahm, the Moxes, and Spickard in the distance.

Mount Ruth in the middle, and (I believe) Seahpo in the foreground.

Shuksan's summit pyramid, with Canadian and American Border Peaks at left, along with Larrabee.

Colfax Peak and the Deming Glacier of Mount Baker.

The Black Buttes: Seward, Lincoln, and Colfax, guarding the Deming Glacier. Mount Baker and Sherman Peak in the foreground, with the Squak Glacier.

Mount Rainier and Anacortes oil refineries at dusk.

An eastbound ferry about to pass through Thatcher Pass, between Decatur and Blakely Islands. Sylvan Cove is just above (south) of the ferry.

I owe an absolutely huge “Thank You” to Peter Gaylord for piloting such an awesome flight, and an equally large (if not larger) apology to him for taking so long to get these photos together.

Oh and also, Dan Helmstadter skied that couloir on the East Face of Three Fingers from the first photo, solo, in March of 2013.

Best Photos of 2021

Another year has passed, and looking back at my photos, I feel extraordinarily lucky to have gotten to visit so many incredible and beautiful places during the past 12 months. For me, 2021 started out strong with a fantastically snowy February here in Washington, followed by a month in Oregon, getting to see some new places with old friends. During the spring I was really able to push my limits ski mountaineering, ticking off some classic lines and embarking on some longer and more challenging solo trips than I’ve accomplished in the past. Last summer I focused more on rock climbing than I have before, which I capped off with a great climb of the classic North Ridge of Mount Stuart with Sean. September was unfortunately marked by me breaking my arm in a mountain biking crash, which hampered my ability to get out as much as I wanted to, but I was still able to go on a lovely backpacking trip with my lab mate Mike during the height of fall foliage in the eastern Cascades.

Below are my favorite photos from the year - let me know what you think!

An aerial view of Gothic, Delcampo, Three Fingers and Whitehorse on a sunrise flight over the Cascades in January.

The south face of Forbidden Peak, with Logan and the Ragged Ridge of NCNP in the morning light.

Aerial view of morning fog in the Cascade foothills.

Mount Hood and the White River at sunrise in early March.

Crater Lake and Wizard Island at sunset from the north rim.

Adam and Alex on the predawn approach to North Sister ahead of long traverse of all three summits.

Adam skiing into the steep couloir of Middle Sister, far above the Diller Glacier. Broken Top, Mount Bachelor, and South Sister in the background.

The Painted Hills of Oregon on a stormy sunset in late March.

Dusk light on Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, April.

A lone tree at sunset in the Santa Ynez Valley of California, April.

Danny and Micah climbing up the base of the Fuhrer Finger, a steep couloir on Mount Rainier, in early May.

Redoubt and the Moxes within North Cascades National Park on a morning ski ascent of the Park Glacier Headwall in May.

A barn and bright green fields in Washington's Palouse Region near the border with Idaho. Late May.

Detail of some siding on a grain elevator. Late May.

Sunrise over the spectacular southern Picekts, including Terror and Degenhart, taken in the middle of a solo four day ski traverse of some remote parts of North Cascades National Park.

Hagan, Blum, and Watson from the summit of Blum, looking back along my route on the last night of the four day trip.

Glacier Peak and Mount Blum, as viewed from the summit of Ruth Mountain at sunrise, on a lovely ski trip with Dad, Mom, and Becca.

The north face of Amphtheater from a small tarn near Upper Cathedral Lake in the remote Pasayten Wilderness, taken during a climbing trip with Sean.

A barn sits in the midst of a summer morning thunderstorm in the Palouse in late July.

Going-to-the-Sun Mountain from Siyeh Pass during a smoky July sunset in Glacier National Park.

Pingora Peak, one of the most famous summits in Wyoming's Cirque of the Towers, with wildflowers, taken during a three day solo backpacking trip in early August

One of the higlights of this trip was watching this spectacular optical phenomenon called a glory from the summit of Bollinger Peak, far above the Cirque of the Towers, after a long day of waiting out the rain.

Sean leading one of the incredible pitches of climbing on the North Ridge of Mount Stuart, one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America. Early August.

Serena rappelling into an emeral pool during an early September canyoneering trip down Mineral Creek in the Central Cascades.

Larch detail, at Upper Eagle Lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness, early October.

Larches in the meadows on the western slopes of Switchback Peak, in the Sawtooth Wilderness, early October.

An incerdible sunrise view of Cooney Lake during peak larch color, early October. Sawtooth Wildernesss.

A late December snowstorm in the Alabama Hills of California turns the normally colorful landscape into monochrome.

Mapo Tofu Recipe

Mapo Tofu recipe from my mom's old and well-worn copy of "The Ultimate Chinese & Asian Cookbook", published 1997.

Szechuan Spicy Tofu

Serves 4

The meat used in this popular wok recipe can be omitted to create a purely vegetarian dish, if you prefer.

Ingredients

3-inch block fresh tofu

1 leek

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 ounces ground beef

1 tablespoon black bean sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon chili bean sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

3-4 tablespoons stock or water

2 teaspoons cornstarch paste

ground Szechuan peppercorns, to taste

few drops of sesame oil

Step 1: Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch square cubes. Fill a wok with boiling water, add the tofu cubes and bring back to a boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes to harden. Remove and drain. Cut the leek into short sections.

Step 2: Empty the wok. Preheat and add the oil. When hot, stir-fry the ground beef until the color changes, then add the leek and black bean sauce. Add the tofu with the soy sauce, chili bean sauce, and wine or sherry. Stir gently for 1 minute.

Step 3: Add the stock or water, bring to a boul, and braise for 2-3 minutes.

Step 4: Stir in the cornstarch paste and cook, stirring, until thickened. Season with ground Szechuan pepper, sprinkle with the sesame oil and serve immediately.

Best Photos of 2020

Bear with me - I’m only the better part of two months late with this one. I’ve finally finished working through my backlog and picking out my favorite photos of last year. Because of the pandemic, I found myself driving around the West Coast more than usual, which provided opportunities to revisit some old favorite locations that I don’t get to that often, including Caineville in Utah, and Logan Pass in Montana. I also was able to spend more time exploring the area around Santa Barbara - as much as I constantly dump on California, I am a sucker for their whole “lone tree in a field” vibe.

See below for my favorites, along with captions giving locations and other details for each!

Tomyhoi, American and Canadian Border Peaks, Larrabee, and others from Shuksan Arm. North Cascades, March 2020.

Badlands detail, Caineville, Utah, March 2020.

The Henry Mountains and South Caineville Mesa at sunset. Utah, March 2020.

Gower Gulch at dusk, Death Valley National Park. March 2020.

Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes at dawn, Death Valey National Park, March 2020.

Oak and pasture. Santa Ynez, California, April 2020.

Sunset on the Pacific Coast. Gorda, California. May 2020.

Mesahchie, Katsuk, Kimtah, and Cosho above flower and heather meadows. North Cascades National Park, July 2020.

Reynolds Mountain and Logan Creek. Glacier National Park, Montana, August 2020.

Sunrise on Bearhat Mountain and Hidden Lake, Glacier National Park, Montana, August 2020.

Camp with views across Goodell Creek to Triumph and Despair. North Cascades National Park, September 2020.

Nooksack Tower at dusk. North Cascades National Park, September 2020.

Camp and Whatcom Peak from Tapto Lakes. North Cascades National Park, September 2020.

Larches at Inspiration Lake, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington, October 2020.

Prusik Peak reflected in Gnome Tarn. Alpine Lakes Wilderness, October 2020.

Aspens on Boulder Mountain from Utah Highway 12. Fishlake National Forest. October 2020.

Oak at dusk. Santa Ynez, California, November 2020.

Cowlitz Chimneys at sunrise. Mount Rainier National Park, December 2020.

Winter Flight over the North Cascades at Sunrise

Two weeks ago, I had an opportunity to fly over the North Cascades at sunrise with a family friend. We were quite lucky to have clear skies and an incredible undercast. We flew for about an hour and a half, past the Monte Cristo group, Glacier Peak, The Pickets, Shuksan, Baker, and the Twin Sisters.

It was incredible to see many familiar summits cloaked in snow, and especially fun to see so many peaks that I’ve climbed, and remember how much effort it took to get to each one - a much different experience than zipping past at 130 mph! Below are a handful of favorite photos, with captions describing the mountains depicted.

Townsend on the close ridge, Baring further away with steep north face

Bear Mountain (lower) Spire Mountain (top), just west of Jack Pass.

Monte Cristo and Cadet Peak, with Gothic and Del Campo in the background.

Unknown snowy ridge.

Snow blowing off the north face of Johanesburg.

Forbidden's West and East Ridges, with Logan in the background.

"Eggplant" near Eldorado

The ice-covered lookout on Three Fingers

Foggy trees in the western foothills of the Cascades

Backpacking the Tapto Lakes/Copper Ridge Loop with my Homemade Panoramic Camera

I’m only 4 months late on this one, but I’m slowly making my way through my backlog of film to scan.

At the very end of September, just before classes started up at UW, I went on a lovely 4 day solo backpacking trip in North Cascades National Park to Tapto Lakes and Copper Ridge, bringing along my trusty homemade panoramic camera.

Although I had a few more light leaks than on past excursions, it was really fun to photograph some new and some familiar places with the sensual and smooth tones of Kodak Gold. Below are a my favorite shots from the trip, with captions.

Mount Sefrit, Goat Mountain, and Granite Mountain from the head of the Ruth Creek Valley, above Hannegan Pass. Kodak Gold 200.

Ruth Mountain and Mount Shuksan at dawn, from the north. Kodak Gold 200.

Granite Mountain and Hannegan Peak at sunrise. Kodak Gold 200.

Whatcom Peak and Tapto Creek at sunset. Kodak Gold 200.

Whatcom Peak above Tapto Lake at sunset. Kodak Gold 200.

Luna Peak, Whatcom Peak, and Mount Challenger (inline), above Easy Ridge in the late afternoon, from Copper Lookout. Crowder, Pioneer Ridge, Despair, and Glacier at right. Kodak Gold 200.

Ruth, Icy, the Jagged Ridge, Nooksack Tower, Shuksan, Baker, and Sefrit at sunset from Copper Ridge. Kodak Gold 200.

Dawn over Luna, Whatcom, Challenger, and the Pickets from Egg Point. Kodak Gold 200.

Morning light on Ruth, Shuksan, the Nooksack Ridge, and Hannegan Pass. Kodak Gold 200.

Best of Summer '20

Classes at UW started back up last week, which I guess puts a wrap on my summer, at least officially speaking - I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, though. It’s been an unusual summer, and not only because of Covid. This was my first summer wandering around in a post-Bulger daze, trying to figure out what to do now that I don’t have a list for guidance. I took up mountain biking, which offers a lot of fun, and less time spent taking photos. For my trips into the mountains, I tried to get into the areas that the Bulger list didn’t take me, although I still have lots more ground to cover on that front. Highlights include a great but too-short trip into the southern Pickets to climb the East Ridge of Inspiration, a long (for me) solo backpacking trip to Whatcom Pass and Tapto Lakes, a skyline traverse of the Liberty Bell-Early Winter Spires group, and a silly overnight bushwhack off of Highway 20 for a view of the Ragged Ridge from the north. Special thanks is owed to Sean for supporting me as I continue to push my alpine climbing goals.

Outside of the Cascades, I spent more time discovering new scenes in southern California, where I’ve been feeding my strange and potentially misguided obsession with lone trees in golden fields. I also returned to Glacier National Park and Grand Teton National Park, although both of those places deserve much more time than I was able to spend.

Some abbreviated statistics:

• 28 nights camping

• 113,605 vertical feet climbed

• 276 miles hiked

• Countless photos taken (including plenty on 4x5 and panoramic film formats)

I whittled the many photos I took down to 17 of my favorites, not just for their artistic merit, but also because of the memories they conjure up.

A lone tree outside of Goleta, California

Foggy morning in the Willamette Valley

Sunset on the Big Sur coast

Fog in McMillan Park, from a ridgecrest high above

Sunrise above Yakima Canyon

Sunrise behind Silver Star, after a spectacular bivy on the summit of Liberty Bell

Sunrise light on Mount Shuksan from Picture Lake

Mesahchie, Katsuk, Kimtah, and Cosho above flower and heather meadows.

Mount Owen and the Grand Teton in a sunset rainstorm from North Cascade Canyon

Mount Reynolds and a waterfall above Logan Pass at dusk, Glacier National Park

Sunrise on Bearhat mountain, a classic view near the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park

A quiet August night in the Palouse

Mount Baker (behind Despair) casts its shadow onto the clouds at sunset

Sunrise on Triumph above a gorgeous undercast in the Goodell Creek valley

Nooksack Tower looking imposing at dusk

A lonely camp at Tapto Lakes offered stunning views of Whatcom, cloaked in the first snowfall of Fall

Shuksan, Baker, Copper Ridge, and Sefrit from Copper Lookout

Bourbon Ball Recipe

This recipe is from my grandmother, perhaps originally from Joy of Cooking, but I wanted to write it down so it doesn’t get lost in the mess of paper recipe clippings in our cookbook cabinet, primarily for my own use.

---

Anne Weld’s Bourbon Ball Recipe

Yield: 45 1” balls

Ingredients:

2 cups 'Nilla Wafer crumbs (can also use toasted sponge cake or graham crackers)

1 cup finely chopped nuts

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup sifted powdered sugar + extra

1/2 teaspoon salt

1.5 tablespoons honey or Karo syrup

1/4 cup bourbon or rum

Combine liquid Karo and bourbon.

If using a food processor for the Nilla wafers and nuts, finely chop these first. Then, in the food processor or mixing bowl, add the other dry ingredients until combined.

With the food processor running (or while mixing), slowly add the liquids until the mixture holds together.

With clean hands, form 1” balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place in a sealed container and freeze at least 2-3 hours. Serve frozen.

Best Photos of 2019

It’s a new year (and a new decade) so it’s also a good time to reflect back on my photography from this past year.

For me, 2019 was marked by a much greater focus on film photography, including both much more use of my 4x5 camera, a little bit more shooting with the 6x17, and some time spent tinkering and refining my homemade 3:1 aspect ratio 35mm panoramic camera, all of which have been great fun.

Besides the film work, my summer was spent focusing intently on finishing the Bulger Peaks, which were mostly less photographicly productive trips, with two main exceptions: a ski ascent of Primus, and a solo trip to climb Logan, Katsuk, and Cosho.

Below are my 20 favorite photos from the year!

Dusk in the Palouse region of Washington State, Winter.

Camp beneath Corteo and Black Peak

Sunset on Shi Shi Beach.

Cameron and Addison on the summit ridge of Eldrado.

Ascending the North Klawatti Glacier beneath Austera's summit.

Hamnoy, on a stormy summer day in the Lofoten Islands, Norway.

Poppies in Garfield, WA. Ektar 100 on my homemade panoramic camera.

Sunrise on Mount Baker. Ektar 100, 4x5.

Sunset on Goode and Storm King from high camp on Logan.

High camp on Ragged Ridge. Goode, Storm King, Logan, Buckner, Boston, and Forbidden in background.

Sunrise from Saint Regis Mountain

Sunrise on Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend. Ektar 100.

Sunrise on the Grand Teton from Schwabachers Landing. Ektar 100.

Whistler Mountain from State Creek. Ektar 100.

Liberty Bell from State Creek, North Cascades. Ektar 100.

Napeequa Peak, Cirque Mountain, and Triad Lake at sunrise with rainbow.

Shuksan's summit above the Sulphide Glacier.

Winter Aspens near Nile, WA.

Lick Brook, NY. Velvia 100, 4x5.

Backlit trees near Three Way Peak.

Making a Helmet Carrier for my Ski Pack

Dimensions of the fabric, with a .75 inch double hem.

Today I made a little carry system for my ski helmet on my ski pack. It’s very simple, using lightweight ripstop nylon, about 4 feet of shock cord, and a cord lock. It mounts to the 4 side compression straps of the pack, and is pretty quick and easy to insert and remove the helmet from.

I wish I’d used heavier fabric, as the very thin ripstop I used was a pain to work with and some of my seams came out ugly. This is also probably a good project to use some stretchier fabric for, but I didn’t have any lying around.

Initial Thoughts: Intrepid 4x5

I’ve been shooting 4x5 film for almost two years, but the pace of my photography didn’t really pick up until a year ago, when I purchased my own 4x5 camera, the Intrepid 4x5 mk III. The camera is far from perfect, but it is the only 4x5 camera (that I know of) that’s still being manufactured and sells for less than $1000. Furthermore, it’s significantly lighter than any other 4x5 field camera, making it well suited to my hiking and camping antics. Since my camera arrived, I’ve taken it on two trips to New York, one to Wyoming, and countless trips around Washington, mostly in the Cascades. While I started shooting black and white film with it, I pretty quickly switched to shooting color film, mostly C-41, which I develop myself using a Mod54 processor, as it’s so much less expensive (and faster) then sending the film to a lab for development.

My experience with 4x5 has absolutely been frustrating at times, but I keep finding myself returning to the format, which must mean I like it! It has taken some time to get the hang of various camera movements, but my biggest challenges haven’t been related to the actual taking of photos. I’ve struggled to get film out of my older Lisco Regal holders, which don’t have a depression to insert a fingernail into, making it difficult to actually get a hold on the edge of the sheet of film. More recently, I switched from using the Flextight scanner at UW to scanning negatives at home using a tracing panel and a digital camera, which is much more convenient and faster, until I started noticing strange yellow fringing on my negatives. At first, I thought this was a development issue, then I thought it was light leaks, but I finally discovered (with assistance from the folks at /r/largeformat) that it was actually a side effect of my scanning setup. Back to the Flextight until I can debug those issues further.

The Intrepid camera itself is great, although its build quality is noticeably at solid as the Toyo field camera(s) I used while I was at Cornell. I enjoy its light wight and simple, enhance-able construction, but find the rear standard to be especially prone to wiggling. The screws holding the ground glass in place were also made of very cheap metal, and I cracked the heads off of both of them while attempting to replace my ground glass. I simply glued the ground glass in place as a stop-gap, but really need to figure out a better long-term solution. I also probably ought to upgrade to a nicer ground glass, perhaps with a Fresnel lens, as my current ground glass is nearly impossibly dim, especially when using a polarizer.

Below, I’ve selected 20 or so of my favorite photos I’ve taken (so far) with the Intrepid.

Sunrise behind Mount Shuksan. Ektar 100, 4x5.

Sunrise on Mount Baker. Ektar 100, 4x5.

Mount Rainier from Tipsoo Lake, with flowers. Ektar 100

Whistler Mountain from State Creek. Ektar 100.

A tarn beneath Mount Rainier, near Knapsack Pass. Ektar 100, 4x5.

Liberty Bell from State Creek, North Cascades. Ektar 100.

Mount Rainier at sunset from Naches Peak. Velvia 100.

5 hour exposure of Mt. Baker from Anderson Butte. Portra 160.

Sunrise on the Grand Teton. Portra 160.

Sunrise on Mount Moran from Oxbow Bend. Ektar 100.

Sunrise on the Grand Teton from Schwabachers Landing. Ektar 100.

Saint Regis Canoe Area from the summit of Saint Regis Mountain. Portra 160.

Algonquin Peak from Mount Jo. Portra 160.

Whiteface from Connery Pond. Portra 160.

Mount Shuksan from Picture Lake. Ektar 100.

Mount Stuart at sunset from Ingalls Pass. Ektar 100.

Lick Brook. Portra 160.

Excelsior Glen, Finger Lakes, New York. Portra 160.

Tumwater Canyon in Autumn. Ektar 100.

Garfield, Washington. Ektar 100.

Best of Summer '19

Well… it’s October now, so I probably can’t delude myself much longer.

This summer has been a fantastic one, with many trips to spectacular places, both familiar and new. As my first spring in the PNW since High School, I was lucky to get out on several longer ski tours in the early summer, including ascents of Glacier Peak, as well as Eldorado Peak and Primus Peak. While much of my energy was focused on Bulger Peaks, I was also luck to get out of Washington for travel to Norway, the Tetons, and the Adirondacks. I also really dove into photographing landscapes on film, devoting especially much time to shooting with my big 4x5 view camera, which I’m finally starting to feel like I’m getting the hang of. This slow, delibrate style of photography is immensely gratifying, and I’m planning on writing another blog post focusing just on 4x5 soon - keep posted.

Before we get to the photos, per tradition, here are some statistics about my summer:

• 64 days in the mountains

• 28 nights camping

• 403 miles hiked

• 170,030 vertical feet climbed

• 41 summits summited

And here are some of my favorite photos, shot on both film and digital.

Sunset on Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park.

Cameron and Addison on the summit ridge of Eldrado.

Ascending the North Klawatti Glacier beneath Austera's summit.

The small hamlet of Hamnoy, Lofoten Archipelago, Norway.

Shuksan at dawn.

Sunrise on Mount Baker. Ektar 100, 4x5.

Mount Rainier from Chinook Pass. Ektar 100, 4x5.

Sunset on Goode and Storm King from high camp on Logan.

High camp on Ragged Ridge. Goode, Storm King, and Logan in background.

The Mesahchie Glacier from the summit of Kimtah. Mesahchie and Katsuk above.

Spray Park. Ektar 100, 4x5.

Sunrise from Saint Regis Mountain

Sunrise from Saint Regis Mountain

The Milky Way over Lower Ausable Lake from Indian Head

Algonquin and Heart Lake from Mount Jo, High Peaks Wilderness, NY. Portra 160, 4x5.

Dawn on the Grand Teton. Ektar 100, 4x5.

Napeequa Peak, Cirque Mountain, and Triad Lake at sunrise with rainbow.

Shadows at lunch

A few years ago, I did a good job of carrying a small camera with me at all times, so that I could photograph any interesting composition that caught my eye. Since starting grad school, I’ve done a poor job of keeping up with this habit, however. Recently, I’ve been trying to get back in the groove, and in that spirit, I spent an hour yesterday at lunch photographing the procession of shadows across the wall in the lounge in the new CSE building at UW. The grated metal sun visors make for some excellent shadows, and it was fun watching how they changed every few minutes while chatting with my friends.

DIY 35mm Panoramic Camera - CAD Files and Instructions

I posted my previous blog post on reddit, and got a lot of great feedback! As such, I want to make the cad files publicly available, alongside some instructions so that anyone who’s interested can build (and improve upon) my design.

Step 1 - Download the .dxf files

I’ve zipped them all together, here. Lay them out, and cut them out of 1/8th inch plywood or some other 1/8th inch thick material of your choice (perhaps opaque acrylic?). Note that the units in all the files zipped above are in centimeters. If you don’t have access to a laser cutter, get in touch with me via email and I can cut parts for you. You should cut a single version of each part in the archive except for the ‘front of lens box,’ of which you’ll need two.

When you’re finished, you should have 26 parts for the camera body, and 6 for the camera back.

Step 2 - Buy other parts and get ready to build

In addition to the laser cut items, you’ll need:

• 3/16 inch dowel

• 1 ~1.5 inch section

• 2 ~1 inch sections

• ½ inch dowel

  • 1 ~3 inch section

• 3 large nylon washers (.505in inner diameter, 3/4 in outer diameter, 1/8 in thick)

• 1 small nylon washer (.171 in inner diameter, 3/8 in outer diameter, 1/4 in thick)

• lens (I used a Fujinon 65mm f/5.6 SWD)

  • If you use a different lens, you’ll need to adjust the length of the lens box to your flange distance

• ¼-20 hex nut for tripod mount

• 2x 10-24 hex nuts

• 2x 10-24 socket cap bolts, 1 inch long

• black yarn, black felt, black foam for light seals

I used the following tools and supplies:

• sandpaper in various grits

• Xacto knife with sharp blade

• wood glue

• 2-part epoxy

• Q-tips

• a couple of clamps

• cutting board

• drill (potentially needed if your shutter won’t sit flat on the lensboard)

• matte black spray paint

Step 3 - Assemble the rewind knob

Take your long section of 3/16 inch dowel and insert it into your small nylon washer – you may need to trim the end of the dowel a bit to fit. Epoxy it in place, then once hardened, using a craft knife or saw, carefully cut out a ~2mm x 2mm slot in the end of it, as depicted in the gif. This will interface with the film canister to rewind your film.

via GIPHY

Step 4 - Cut and sand the film carrier

Take your matte plate - the film will need to slide smoothly across this, and it needs to be round and smooth to avoid scratching the film. Using a craft knife, shave a “slot” a bit wider than the width of a piece of 35mm film on either side of the piece. Once the slot is nice and rounded, sand it until smooth. I don’t have any photos of this process, but you can see the rounded section in the following picture.

The slot in the film carrier is to the left of the dowel section, indicated with arrows.

Step 4 - Assemble the lens mount

Take your “lens box nut holder” and your two “front of lens box” pieces. The two “front of lens box” pieces will form a sandwich with the nut holder between them. Epoxy two 10-24 nuts into the nut holder, then wood-glue and clamp the sandwich together. Take your two shorter sections of 3/16 dowel, dab them in wood glue, and insert them into the holes that do not contain the nuts. These posts will support the lens and lens board. Again, I don’t have any pictures of this assembly before it was glued in place into the camera, but you can see it in its final position in the above picture.

Step 5 - Assemble the camera

Start by inserting the inner, outer, front walls, and matte plate into the bottom plate. Use a q-tip to apply some wood glue to the overlapping areas before assembly. Glue the top plate, get creative with the clamps, and let this dry. Important note: Most of the camera is pretty straightforward to assemble, like a big 3d puzzle. A lot of the pieces are mirror images of one another, so they can go in any way they fit. The one exception to this is the top plate, which has two holes on either side, one for the rewind knob, and one for the takeup spool. It is very important when you glue this in place that the smaller hole (for the rewind knob) goes on the left (when looking at the back of the camera) and the (larger) hole for the takeup reel goes on the right.

Once this has set somewhat, you can add the canister holder (to the left side) and the take-up reel holder) to the right. These pieces also need to go in the correct orientation, or they won’t be properly aligned. The narrower edge of the canister holder goes on the outside of the camera. The takeup reel holder is asymmetrical, the hole should be closer to the front of the camera. You can check the alignment of this by inserting your 1/2 inch dowel into the hole in the top plate, it should easily fit into the corresponding hole in the takeup reel holder.

In parallel, you can assemble the back, gluing the sides on to the back first, then carefully centering the inner door in place before gluing. You can also glue the lens board light seal ring to the back of the lens board, making sure it’s centered.

Next, add the “pinhole lens,” a naming holdover from an earlier version. Glue on the lens box, leaving the front lens mount assembly for later. Epoxy your 1/4-20 nut into the tripod mount, then using wood glue attach this to the bottom of the camera. Attach the top and bottom light seals to the back of the lens box, using your now-completed back to get the spacing right.

Take the rewind cap and rewind spacer, glue them to one another, then glue them to the top of the camera, taking care to make sure they’re aligned with the appropriate hole on the top plate.

Once the bulk of the structure is in place, add a few fillets of wood glue to all the inside corners, using a q-tip or similar. Let them dry a bit before re-applying. You can use a flashlight to check for areas that need more glue, but keep in mind that the camera won’t be completely light tight until after painting.

Step 6 - Paint

Mask the outside of the camera with masking tape and newspaper, then head to a well-ventilated area to apply a couple of coats of paint to the inside of the camera, the inside of the back, and the back side of the front of the lens box. Once this is done, you can glue the front of the lens box into the the lens box, potentially needing to sand the edges a bit for a good fit.

Step 7 - Add film take-up and rewind knobs.

Take the film rewind knob you assembled earlier, and insert it into the camera. It should turn freely.

Take your length of 1/2 inch dowel, and insert it into the hole in the top of the camera. Take two large nylon washers and thread them onto the bottom of the dowel, then insert it all the way into the camera. Slide one washer to the bottom of the dowel, so it butts up with the takeup reel holder. Glue it to the dowel, making sure not to accidentally also glue it to the camera; the dowel needs to spin easily. Next, glue some yarn around the top of the dowel to act as a light seal, then slide the upper washer up to press against the yarn and glue it here. Finally, glue a third washer to the top of the dowel, outside of the camera, sliding it all the way down the dowel so it butts against the top plate. Refer to the annotated photo for details.

Step 8 - Add Light Seals

Using scissors and a craft knife, cut some sheet foam to match the inverted shape of the “inner door” inside your camera’s back. Glue this in place, then glue some felt along the inside of the back’s walls where they overlap with the camera body. Run a “bead” of yarn along the front of the top of the box where it butts against the takeup and rewind knobs, and use more strips of foam and/or yarn to seal any other places that seem lacking. Run a ring of yarn along the outside of the light seal ring on the lens board.

Cut a few rectangles of foam and glue them to the inside of the back, to form a “pressure plate.” With the lens off, you may want to sacrifice a roll of film, load it into the camera, and then look through the lens hole to make sure the film lies flat, adjusting the height of the pressure plate if need be.

Step 9 - Finishing touches

Mount your lens in the lens board, and bolt it to the lens mount. Take a piece of wax paper and tape it to the back of the matte plate where the film will sit. Open the shutter of your lens, and check the focus. If needed, add some small spacers (construction paper or similar) to adjust the focus.

Take a Sharpie, and make two matching ticks on the take-up knob and camera back – you can use these to count revolutions as you wind the film.

Step 10 - Load film, and test!

Insert your film into the camera, and lock it in place by sliding the rewind knob down into the canister. Pull the leader out of the canister, and with a small piece of masking tape, tape it to the takeup spool, using care to make sure the film is parallel to the matte plate, and not crooked. Place the back on the camera, and optionally tape it loosely in place. Make sure the shutter is closed, then wind the takeup knob 3 revolutions. As you wind, make sure the rewind knob also turns - if it doesn’t, something isn’t working! You are now ready to take your first picture! Once exposed, 2 full revolutions of the takeup knob will bring the next frame into position. As you shoot more and more of the roll, you should be able to wind a bit less than 2 times, as the diameter of the takeup spool has increased with film wrapped around it. With some experimentation, you should be able to get 12+ frames out of a 24 exposure roll, and 16 or so from a 36 exposure roll.

Lastly….

These instructions were written hurriedly, and I’m sure are confusing and contain typos. As always, please reach out with questions, suggestions, or just to say hi. If you do end up building something based off of these designs, please let me know – I’d love to see what you come up with!

Happy building!

DIY 35mm Panoramic Camera - Attaching the Lens

It’s been a while since I’ve updated with any new information about my project to build a 3:1 panoramic 35mm film camera. The project fell by the wayside for a few months as real-life got in the way, but recently I picked it up again, and redesigned the entirety of the front end to allow me to attach the 65mm Fujinon f/5.6 large format lens that I bought. I went with a simple design, essentially just attaching a hollow box to the front of the camera, and extending some of the existing vertical pieces for greater structural integrity.

via GIPHY

I redesigned the back to fit around the added structure, and after some experimentation, added the rounded light seals above and below the back of the camera to help with light-tightness, a persistent challenge for me. The back fits around the camera like a nested box, and is lined with black felt for better light sealing.

To attach the lens, I made a lens board with a standard Copal #00 shutter hole in it. Attached to the front of the lens box, embedded within a few layers of plywood, are threaded nuts that permit the lens board to bolt on to the front of the camera, which gives me the very limited ability to adjust the focus in between rolls by adding or removing shims. I made a compact ground glass by sanding a small sheet of clear plastic, and I can place this where the film sits, and use a loupe to adjust the focus. It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done. For this version, I simply set the focus at around 15 meters, and stop down to achieve infinity focus.

With the design work done, I exported the parts to .dxf files and laid them out in preparation for laser cutting. I use the wonderful UW Comotion Makerspace for the laser cutting, and in 30 minutes, I had all the parts needed to start assembling the camera.

via GIPHY

With the parts cut, I glued them together with wood glue, clamping the assembly overnight to let it dry. Once the parts were attached, I used Q-tips to apply filets of more wood glue on the inside corners, using a flashlight to check light tightness. I painted the inside with a few coats of matte black spraypaint, cut felt and foam for light seals in the back, and glued some black yarn along seams with Elmer’s for extra light tightness. I use lengths of dowel for the rewind and take-up spools. I epoxied nuts into the plywood for mounting the lens board and a 1/4-20 nut on the bottom functions as a tripod mount.

My homemade prototype out in the wild, at Mount Baker.

For a first test, I took the camera with me on a short ski-trip to Mount Baker, where I snapped a few frames on a roll of Fujicolor 200. In the field, two challenges became apparent. First, it’s difficult to compensate for increasing spacing between frames as the take-up reel increases in diameter. With some care, however, I can get 15 frames out of a 36 exposure roll!

The second challenge is composition - I don’t currently have a viewfinder, so I’ve adopted the “point-and-pray” composition technique. If it’s an important shot, maybe I’ll take a few frames aiming up and down, to get one that comes out. I swung by the excellent Shot on Film store in Lake City and found a used 35mm external optical viewfinder from an old camera, and soon I hope to add this to my camera and mask the viewfinder to the correct aspect ratio, using my fake ground glass to align the viewfinder and lens.

After I was finished at Baker, I took the exposed roll home and developed it, excited to see how the camera worked!

Mount Shuksan from Reflection Lake.

Mount Baker at sunrise from Huntoon Point.

The frames came out pretty well, but with significant light leaks along the edges, presumably from gaps where the corners of the back meets the back of the “lens box.” At this point, I added the top and bottom light seals shown in the .gif above, yet another test roll showed this didn’t entirely solve the problem. Achieving light tightness has been the primary challenge with this project so far.

Not one to shy-away from ugly-but-effective solutions, I opted for a simple one - after loading the camera with film, I simply wrapped the whole thing in aluminum foil, leaving a hole for the lens and film winding knobs. While this looks absurd sitting atop my tripod, the four rolls I shot last weekend while camping in the Olympics are much, much better. They’re not perfect, and I need to spend some additional time sealing the lens mount, but I’m optimistic. Here are a few scans of photos from the Olympics, all taken on Kodak Gold and Fujicolor 200.

Point of the Arches at sunset.

A 3 hour exposure of the moon setting behind sea stacks. The haze in the middle is glare from the moon.

Morning light on Shi Shi beach.

Looking south from Point of the Arches, in the late afternoon.

Point of the Arches at sunset.

So far, this project has been an enormous amount of fun to work on, and I’m excited to continue with it! I will be presenting my progress so far at the UW Co-Motion Makerspace mixer this coming Wednesday, May 15, at 5pm.

In the near term, I plan on building a leather case around the camera to help with the last light leaks, adding a viewfinder, staining the plywood, and adding an attachment for a shutter-release.

In the long term, I’d like to re-design the film take-up mechanism to achieve better frame spacing, and build a focusing mechanism that allows me to adjust the focus easily mid-roll.

As always, please reach out with any questions!