The morning sun shone through the dense conifers, a warm respite on that freezing morning. The 50s when I had left home at dawn had dropped to freezing, an unnerving temperature drop. I continued climbing, hoping to find the promised larches.

I was hiking up the Blue Lakes trail in the eastern side of North Cascades. Having missed the opportunity last year to capture the golden larches, this year, I was determined not to. And that determination motivated me to do the 3 hour drive to the cold reaches of Cascadia the past weekend. And hike in search of larches.

And they were waiting. Golden larches glowing in that morning sun along the shores of the glistening alpine lake against the backdrop of the lightly-dusted Cascades and a window of blue skies. A photographer's Gold Rush

Okanogan National Forest

WA USA