Twilight settled along Ingalls Creek in the Alpine Wilderness Area. The water rushed from top to bottom across these three photographs, dropping almost 30 feet over a short distance. (G. Thomas Bancroft)

I found a large boulder along Ingalls Creek in Alpine Lakes Wilderness where I could sit to watch the light change as we passed through sunset into twilight.  A mixture of cedars, Douglas firs, hemlocks over hung the creek.  Vine maples, alders, serviceberry bordered the sides and a lush carpet of mosses, ferns and other plants stretched across the ground.  It is amazing how comfortable a granite rock can be when set in this landscape.  A Wilson’s warbler sung softly in the understory on the far side of the stream and a Townsend’s warbler declared its ownership of the canopy behind me.  It made a perfect atmosphere to wait for the light to change.

Ingalls Creek drains east out of the Cascades.  I was a couple of miles up from US97.  The valley is relatively step sided and the creek drops pretty continuously down through the valley forming an incredible chain of rapids and small waterfalls.  I had found a place where three small falls-rapids complexes occurred in less than a hundred yards and the total fall in elevation was probably close to 30 feet.  Water flow was relatively high with the warm weather increasing snowmelt at higher elevations.  The sound and sight of the rapids were mesmerizing.  It was very serene and easy to allow time to drift by.

The light gradually turned blue as we moved into twilight.  It is such a tranquil time to be in the woods and enjoy watching the forest drift into nighttime.  I created this triptych of the three rapids where I was sitting.  The slow shutter speed made the churning water turn into whipped cream and helped complement the serene feeling I had; definitely a wonderful place to be and experience.

If you want to hear the sound of these rapids, you can watch this video of the one section.  Let me know what feelings these create for you?

Ingalls Creek  Click on this to watch the movie