Every Christmas I make a calendar for my friends and family. This year the theme of the calendar is "Aerial North Cascades," containing 13 carefully selected high-quality aerial images of Washington's rugged and beautiful glaciated North Cascades. Each month is represented by an aerial photo taken during that month. Here is a 
North Cascades (& British Columbia) Aerial Photography Adventures |
PHOTOSETS & AERIAL TRIP REPORTS
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I have been tremendously blessed to join pilot/photographer John Scurlock on several 150-300-mile (1-2 hour) flights over the North Cascades. This table provides links to selected photos (and some video footage too!) from these aerial photography adventures, by photoset (left column) or by peak (right column). Plus, the map below shows the paths of these flights piled on top of each other and color-coded by month.
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PHOTOSETS |
PEAKS / LOOKOUTS linked to photoset(s) |
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PHOTOSET 35 : "Mount Rainier and the Chilliwacks" (MAY 1, 2013): Rainier, Little Tahoma, Rahm, Custer, Redoubt, Moxes, Bear, etc. |
Note: The following list represents the selection of aerial mountain photos in all of the photosets. I have photographed several summits not on this list, but have not deemed any of the photos of them "good enough" to post on my website. Hence the endless quest to get more and better photographs continues... Abernathy 32 Adams TR4 Agnes 31 Amphitheater 34 Argonaut 32 Athena 23 Azurite 25 26 Bacon 16 Baker 1 3 4 7 15 17 21 28 29 Ballard 25 26 Bandit 31 Baring 24 Bear 16 35 Big Craggy 30 Big Four 13 Bigelow 27 Black 27 Blackcap 26 30 Blum 5 22 27 Bonanza 1 9 19 30 31 Booker 25 Boston 1 20 Bowan 32 Buck 30 Buckindy 3 Buckner 25 27 32 Cannon 32 Carrie 23 Carru 26 Cashmere 32 Castle 12 21 Castle Rock 30 Cathedral 12 34 Chaval 25 Chimney Rock 24 Chiwawa 30 Clark 19 30 Columbia 13 Copper 9 Courtney 30 Custer 34 35 Cutthroat 12 Dark 31 Del Campo 13 Despair 5 10 16 Dome 1 2 9 20 31 Dorado Needle 20 Dragontail 6 31 32 Dumbell 30 Dumbell NE 30 Early Winter Spires 12 27 Eldorado 1 12 16 26 27 Enchantment 32 Fernow 9 Flora 30 Forbidden 1 3 12 Formidable 3 20 Fortress 30 Gardner 30 Glacier 6 17 18 19 22 28 32 Golden Horn 25 Goode 2 12 18 25 27 Gunsight 2 20 Higgins 25 Hoodoo 32 Hozomeen 2 12 21 Hurry-up 25 Jack 2 12 25 Johannesburg 3 25 31 32 Kangaroo Ridge 12 Klawatti 20 Kyes 13 Lago 26 30 Lake 30 Liberty Bell 12 27 Litte Annapurna 32 Litte Tahoma TR4 35 Logan 2 12 25 Lone Tree Pass 23 Lost 30 Luahna 19 30 Martin 32 Maude 9 McClellan 32 McGregor 32 McLeod 30 Meany 23 Mole 31 Monte Cristo 13 Monument 26 30 Moxes 8 21 34 35 Napeequa 30 Needle 31 Needles 26 North Gardner 30 Old Guard 31 Olympus 23 Osceola 26 Oval 27 30 Overcoat 24 Pickets 1 3 5 8 10 16 21 27 34 Pinnacle 30 Primus 20 Prusik 6 Ptarmigan 26 Pugh 2 13 22 25 Ragged Ridge 26 Rahm 35 Rainier 11 TR4 35 Raven Ridge 30 Red 13 Redoubt 8 34 35 Remmel 34 Reynolds 27 Robinson 26 Sahale 20 27 Salish Sea / San Juans 33 Sentinel 31 Seven Fingered Jack 9 Sherpa 32 Shuksan 1 3 8 10 17 22 29 Shull 26 Silver Star 12 27 Sinister 9 31 Sitting Bull 31 Skagit 26 Skagit Valley 33 Sloan 13 25 Snagtooth Ridge 12 Snowfield 3 5 20 Snowking 3 20 Snowqueen 3 25 Spectacle Butte 9 Spickard 8 Spire Point 2 9 20 31 St. Helens TR4 Star 30 Stiletto 27 Storm King 27 Stuart 6 31 32 Sunrise 30 Switchback 32 Temple Ridge 31 32 Tenpeak 19 Three Fingers 25 Tom 23 Torment 3 12 Tower 25 Triumph 5 10 16 Tupshin 30 Twin Sisters 3 24 28 Valhallas 23 Vesper 2 13 West Craggy 30 White Chuck 14 25 White Goat 30 Whitehorse 13 22 25 Wilmans 13 Windy 34 Wine Spires 12 27 30 Fire Lookouts: Desolation Lookout 26 Goat Peak Lookout 26 30 Green Mtn Lookout 30 Hidden Lake Lookout 16 26 Lookout Mtn Lookout 1 26 Mebee Pass Lookout 26 Miners Ridge Lookout 30 Slate Peak Lookout 26 Sourdough Lookout 26 Three Fingers Lookout 2 13 24 |
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PHOTOSET 34 : "Magical Mountain Mystery Tour (and completion of our quest to photograph the Highest Hundred)" (APRIL 16, 2013): Amphitheater, Cathedral, Remmel, Windy, Moxes, Custer, Redoubt, Challenger, Fury, Luna, Pickets, etc. |
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PHOTOSET 33 : "Skagit Valley and Salish Sea" (APRIL 14, 2013): Tulip fields, cows, tide flats, islands, lighthouses, ships, and more. |
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PHOTOSET 32 : "A Sunny Spring Afternoon in the Enchantments" (APRIL 1, 2013): Johannesburg, Buckner, McGregor, Bowan, Abernathy, Hoodoo, Switchback, Martin, Cashmere, Cannon, McClellan, Stuart, Sherpa, Argonaut, Dragontail, Little Annapurna, Enchantment, Temple Ridge, Glacier, etc. |
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PHOTOSET 31 : "Murky Mountains and Brilliant Sunspots" (MARCH 27, 2013): Stuart, Dragontail, Temple Ridge, The Mole, Bandit, Sitting Bull, Bonanza, Dark, Needle, Agnes, Sinister, Dome, Spire Point, Sentinel, Old Guard, Johannesburg, etc |
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PHOTOSET 30 : "Ticking Off the Hundred Highest" (MARCH 23, 2013): Monument, Blackcap, Lake, Lago, Lost, Big Craggy, West Craggy, Sunrise, McLeod, Goat Peak Lookout, Wine Spires, Gardner, North Gardner, Oval, Star, Courtney, Raven Ridge, Pinnacle, Castle Rock, Flora, White Goat, Tupshin, Bonanza, Dumbell, Dumbell NE, Fortress, Chiwawa, Buck, Napeequa, Clark, Luahna, Miners Ridge Lookout, Green Mtn Lookout, etc. |
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PHOTOSET 29 : "Evening Laps around Mounts Baker and Shuksan" (MARCH 18, 2013): Baker, Shuksan. |
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PHOTOSET 28 : "Sisters, Baker, Glacier, Glories, and Clouds" (MARCH 3, 2013): Twin Sisters, Baker, Glacier, etc. |
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PHOTOSET 27 : "Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness and a Pink Pickets Encore" (FEBRUARY 15, 2013): Black, Stiletto, Liberty Bell, Early Winter Spires, Silver Star, Wine Spires, Oval, Bigelow, Reynolds, Goode, Storm King, Buckner, Sahale, Eldorado, Southern Pickets, Northern Pickets, Blum, etc. |
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PHOTOSET 26 : "Fire Lookouts and the Heart of the Pasayten Wilderness" (FEBRUARY 2, 2013): Sourdough Lookout, Desolation Lookout, Slate Peak Lookout, Goat Peak Lookout, Mebee Pass Lookout, Hidden Lake Lookout, Lookout Mtn Lookout, Skagit, Shull, Osceola, Carru, Lago, Ptarmigan, Blackcap, Monument, Robinson, Azurite, Ballard, Needles, Ragged Ridge, Eldorado, etc. |
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PHOTOSET 25 : "A Spectacular Series of Morning-Sun-Lit Snowy Summits" (JANUARY 3, 2013): Jack, Ballard, Azurite, Golden Horn, Tower, Logan, Goode, Buckner, Booker, Hurry-up, Johannesburg, Snowqueen, Chaval, Higgins, Whitehorse, Three Fingers, Sloan, Pugh, White Chuck |
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PHOTOSET 24 : "New Years Day Flight over the Western Rim of the North Cascades" (JANUARY 1, 2013): North Twin, South Twin, Three Fingers Lookout, Baring, Chimney Rock, Overcoat
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PHOTOSET 23 : "Aerial Photography of Mt. Olympus and Company" (DECEMBER 30, 2012): Olympus, Athena, Tom, Valhallas, Meany, Carrie, Lone Tree |
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PHOTOSET 22 : "Cascades and Clouds" (NOVEMBER 24, 2012): Whitehorse, Pugh, Glacier, Shuksan, Blum |
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PHOTOSET 21 : "What a Study Break!" (NOVEMBER 10, 2012): Baker, Colfax, Mox, Hozomeen, Castle, Challenger |
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PHOTOSET 20 : "Crevassed Late Summer Glaciers in the North Cacades" (SEPTEMBER 19, 2012): Snowfield, Primus, Klawatti, Dorado Needle, Boston, Sahale, Formidable, Dome, Gunsight, Spire Point, Glacier, Snowking |
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PHOTOSET 19 : "Aerial Inspection of the Seismic Station on Glacier Peak" (JULY 21, 2012): Glacier, Tenpeak, Clark, Luahna, Bonanza |
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PHOTOSET 18 : "Reconnaissance Flight" (JUNE 28, 2012): Glacier, Goode |
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PHOTOSET 17 : "Cloud-Capped Cascades Giants" (APRIL 4, 2012): Glacier, Baker, Colfax, Lincoln, Shuksan |
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PHOTOSET 16 : "The Jumping Jackrabbit Flight" (MARCH 8, 2012): Bear, Pickets, Despair, Triumph, Bacon, Eldorado, Hidden Lake Lookout |
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PHOTOSET 15 : "A Sunday Afternoon Mount Baker Flight" (FEBRUARY 26, 2012): Baker, Lincoln, Colfax, Sherman Crater |
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PHOTOSET 14 : "Shrouded in Clouds" (FEBRUARY 23, 2012): White Chuck |
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PHOTOSET 13 : "A Pleasant Evening above the Southern North Cascades" (FEBRUARY 15, 2012): Three Fingers Lookout, Whitehorse, Red, Vesper, Big Four, Del Campo, Columbia, Wilmans, Kyes, Monte Cristo, Sloan, Pugh |
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PHOTOSET 12 : "A 318-Mile Morning Mountain Adventure" (FEBRUARY 5, 2012): Jack, Hozomeen, Castle, Cathedral, Wine Spires, Silver Star, Snagtooth Ridge, Kangaroo Ridge, Early Winter Spires, Liberty Bell, Cutthroat, Goode, Logan, Torment, Forbidden, Eldorado |
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PHOTOSET 11 : "Winter Afternoon Flying Loops around Mt. Rainier" (JANUARY 27, 2012): Rainier |
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PHOTOSET 10 : "Morning Window of Opportunity" (JANUARY 12, 2012): Triumph, Despair, Pickets, Shuksan |
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PHOTOSET 9 : "Evening Entrance" (JANUARY 11, 2012): Spectacle Butte, Maude, Seven Fingered Jack, Fernow, Copper, Bonanza, Sinister, Dome, Spire Point |
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PHOTOSET 8 : "Jagged Northern Extremities of North Cascades National Park" (DECEMBER 22, 2011): Shuksan, Redoubt, Mox, Spickard, Pickets |
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PHOTOSET 7 : "Mount Baker Evening Light and Height" (DECEMBER 11, 2011): Baker, Lincoln, Colfax, Sherman Crater |
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PHOTOSET 6 : "Two Cascades Monoliths and a Beautiful Pink Evening" (DECEMBER 4, 2011): Stuart, Dragontail, Prusik, Glacier |
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PHOTOSET 5 : "Winter has Arrived Early" (NOVEMBER 24, 2011): Snowfield, Pickets, Despair, Triumph, Blum |
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PHOTOSET 4 : (represents 2 flights) "Mount Baker and Dramatic Clouds, Stills and Video" (JULY 1 and JULY 26, 2011): Baker |
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PHOTOSET 3 : "Spring Flight over the Rugged Heart of the Cascades" (MAY 24, 2011): Snowking, Snowqueen, Buckindy, Formidable, Johannesburg, Torment, Forbidden, Snowfield, Pickets, Shuksan, Twin Sisters, Baker |
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PHOTOSET 2 : "South to North over a Sea of Rugged Cascades Summits" (FEBRUARY 19, 2011): Three Fingers Lookout, Vesper, Pugh, Dome, Spire Point, Gunsight, Goode, Logan, Jack, Hozomeen |
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PHOTOSET 1 : "A Grand Tour of Wintery Northern North Cascades" (DECEMBER 16, 2008): Baker, Shuksan, Pickets, Bonanza, Dome, Boston, Forbidden, Eldorado, Lookout Mtn Lookout |
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I have also joined John on some amazing aerial photography expeditions into the remote and massive mountains of British Columbia (including the Canadian Rockies, Columbia Mountains, and Coast Mountains), as well as an incredible one-day aerial tour along the Cascade volcanic arc from Rainier to Lassen. These aerial adventures merit their own trip reports—links are are provided in the table below.
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PHOTOSETS
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PEAKS linked to photoset(s) |
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 TRIP REPORT 5 : "Bugaboos in a Day (winter aerial photography adventure) " (MARCH 9, 2013): Bugaboos, Valhallas, and more... |
BC/AB: Adamants 3 Alberta 1 Asperity 2 Assiniboine 1 3 Bell 2 Bras Croche 3 Bryce 3 Bugaboos 1 3 5 Bute 2 Clemenceau 3 Columbia 1 Combatant 2 Edith Cavell 3 Forbes 3 Fryatt 3 Grenville 2 Hooker 1 3 Ida 1 Leaning Towers 3 Louis 3 Lyell 3 Queen Bess 2 Robson 1 Serras 2 Shackleton 3 Sir Alexander 1 Sir Donald 3 Sir Sandford 3 Temple 3 Tiedemann 2 Tonquin Valley 1 3 Tsar 1 3 Tusk 3 Valhallas 1 3 5 Waddington 2 Other areas: Adams (WA) 4 Crater Lake (OR) 4 Hood (OR) 4 Jefferson (OR) 4 Lassen (CA) 4 Rainier (WA) 4 Shasta (CA) 4 St. Helens (WA) 4 Three Sisters (OR) 4 |
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 TRIP REPORT 4 : "Cascade Volcanoes Aerial Photography Tour (winter conditions)" (JANUARY 19, 2013): Rainier, Adams, Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters, Crater Lake, Shasta, Lassen, St. Helens, and more... |
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 TRIP REPORT 3 : "Airplane Camping and Aerial Photography - a Grand Canadian Mountain Tour" (MAY 13-16, 2012): Sir Donald, Sir Sandford, Adamants, Tonquin Valley, Edith Cavell, Fryatt, Hooker, Bras Croche, Clemenceau, Tusk, Shackleton, Tsar, Bryce, Forbes, Lyell, Assiniboine, Louis, Temple, Bugaboos, Leaning Towers, Valhallas, and more... |
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 TRIP REPORT 2 : "Mt. Waddington & Company Aerial Photography Adventure" (MARCH 24, 2012): Waddington, Combatant, Tiedemann, Asperity, Serras, Bell, Queen Bess, Grenville, Bute, and more...
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 TRIP REPORT 1 : "Airplane Camping and Aerial Photography Adventure in the Canadian Rockies (and Nearby)" (SEPTEMBER 19-24, 2011): Robson, Sir Alexander, Ida, Tonquin Valley, Hooker, Alberta, Columbia, Tsar, Gimli and Valhallas, Bugaboos, Assiniboine, and more...
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FLYING WITH JOHN SCURLOCK (I wrote this in 2011, I've had several aerial adventures with John since and hopefully several more to come!)   I've been fortunate to join John Scurlock on several flights over the spectacular North Cascades of Washington as well as over some incredibly rugged and remote mountain ranges in Canada. John is well-known for his aerial mountain photography, primarily of the Cascade Range in Washington, but also of the Coast and Columbia Mountains of British Columbia, the Canadian Rockies, Oregon, and northern California. Navigating gusts and peaks in his little yellow Van's RV-6 two-seater (which he built himself over the course of several years), and perfecting the technique of shooting through thick plexiglass, he achieves an amazing perspective and stunning photos of these rugged summits. His photos can be found at this link: http://www.pbase.com/nolock. Arial photography is a challenge. Careening past massive mountains in a tiny plane at speeds approaching 200mph, banking hard to get the wing out of the photo, all the while buffeted by gusts and fighting level horizon lines and air sickness, it's hard enough just to take a photo. Then there's the 1/4"-thick plexiglass to soften the image, collect bug splats, create glare, and reflect everything inside the cabin (Canon might like the free advertising of the ghost image of the camera's logo, but it doesn't make for the best photo). And, of course, there's also a plane to be flown.
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