My Week on the Hoquiam River

Dawn on the Hoquiam River

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In Feathered Friends on a Hoquiam River Morning, I wrote

Lately I've been practicing the habit of taking the camera along whenever I go to the river; there's always something happening there, and Hive now offers a broad range of opportunity for sharing photos and video, even if one doesn't have enough for a full, long form post.

I adhered to that practice fairly well over the past week. I also took a couple trips to the river expressly for photography. This post is a kind of compilation of the week; many of the photos have been shared on Hive's microblogging platforms, but most are appearing for the first time here.

Early Thursday, October 3

The river lies just a block from my apartment in Hoquiam, Wash. The week began with my usual morning coffee visit to my favorite spot behind the Timberland Bank office building, where I was delighted to see mist at the river bend.

The video is probably better than the still in this case: you can see the mist moving and hear the birds, including a great blue heron.

Sunday Dawn, October 6

I went to the river Sunday especially looking for some video, and also ended up with some photos I really like, including the headliner for this post.

It was a golden dawn.

I set up with my tripod on the edge of the mudflat and waited for a fishing boat that I had seen at the Levee Street boat launch as I walked past.

I filmed the fishing boat on its way downriver to Grays Harbor bay.

Afterward I walked the seven blocks back to my coffee spot ... and found the mist in the trees.

Monday Midmorning, October 7

By Monday I had started to think about a compilation post, and I started hunting bridge photos. My thinking was that most of my photos for this post would come from the Hoquiam River Loop, a sidewalk/blacktop walkway that runs between two bridges in the downtown Hoquiam area, so it would be nice to show the bookends of the Loop: Riverside Bridge and Simpson Avenue Bridge.

As you'll notice, I rarely take photos from the paved walk; mainly I just use to Loop to gain access to the riverbank.

Above, we see Riverside Bridge at the northeast end of the Loop. Riverside is a vertical-lift bridge; the roadway lifts as one horizontal piece between the two towers.

I walked all the way to the southern end of the Loop, at Simpson Avenue Bridge, and made my way back along the eastern riverbank in search of a good shot of Riverside Bridge.

The brilliant midmorning sun provided only glaring shots of Simpson Avenue Bridge.

Through Simpson Avenue Bridge, you can see the Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad swing bridge near where the river empties into the Grays Harbor bay. Definitely no walking allowed on that bridge.

Midway, the going became a bit treacherous. Most of the rocks you see below had dried off after high tide, but in spots they were still completely slicked with mud.

The passageway widened into a small mudflat, where I turned my attention from the bridge to the tugboats at dock.

Then I noticed a killdeer on the mudflat. Not optimal to photograph it with my wide angle lens, but I didn't want to switch and risk missing it.

The killdeer didn't stay long before it winged away.

It seemed to be scared off by a new, even smaller, arrival: a least sandpiper.

The sandpiper worked its way along the mudflat right in front of me, giving me ample time to film it.

Grey Wednesday, October 9

Wednesday was a foggy, misty morning. I went back to the Loop to see if I could nail down some better bridge photos, especially one of Simpson Avenue Bridge without the sun glaring behind it. (Of course, the mist and low light presented its own challenges.)

This one taken from Riverside Bridge gives a sense of the extent of Simpson, though it doesn't take in all of it – it's a long bridge.

Simpson is a drawbridge that splits in the middle and lifts two sections to stand vertically.

Standing on Simpson Avenue Bridge, looking down on most of the Hoquiam River Loop ... and a bank of mist between the hills.

Looking at Riverside from my coffee spot, which is to the north of the Loop.

Through the spiderweb (yes, that is a No Doubt reference).

And finally, another look at the tugboats.

Conclusion

Well, I'm not sure I really like a compilation post, though it does offer a look at things in different light and weather conditions. I just don't think it holds together very well thematically (or maybe I just haven't figured out how to tie it together very well).

Let me know what you think (if anyone has hung with me to the end of this longish post).

Thanks for viewing!