[/caption] The Pacific Northwest received its first early winter storm of the year and I wanted to make sure and capture the aftermath. the weather service was calling for partially sunny skies on Wednesday so I decided that it would be the best day to try and get some great photos of the fresh snow along with untouched powder. I was pleasantly surprised to find out just how awesome the day was as well as surprised that the east side of Mt. Hood was completely untracked. The temperatures were rising as the day moved along but the snow was still hanging on to the trees and the snow was still pretty solid. Earlier in the day, the wind was howling near 50 mph on the west side of Mt. Hood and the snow was thick from Timberline to the summit. However, as the day progressed, the snow started to melt a little, which caused several of the jagged rocks on the volcano to show several bare spots. The morning was the best time to get shots of the mountain when it still looked like an ice cream cone. The snow was as low as Government Camp as well as Trillium Lake. The gate at the Trillium Lake entrance was open so we were able to drive right to the lakes edge. I felt as though I had cheated some great shots of Mt. Hood and Trillium Lake in the foreground since I normally have to make the 5 mile round trip trek from the sno-park. We later traveled east and found that the wind on the White River East trail was non existent and the conditions were epic. Fresh powder, snow covered trees and a great view of the mountain. Our tracks were pretty deep since the temperature was rising and we were the first to snow-shoe the area. As the day progressed, the clouds started to roll in and the winds started to pick up. We finished the day at Timberline lodge where we warmed up with some great strong hot drinks at the Ram’s Head Bar and watched most of the snow near the summit disappear. I hope that the next storm brings in even colder temperatures and more snow to the Cascades. I took this photo near the White River East Sno-Park at 1:05pm. The sun was fairly low in the background, which created a nice glare along with some shadow’s from the trees as well as the clouds just starting to approach. The snow is completely un-tracked and the trees are still pretty well covered by snow. I was using my Canon T1I Rebel along with my Canon 18-55mm lens. I was using my UV, warming and CIR-PL filters since the glare was pretty intense and the filters helped create a much softer image. I set the White Balance to -0.7 and the ISO at 100. The shutter speed was at 1/200 second and the F stop was at F-9. I also had the focal length at 27mm. I brought my tripod on my snow-shoe trek but I didn’t end up using it while snow-shoeing. Therefore, this photos was taken without a tripod. Nothing is worse than carrying your tripod on your pack while you’re snow-shoeing. I did lighten my load by only taking two of my lenses but I always end up with additional weight once I factor in all of the survival gear and additional clothes that you carry with you when snow-shoeing.