Morning Lights in Hoquiam

When it comes to golden hour photography, I think the early morning hours are the most magical.

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^{Simpson Avenue Bridge in Hoquiam, Wash., at the dawn of an overcast day. Simpson Avenue Bridge is a drawbridge: the center span opens vertically in two pieces to allow boats to pass. It is one of three bridges over the main stem Hoquiam River.}

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Perhaps it is the promise of a new day that makes the early morning so much more magical. Or the fact that there are few people out walking at that time: even in a city park you can find a bit of solitude.

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^{Looking upriver from Simpson Avenue Bridge. On the horizon: Riverside Bridge and Karr Hill. Riverside Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge, which means the center span rises as a single horizontal piece between the two towers.}

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Lately I've been missing the early mornings, because I've been working an overnight shift and I'm either working or sleeping at that time. But last week I upended my schedule to go out for a walk at dawn.

We're just entering the rainy season here on the Pacific Northwest coast, so it's normal to have a ceiling of clouds like I found that morning. The lack of much gold in the golden hour drew my attention to the artificial lights.

Lights on the bridges. In the homes on Karr Hill. And I couldn't help but catch the lights of vehicles rushing past on the morning commute.

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Through the steel trusses, I noticed the Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad swing bridge closing near the mouth of the river, where it empties into the Grays Harbor bay.

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^{The PSAP swing bridge was built in 1908 (source). It normally stands open for river traffic.}

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The closed bridge did not deter this lone fisherman from heading out to the bay for the last of the salmon run.

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In the railyard on the west side of the river, they were loading what looked like wrapped bundles of particle board, presumably produced in one of our local mills.

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In the first photo of the series below, next to the light pole, you can see what looks like a viewing platform. That's actually where bridge operators park when they need to open the draw bridge, but it does provide an interesting angle on the bridge and a view down Simpson Avenue as it runs toward neighboring Aberdeen, Wash.

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I'm not sure if this is someone's name, or if the artist just forgot the 'y' in 'slayer'.

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There had already been a few sprinkles of rain on the walk, but after I photographed the graffiti it really started to pick up. I crossed the street and headed down in search of cover, but first I had to photograph this recreational area at the foot of the bridge.

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^{This is one of my favorite haunts on the Hoquiam River Loop, a combination of city sidewalk and walking path that runs along both sides of the river between Simpson Avenue Bridge and Riverside Bridge. Beacon Hill provides the backdrop.}

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On the ground, I ducked into a narrow, low-ceilinged pass beneath the on-ramp portion of the bridge.

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^{It's fascinating to me that they're holding up all that concrete with wooden posts, but this is timber country after all. Hoquiam was established as a logging town beginning in the 1880s, and we're still surrounded by acres and acres of Weyerhaeuser timberland.}

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There were too many raindrops already on my camera for comfort at that point, so I packed up and headed home for my usual daytime nap.

One final note of celebration to end this post, however: I was able to shift my work schedule from overnight to daytime hours, beginning this week, so hopefully there are more early morning photography sessions in my near future!