National Parks

A Blissful State

I always build time into my hike for a moment of self reflections. Being so high in the mountains, where the air is thin, and views stretch for miles, offers one a wonderful opportunity for slowing down, and evaluating not only oneself, but the life around them. Whether it be spending the moment to take in the scenery and admire nature, or to introspect about your part in the wider community, the moment of zen is critical to appreciating the reason to get outdoors. Even if you are with friends, it pays to take time off to de-stress in nature

Here was a group doing this high in the Cascades.

North Cascades National Park
WA USA

A Slow Winter

The winter weather in the PNW has been a mixed bag so far. Freezing conditions with light precipitation, followed by much milder conditions and moderate precipitation. Neither are great for catching the classic winter landscapes of the PNW.

So here is one from an earlier time when the winter weather actually followed through, and thoughtfully provided a gap during a weekend to catch the powder.

Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA

Still Waters

As the kayak drifted slowly through the shallow waters of Cedar creek, I passed by baldcypress trees with their broad ribs and towering tupelo trees cradling the riverbank. The morning light of late fall lit up the faded yellows and orange of the swamp cottonwoods. The still waters of the creek created a sublime and moving reflection of the entire scene. The gentle chorus of songbirds as they were starting their morning flight echoed throughout the forest.

The everchanging pattern of colors, light and sound captured, in my mind, the essence of Congaree National Park, which preserves the last old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. This scene from Cedar creek in the National Park is the featured image for November in my 2024 calendar available at this link.

Congaree National Park
SC USA

Starlight magic

The transformation of the PNW in the summer is a sight to behold. Snow-covered winter landscapes become sun-drenched. Long nights transform to long days. And dreary grey days are replaced with a beautiful tapestry of sunlight during the day and a bejeweled carpet of stars at night. For long, I had visualized, in my minds eye, of a scene where the bright arc of the Milky Way draws out over the snow-capped summit of Mt Rainier while streaks of a meteor show dazzle in a starry spectacle.

This image, featured in the July month of my 2024 calendar, is a realization of such a scene. You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link.

Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA

Novarupta

While the term Katmai National Park conjures up images of Fat Bear Week and of gluttonous grizzles gorging on salmon, I found the volcanic wastelands of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes far more fascinating. The eruption of the Novarupta volcano which deposited hundreds of feet of ash on this vast valley took place in 1912, and it was the largest eruption of the 20th century. Though news of this eruption was overshadowed by an even more titanic disaster, the sinking of the Titanic.

Hiking into this remote valley left me with an itch to explore more of this unique landscape someday.

As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.

Katmai National Park
AK USA

Pacific bliss

May of 2023 will forever remind me of the furthest distance I have ever traveled to visit a National Park. Situated 2500 mi west of Hawaii, the National Park of the American Samoa is spread across a chain of islands in the southern Pacific. Getting to American Samoa proved half the challenge. Getting to an even more remote island, which featured one of the best shoreline coral reefs, undoubtedly harder. But the effort required to get to this tropical paradise was well worth the reward. Hence, this became the featured image for May for my 2024 calendar

As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.

National Park of the American Samoa
American Samoa

Footsteps to the Past

Every step you take in the sand dunes is a mark of your journey. You may not see where you are going, but you can look back and see where you have been. The wind may erase your footsteps, but it cannot erase your memories. The sand may shift and change, but it cannot change who you are.

Great Sand Dunes National Park
CO, USA


Misty Mountains

Backpacking in Wrangell St. Elias late in the season has its risks: you are likely to be at the whim of the Pacific storms which can dump a lot of moisture. And the short summer here means that you are going to be cold, damp and miserable if you are not moving. And if you are really lucky, you are going to be frozen in the icy north too. My sojourn in the Park had all of these, and more. But it was still an amazing experience.

Waking up in the morning after a day of hiking in the cold miserable rain, I was treated to a landscape blanketed in snow, with the morning light slowly peering through. The warming sunlight led to fog forming and drifting over the rolling hills and snow-capped peaks all around. And for a while, the landscape glowed with alternating pastels of yellow and blue. This magical landscape was the only factor that helped me brave the freezing cold that morning.

Here I tried to capture one such scene from that delightful morning walk.

Wrangell St Elias National Park
AK USA

Into the Maw

Hiking into the heart of the Carlsbad Caverns, I entered a nether region of other-worldly shapes, sounds and sights. Sounds of other tourists shuffling over echoed through the hallowed halls and the narrow passageways while the artful lighting converted thin pillars of stalactites and stalagmines to the monstrous jaws of an extra-terrestial creature. Curtains and wedges of limestone dangled delicately from the ceiling, growing slowly but steadily with every drop of water dripping down to the nether reaches below.

Such were the thoughts that ran through my mind as I walked through this surreal space.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park
NM USA