I live in a land of mountains, and yet I can only enjoy the purity of that experience while on a mountain-top. Up here, the distances shrink, time expands, and silence reverberates. It is meditative and rejuvenating. This is nature's healing hands.
King County
WA USA
Spring in the step
Even though the tulip blooms only last a couple of weeks, they put on a kaleidoscopic show of color that draws in tourists in record numbers. Perhaps it is their fleeting nature that makes them so special - they certainly would lose their charm if their blooms last the entire year.
Which one do you like the most?
Skagit Valley
WA USA
Deserted Alleys
With travel now opening up generally, where are you planning to go next? What are your fondest travel memories?
I still fondly remember walking down narrow alleyways of the walled city in Chefchaouen where every door, walk, step and adornment was dunked in a rich blue color. After immersing myself in the hustle and bustle of a working medina during the day, I returned back early the following morning to capture the place in silence, where the only sounds were those of a barking dog and a crowing rooster.
Chefchaouen
Morocco
Mornings in the Mountains
Every time I camp in the mountains, I look forward to the colorful sunsets and the dramatic sunrises. And when the conditions are right, I sometimes wake up to the classic Cascade sunrise where sunlight pours over the endless ranges of silhouetted mountain ranges. And in the next few hours, the pale orange sky and warm silhouettes slowly transform to a clear blue sky, where the rays stream between the gaps in the ridges and the valleys. Meadows that were in the shadows at dawn, slowly take on the lush mid-day green, and splashes of colors from vibrant fireweed and bright parsnips highlight the scene.
There are few places still in the North Cascades where this vision of a lush summer can still be experienced. I was glad to get experience one this summer season.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
A National Parks Journey - White Sands National Park
On my feed, I have often waxed poetry about White Sands, which I had first visited when it was still a National Monument. Sheer white sand dunes of the type found in White Sands National Park take on otherworldly hues at the magic hours of sunrise and sunset. And since the park is open only from an hour after sunrise to an hour before sunset, the only way to experience the magic hour is to camp between the dunes. Doing so requires contending with freezing temperatures and billowing winds, desert bugs and wildlife, and lack of any water. But the reward is the ability to shoot at the golden hours.
After grabbing dinner, it is time to take up the camera and shoot the dunes before night sets in. And while the evening light brings on yellow, and later pink hues on the sand, I prefer shooting the dunes before sunrise when the dunes take on a blue tone reflecting the deep blue desert sky of New Mexico. It also helps that the winds blowing through the night ensure that the fresh ripples in the sand constitutes a new canvas ready for another day of painting by the light.
Even though I have been there twice, this place has enraptured my heart so much that I would never refuse another night of camping in the dunes.
White Sands National Park
NM USA
A National Park Journey - Denali National Park
I saw that etched on a keychain in a souvenir shop outside Denali National Park. When I asked the store owner about the significance of that ratio, I was told that 70% of the tourists who visit the park do not get to see the famed peak. Whether it was true or not, the ratio kept repeating in my head as I sat on the park bus trundling closer and closer to the peak, and it left me wondering whether I would get to see it. The incessant clouds and moody grey skies on that day certainly didn't help. The sky never let up that entire day, and even though I could catch partial glimpses of the snow-covered slopes, it was never visible in its entirety. I went to sleep with a heavy heart, hoping the weather would improve tomorrow.
I still don't remember why I woke up that early, after just 4hours of sleep, but I did, and when I stepped out of the tent into the freezing cold, Denali was there in its entirety. The deep pink light of the rising sun shone on a vast swatch of the glaciated slopes, with the broad summit barely visible. I considered myself lucky to see the peak bathed in such heavenly light.
I would continue to see the summit for the rest of the day, but I do hope to return back and explore more of the amazing backcountry of this park.
Denali National Park
AK USA
A National Park Journey - Mount Rainier National Park
I still remember my first visit to Rainier early one spring many years ago. I had driven along sinuous mountain roads enthralled by the lush vegetation along the lower approach. I had truly felt that I was in Paradise, which was also my destination for the day. However, as soon as I had breached the forest cover in Longmire, I realized that the trip was not going to be worth it as the the entire peak was hidden away in the clouds.
I had continued driving about 30 minutes up the road, hoping that the sky would open up. Instead, Paradise was just a gloomy rendition of a city park in the midst of winter: slushy snow substituting for the ground, gloomy skies and ground-level fog that nixed visibility and no hope of seeing the mighty Mt Tahoma. I turned around disappointed, vowing to come back again.
And now, living in the Pacific Northwest, I get to spy the mighty Tahoma on every clear day, and I get the opportunity to visit it few times every year as it is almost close enough for a day trip. This image was from one such return visit to capture the first light on Rainier reflected on a lake.
Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA
Coastal Forests
The rugged coastline of Oregon is a road-trippers paradise. Smooth sandy beaches interspersed with steep cliffs where the coastal forests meet the rugged ocean all lie within arms length of small coastal communities. And on a crisp sunny day, these places are a delight to explore.
Along one such beach, the morning fog filtered through the trees, creating crepuscular rays that beamed down to the shoreline bedecked with mossy rocks, decaying deadwood and the occasional sea stacks.
Ecola State Park
OR USA
Azure Crystals
I find the ripples of the sand dunes quite fascinating: the patterns are ever so numerous, but often gets lost in the vastness of the dunes and the angle of light. But early in the morning, even the tiniest of lines on the sand becomes patterns onto themselves. That is what I seek out every time I am in the dunes.
An early morning in February found me amidst the dunes of White Sands National Park. I was hunting to find the right location where the lines were highlighted by the rising sun. In the gentle pre-dawn light under the deep-blue morning sky, the white sand took on an ethereal hue, slowly changing through different shades of blue as the sun rose up. I knelt down to capture the lines of shadow and light stretching in front of me.
White Sands National Park
NM USA
Early morning mysteries
Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises
- Unkown
Nothing refreshes and re-energizes the soul more than smell of a fresh morning in a rain-forest laden with swirls of moist fog gently caressing its lush green slopes. It is not often that one can get out of the tree cover in a forest, but on this one morning in Colombia, I was able to.
Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona
Colombia