national parks

Lines in the Sand

Mother Nature's fingerprint at White Sands National Park. The delicate lines on the dunes at dawn are a mesmerizing reminder of the ever-changing desert landscape. Witnessing the hues in the sand transition to warm to cool colors at dusk, and reverse again at dawn, was a big factor to decide to camp in the park. And it was worth every ounce of sand I discovered in the tent and backpack thereafter.

White Sands National Park
NM USA

Spring Thaws

California's magic unfolds as spring awakens Yosemite Valley. As snow-capped peaks begin to shed their winter coat, waterfalls roar to life, valleys become temporary lakes, and wildflowers paint the meadows in vibrant hues.

Yosemite National Park was one of the very first National Parks I had visited, and it's everlasting beauty played no small part in awakening my spirit of conservation. I hope that it inspires you to protect the rich diversity of this planet as well.

Yosemite National Park
CA USA

Horizon Blues

The thick fog of the cold morning dispersed slowly into the valleys as the sun rose, highlighting the jagged ridges of innumerable ranges. The icy summit of Glacier peak stood alone in the distance, and yet so near I almost could touch it.

Scenes like these are the perks of being able to get here early in the morning. And they far outweigh the effort of waking up and driving in the lonely pitch black night. Here is to hoping I can make it out to these places once again this summer.

Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA

Nature's Palette

This crisp fall day out in the Pacific Northwest showcases the best of nature's color palette: blue skies with the right amount of haze, a foreground of vibrant reds amidst lush green vegetation interspersed by the dark green of the conifers and the emerald blues of an alpine lake. The balmy temperatures and the receding scent of a misty morning proved to be the perfect antidote for a stressful week. And even though I was huffing and puffing my way up there, the airy views of the sublime PNW scenery more than made up for it.

North Cascades National Park
WA USA

Summer in Rainier

Summer hiking in Mount Rainier can take one from lush old-growth lowland forests to subalpine wildflower meadows and to the high alpine reaches strewn with old volcanic debris. It is one of the few places in the world where you can experience the varied ecology of all the three life zones within just a few miles. No wonder crowds of tourists throng the Park in the summer.

It was for this reason that the Park instituted a reservation system to control the visitation numbers, and ensure that the fragile ecology is preserved for a long time to come.

Reservations open up 3 months in advance. Make sure to snag one to capture the beauty of summer in Mount Rainier. Read more about it here.

Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA

Winter escapes

In a PNW winter, the high summits of the Cascades or the Olympics beckon us to hike through wooded lowland trails, cross deep banks of snow, traverse icy ridges and reach rocky summits. And if you are lucky, you would be the first person of the day to break trail. When the conditions are right, the PNW rewards you with a remarkable experience: traversing through powder snow under bluebird skies to guide you to panoramic vistas of icy peaks, sun-kissed summits and rocky ridges. Higher up, conical edifices of conifers that braved the winter storms dot the soft embankments of white, resembling ancient creatures traversing slowly through the snow.

This year is quite unlike any other. With higher than average temperatures, the snowline and snowpack have receded to historically unprecedented levels. Whether it is a temporary quirk of nature or a symptom of a longer-term climactic pattern, the coldest month in the PNW has proved not to be. So here are scenes from prior years of the blue and white jewels of the PNW.

National Parks of Washington
USA

Alone with the Stars

It was silent up there. Every rustle from the pine trees, every hoofbeat on the meadow, every chirp of the grasshopper were as loud as the crack of a bullet. But this silence let me focus on the beautiful night sky above me.

The sky glittered with the light of a million stars. The occasional meteor from the Perseid shower sped across this sparkling dome in a brilliant scintillating flash. And behind this, the bright band of the Milky Way arched across, a highway from earth to the heavens above.

Moments like these make me realize that we are but an insignificant mote in the vastness of space. And out here, in the PNW, such moments are rare to come by. I am glad I could be in wilderness on nights like these to enjoy its dazzling splendor.

Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA

The Core of Novarupta

Most people associate Katmai with its famous grizzles. They are the star of the show, after all. However, there is an entirely different aspect to the National Park that very few people get out to explore.

In the summer of 1912, this park lay witness to one of the largest volcanic explosions of the century: the Novarupta explosion. It created an umbrella cloud 1000 miles wide, and expelled thirty times as much ash as Mt St Helens, lowering earth's temperature by more than a degree. The ash flow piled 700ft deep into the glaciated valley which now resembles a moonscape. This is the Valley of the 10000 smokes, so named for the innumerable fumeroles and vents that were observed in the aftermath of the explosion.

This valley is like no other: a vast ash-strewn landscape with nary a sign of vegetation stretching for miles into the horizon. The distant glacier-covered volcanoes are a reminder of the active nature of this region. In the late afternoon light, I snatched a few telephoto images of this mountainscape to capture the interplay of shadow and light.

Katmai National Park
AK USA

Waiting for Dinner

When do you decide from being a spectator to becoming an active participant? When it comes to wildlife, my principle is never (interfere). But there are times which have come close to testing it. This was certainly one of them.

Out at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, it was still early in the season. The salmon still hadn't started their upstream migration to their spawning grounds. They were waiting patiently in large numbers at the mouth of the river for some hidden signal that only they knew. The grizzles had just come out of their long winter hibernation, looking both famished and tired. The salmon is a key component of their summer diet, and the ursine population needed every salmon they could get their paws on; it was the only way to recover from the lost reserves.

And so, this year, the grizzlies waited at the same spot they wait every year. They were hoping to catch their break-fast, a feast of juicy salmon. However, with the slow run of the salmon, they just kept waiting in the cold waters of the river, looking sad and forlorn. 634 Popeye ( I think ) was one of them, and every spectator out on the deck felt so sorry for this guy that we all contemplated just feeding him a salmon from the store. Thankfully our better instincts (and a warning from the ranger) prevented us from doing so. So all we could do was just watch nature take its course.

Katmai National Park
AK USA

The Beach

This is not the beach from The Beach (2000) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but this is a beach in the Polynesian island chain. What makes it special is that it is one of the least visited beaches in one of the least visited National Parks. Getting out here was not the easiest trip, but the reward for that effort was this unspoilt beach with a pristine reef right off the beach.

Most folks choose to come to the National Park of the American Samoa to experience a slice of the Polynesian life. Set 2500 mi away from Hawaii, this chain of volcanic islands close to the equator is at the heart of this amazing culture. For some, this is their 63rd (and final) National Park, but for me, it was my 56th. I had sought out this park to experience a land away from the crowds thronging the mainland. And this beach on this remote island is the closest I ever came to it.

National Park of the American Samoa
AS