The showstealer for fall in the PNW northwest is undoubtedly the golden larches. That is probably why I try to squeeze one trip every calendar year. This year was the only exception. Between travel, work, and recovery from a knee surgery, backpacking to the higher slopes of the Cascades during the one weekend of peak color was just out of the question.
Thankfully I had plenty of archival content from prior years that I could utilize for my 2025 calendar, which I feel would be incomplete without a landscape featuring larches. This specific photo caught my eye due to the elegant framing provided by the backlit larches, which, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to capture fall foliage. See this large in my 2025 calendar, available for purchase at this link.
Okanogan National Forest
WA USA
Reflections of fall
The surest sign of fall across north-western US and most of Canada is the larches changing to a golden yellow in unison. Out in the PNW, this synchronized phenomenon happens like clockwork across all the major larch forests in early October. And for the most part, these forests lay hidden in the higher altitudes and require a bit of effort to get up and see the golden palettes.
And even though the show is brief, I savor every moment of hiking under a canopy of vibrant orange larch forest.
You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link. And as before, all proceeds get donated to the Sierra Club Foundation
Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest
WA USA
Fall in the Cascades
High in the eastern slopes of the cascades, the larches break out in a brilliant orange color in unison, transforming the dry green landscape to a vibrant gold. And in the right locations, this is a scene to behold.
Okanogan Wenatchee National Fores
WA USA
Light on the Larches
When I travel outdoors, I am constantly surprised by how life clings on to the barest of environments. While I struggle to grow potted plants indoors, I have found both colorful shrubs and towering trees grow in the tiniest nooks and crannies without any additional help.
Such as this group of larches showing off their golden coat amidst the stark rocky landscape of the eastern Cascades.
Okanogan Wenatchee National Fores
WA USA
Golden Honor
Seems like just yesterday I was hiking through a larch forest in peak fall foliage. I spied endless mountain slopes covered in resplendent gold, glowing in the morning sun under a crisp autumn sky.
How is it that six months have passed already?
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
WA USA
Sunrise silhouettes
The weekend is here. After a hectic week, I am hoping to find a moment of peace and sanity in the beautiful wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.
How about you? How do you get to your moment of zen?
Sawtooth Wilderness
ID USA
The drop
Morning light had just started to illuminate the far end of the still lake. A raft of ducks made their way across, submerging periodically to fish for their morning meal. The cool air was silent, interrupted by the occasional shriek of osprey out on a hunting flight. High clouds swirled in the hazy skies above, a sign of an approaching front of smoke. I was not worried; it was my last day there, but I certainly didn't want this moment to end.
As I was pondering on composition ideas, I noticed a school of fish leaving tiny ripples in the still reflection, and wondered whether I could employ that to get a foreground. This image is the result of one such attempt.
Sawtooth National Forest
ID USA
Skyfall
From the time of childhood, I had been exposed to the wonders of the night sky, starting with the lullaby Twinkle twinkle little star. And that fascination with the night sky continues to endure to this day, where with every backcountry trip I take, I look forward to staring at awe at the starscape that forms every night.
This trip to the Sawtooth wilderness was no different. Apart from being a fascinating place to explore a new environment, the lack of any light pollution provided a prime opportunity to indulge in this passion. And the Sawtooths delivered like no other. Tracking the band of light that stretched across the sky, I tried to capture the swirling masses of spectral clouds at the heart of the Milky way that seemed to illuminate the light of a thousand suns. Right at that moment, a bright (possibly) Perseid meteor scintillated just above the jagged outline of the Sawtooth range.
Sawtooth Wilderness
ID USA
The Sawtooths
I envisioned a dusty old lake, a few drying trees swaying in the wind, and a bare rocky terrain rising up from the basin getting backed in the hot Idaho sun. What I didn't expect was a placid gem of a lake nestled amidst granite monoliths towering over the alpine terrain. As I watched the jagged peaks of the Sawtooths catch the first light of the day, and captured in the mirror-like reflections on the still lake, I felt transported from the grounded imagination I had had to a scene far more memorable than what I had expected.
I felt a joy freezing a slice of time and preserving for eternity a moment that has probably been repeated for aeons.
Sawtooth Wilderness
ID USA