Landscapes

Blues of Mt Rainier

I turned my head east, into the glowing orb of the sun. A silhouette of endless peaks beckoned. Mountaintops were lit bright, while shadows stretched deep into the dark misty valleys below. This was a blue sunrise at Mt Rainier

I had arrived at that lookout point at dawn, hoping to capture sunrise lighting the imposing massif of Mt Rainier. As the deep whites of the glacier-capped Mt Rainier cycled through a vibrant scarlet, lush orange, and bright yellows, I became completely engrossed in shooting the light unfolding in front of me. And I had completely ignored the blue silhouette of endless peaks forming behind me. Until I turned my head east.

From atop this peak, I circled round and round: the massif of Mt Rainier on the west, the distant glowing summit of Mt Adams to the south, an unending series of blue mountain ranges on the east, the glacial summits of Mt Baker and Glacier peak to the north. Nowhere else could one be treated to such a noble sunrise vista.

Mt Rainier National Park

WA USA

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When in New Hampshire

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The weather forecast called for partly cloudy skies with pleasant conditions. But where I was, standing in freezing rain and overcast conditions, the sky clearly hadn't gotten that forecast. But all that didn't matter, for what I was seeing was a sublime fall scenery in the heart of New England.

Standing atop Artist's Bluff in Franconia notch that foggy morning, a carpet of gold stretched in all directions, carpeting the Appalachian range. The twin lanes of the Franconia Notch Parkway stretched into the horizon, bordering a still lake reflecting the golden hues.

Immersed in the tranquil scene, I momentarily forgot about the freezing winds and sleet as I rushed the bluff. Until I stopped shooting.

I wanted to stay and soak in the colors, but there was terrain to cover. And I was glad to leave the frozen bluff that beautiful morning.

Franconia Notch State Park

NH USA

Last of Summer

The trail kept climbing on. Along a narrow tree-lined cliff, up a steep grassy ridge, and onto a rocky scree at the lip of a receding glacier a couple of thousand feet above. It was not a sprint; it was a long marathon. I would have given up were it not for the jaw-dropping mountainscape opening up the more I climbed.

It was late afternoon by the time I got to the glacier. Endless vistas of jagged peaks stretched into the blue horizon. The stalwarts of the North Cascades - Mt Baker, Mt Rainier, and Glacier Peak, all made their exalted appearance. It was landscape that made me wish I could spend the night amidst the mountains so close to the stars. But what goes up must come down.

This was taken on the way down, just as the sun was starting to disappear behind the jagged edge, highlighting the fall landscape in the high sub-alpine terrain of the North Cascades

North Cascades National Park

WA USA

Alpenglow at Rainier

I opened my eyes to a loud alarm. It blinked 4am.

I was dazed, a light hangover persisting from last night, and wondering why I had set the alarm so early?

Then it all came back. Sunrise at Mt Rainier. My date was at 7:30am. It is a 2hr drive and a 45min hike to get to the viewpoint. And it was the last weekend before the road closed for the winter.

...

The smooth pavement stretched into the fog, winding between ranches and forests heading into the black unknowns. I didn't even have time for coffee. It was pure determination to capture this that kept me going.

...

Mt Rainier was glowing in an ethereal pre-dawn light. I was still a mile away from the viewpoint, hiking as fast as my legs could carry me. Another 15 minutes.

...

The Belt of Venus slowly dipped into the horizon: a band of pink and blue curving over the western horizon: earth's shadow casted into the sky. And as it descended, the tip of Rainier was glowing pink, matching the color of the sky beyond. I was all alone atop this viewpoint, enjoying Nature's spectacle

Mt Rainier National Park

WA USA

Country Roads of Vermont

I was driving along a winding country road in search of that elusive farm, up and over rocky ridges, across green grass valleys, cutting through gurgling brooks and rustling forests. The view changed with each bend: glorious fall foliage replaced by rustic farmhouses replaced by mirror-like ponds replaced by hardy livestock. I had transported to a Jane Austen countryside.

And even though I was kicking myself for not having a more accurate map, I was enjoying every moment being lost in the beautiful Vermont landscape going through the last of its fall colors. I eventually did find the working farm - a plethora of cars and photographers waiting for the perfect spot and the perfect light gave it away.

Here is that famous farmhouse in the heart of Vermont's English countryside donning the colors on the eave of autumn.

Woodstock

VT USA

Gold Rush

The morning sun shone through the dense conifers, a warm respite on that freezing morning. The 50s when I had left home at dawn had dropped to freezing, an unnerving temperature drop. I continued climbing, hoping to find the promised larches.

I was hiking up the Blue Lakes trail in the eastern side of North Cascades. Having missed the opportunity last year to capture the golden larches, this year, I was determined not to. And that determination motivated me to do the 3 hour drive to the cold reaches of Cascadia the past weekend. And hike in search of larches.

And they were waiting. Golden larches glowing in that morning sun along the shores of the glistening alpine lake against the backdrop of the lightly-dusted Cascades and a window of blue skies. A photographer's Gold Rush

Okanogan National Forest

WA USA

Gazing into the Mist

I stood along the edge of a steep rocky trail, gazing at the mystic valley that had opened up in front of me. Low-hanging clouds hugged the cliffs, now decorated with the eye-popping yellows of fall. They moved slowly, an ever-changing vista of greys, greens and golds.

A window appeared in the fog, a grey void revealing an avalanche chute that cut through a steep rocky cliffs. A thin mist hovered above those cliffs, lending an ethereal aura to the cold damp day. And just as soon as it had opened up, it closed again, the fog taking back its domain

As I immersed myself in this ephemeral beauty in Olympic National Park, a voice trailed in the background: "As I stood along the edge of a steep rocky trail.....", a fellow hiker echoing my thoughts.

Olympic National Park

WA USA

Coastal Sunsets

It was a cold damp day along the coast. The sun had played hide-and-seek throughout the day, light beams raining on the seaside. But the weather had been so tumultuous on this rocky bit of the California shore that I had half expected another grey winter sunset. It was going to be a moody yet beautiful evening.

Light had all but gone, and I was ready to pack up and leave, but the clouds beckoned to me. It showed a tinge of color on its fringes, a bat-signal to landscape photographers. And as I waited, more of its friends joined in the fray, until the whole sky was a dance of light and color. The graceful pink above, and the stormy blues below, made for a delightful twilight.

Sea Ranch

CA USA

A Window through the Fog

I was socked in by the fog. I could see nothing but my own feet and the dirt brown trail disappearing into the snow. The freezing wind was picking up, and my fingers started to numb.

Barely a half-hour earlier, I was enjoying my lunch beside a glistening glacial tarn under warm sunny skies, enjoying grand vistas of Mt Rainier. I had looked up at the Panhandle, eerily calling out to me through the clouds, and decided it would be a worthwhile post-lunch trek. No sooner had I reached within a finger's grasp of the summit when the fog rolled in. The warming sunlight faded awa, replaced by an ghostly fog that blew up from the other side.

Through the fog, visions of the surround landscape, an alien terrain at the edge of a glacial moraine, appeared like windows of light in the darkness. I could sense that, under better conditions, this would have been one memorable vista, but today was not meant to be.

One such vision I had from atop the Panhandle was this peak peering through the thinning fog, and the trail winding its way through the light snow.

Mt Rainier National Park

WA USA

Sentinels in Blue

As the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the distant peaks in the western horizon, the winds died down and the temperature dropped. An eerie sense of calmness descended on the grassy ridge I was on. The multitudes of mountain ranges slowly started compressing into one as the valleys below descended into darkness. Soon the sky will too, save for starlight.

The hikers had long gone, leaving behind only the beautiful blue hour as company for the cold evening. But staying back to enjoy this scene, despite the prospect of hiking back to the campsite in dark, was definitely worth it.

Gifford Pinchot National Forest

WA USA