These are the reasons I love the North Cascades: the vista of endless snow-capped peaks catching the last light of the sun, with many such spots within an easy day's hike of civilization, as well as places to escape into the remote wilderness where you are unlikely to meet a soul.
The price to pay is the incredibly short summer season where many such places are actually accessible, and makes you realize the real value of time. I find the opportunity cost that you pay of working full time is the limited window of a few weekends when you can really explore the PNW Wonderland, while balancing familial and social commitments, as well as travel urges to places outside the northwest. The pandemic this year has made things more challenging for all, but it gave more time to explore local destinations which have become more crowded than prior years.
I have often wished whether I could change that balance and adjust the trade-offs, but so far, it has proved challenging.
Mt Baker Wilderness
WA USA
Not So Smoky
When I arrived at the summit, it was still dark, with a faint tinge of orange on the eastern sky. I could barely make out the dark silhouette of the horizon. I wondered what the morning sun would bring.
As I waited through the cold and still dawn, the layers of mountains slowly became visible, stretching endlessly into the horizon with one range overlapping the next until they all coalesced into the boundary between the earth and the sky. Soon, the low angle of the autumnal rising sun cast sharp lines of shadow and light that lit up the fog lying low in the deep valleys.
After standing in that freezing winds for what seemed like eternity, I welcomed the glorious rays of the morning sun. Apart from lighting the vast vistas in front of me, it warmed up heart and soul.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
NC USA
From Earth to Sky
The recent news of the turmoil in Kyrgyztan, a land-locked country in the heart of Central Asia, nestled in by the towering Tien Shan mountains, was heartbreaking. Protests and riots have erupted around the ongoing political unrest regarding the elections. This crisis, coupled with the economic impacts from the pandemic, has proved to be devastating for this nation.
It feels like a different era compared to the time I visited the beautiful countryside inhabited by nomadic herders and sparsely populated towns and villages. I still remember standing in awe admiring the snow-capped peaks of the Tien Shan range reaching for the azure skies.
I do hope that, for the sake of the amazing people I met in Kyrgyzstan, that things return to normalcy.
Arslanbob
Kyrgyzstan
Hiking on the crest
In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks
- John Muir
I certainly did not expect to experience what I did during a four day sojourn into the Teton backcountry. Even though it was nearly a decade ago, I still remember the trials and tribulations I endured during the traverse of the Teton high country, but the vistas that trek opened up was beyond anything I had ever imagined. It was truly one for the books.
Grand Teton National Park
WY USA
The Dancing Dame of the Sand
The object of art is to make eternal the desperately fleeting moment
The dancing dame of sand swirled and swayed with the light in the darkness of the canyon. It didn't last long - its fleeting motion dissipated in a blink of an eye, but just long enough to be frozen behind the lens of a camera. Thankfully, it didn't take much to reset and recreate the ephemeral vision once again.
Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park
AZ USA
Too much of a good thing
This is one of those places in the North Cascades that has become too popular for its own good. Not just for the glistening alpine lake set amidst the towering granite peaks of the Cascades, but also for the larches that sprinkle gold on the rocky slopes that line the bowl-like depression where this beautiful lake lays. I remember spending a lot of effort into trying to pick up empty plastic bottles and food waste from around the pristine alpine lake.
I have witnessed how crowded up a popular area can get. And that increases the chance that visitors don't adhere to Leave No Trace principles. Not a day goes by when I don't read trip reports of trails and campsites littered with trash. At a popular backcountry location in the North Cascades I visited over a year ago, I was shocked to see the dirty remains of an illegal campfire covering over a dozen beer cans, innumerable cigarette butts, food wrappers and much more. I spent over an hour trying to clean up as much as I could and haul all the trash, but one can only do so much.
I urge you all to read about Leave No Trace , and adhere to it when you are out in the wilderness. Here are three key principles of the seven things you can do when you outdoors:
1. Leave what you find: Leave areas as you found them. Don't clear out sites or build fire rings, damage trees and plants/
2. Dispose of waste properly: Pack it in and pack it out, and this includes all trash, leftover food, fruit skins. litter and toilet paper. Always leave the place cleaner than you found it.
3. Travel and camp on durable surfaces: Concentrate usage on existing trails and focus activity in areas where vegetation is absent
These will help ensure that you such pristine locations are preserved for posterity.
North Cascades National Park
WA USA
A Heart of Gold
I hadn't expected to find a heart of gold in the Pacific Northwest, a region not especially known for its fall foliage, especially against the stars of the show of colors - New England, the Smokies, Colorado and the like. But over the weekend, one little corner of Washington put on a show to delight any nature lover.
The subalpine larch, Larix lyallii, are hardy deciduous conifers that grow in the alpine and sub-alpine terrain along the dry eastern slopes of the Cascades, characterized by short dry summers and long cold winters. And in fall, their needles turn to a golden yellow color, making even a single tree stand out against the rocky terrain ubiquitous in the area. And I happened upon an entire forest of these larches all deciding to change color at the same time.
Okanagan Wenatchee National Forest
WA 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
Beyond Sunset
I almost didn't get this shot.
It was getting dark and cold at the summit of the peak near Mt Baker. My shoes, having been soaked in slushy snow for the better part of the evening, was starting to freeze over. And I didn't relish the thought of walking down on snowy trails in pitch black.
But last light of twilight wasn't done yet. As a dark blue hue enveloped the sky from the eastern horizon, the western sky transitioned from bright yellow to a deep orange the likes of which I had never seen before. And against this backdrop, the unmistakable cone of Mt Baker rose up framed by a gradation of colors. And I knew I had to stop and get this.
Mt Baker Wilderness
WA USA
Summer Memories
Everyone is excited about the colorful season of Fall coming up, where nature puts on a show before she finally settles down for the winter. Perhaps we can spare a moment for the balmy days of summer spent lying down on a green grass meadow watching the wispy clouds flutter away. Watching the fleeting patterns of clouds reminds me of bucolic summer days of years past, a time of carefree life and trivial experiences.
This particular area of Palouse brought back those memories, and I tried to render it as I imagined in my minds eye.
Palouse
WA USA