When I was planning the trip to Lake Clark, I was told I would be hiking through the Alaska tundra. When I imagined the tundra, I expected a mosquito-filled boggy marsh, interspersed with thick dense bush, all moist from a perennially cold summer drizzle that would never stop. But when I arrived there, the marsh I expected was still there, sans mosquitoes. Grey moody skies and cold rain were replaced by balmy weather, bluebird skies and puffy white clouds, straight out of a New England summer.
It was not your typical tundra, at least not for another three days after which a powerful thunderstorm slammed the region with torrential rain and copious water. But until then, the tundra I enjoyed out at Lake Clark National Park was sublime.
Lake Clark National Park
AK USA
Golden Sunrise
Waking up to freezing temperatures, and layering up in the dark to hike up a mountain on a cold morning isn't my idea of fun, but I realized that is what it takes to capture the grand show of colors put up by the vast grove of larches this side of Washington. It was my final morning of the 3-day backpack and my arms and legs were getting sore. I wasn't very hopeful for colors, especially since I heard the winds howl through the night, racing down from the mountains.
Thankfully, as I stepped out, I noticed that the trees had persevered, and most of the needles were still hanging on. I started climbing in the dark, scouting for compositions just as the eastern sky was starting to light up. A few minutes later, I had reached my intended destination for shooting the sunrise. In a few moments, the sun came up from behind the distant hills, lighting up the golden larches in a blaze of fiery glory. As I watched, the glow progressed down the slope towards the lake, and eventually encircled it. The deep red color slowly changed to a vibrant orange and finally turned gold, for which this trail is named after.
I caught this composition just around the moment the glow had spread through the vast bowl covered with larches. And not a moment too soon - the sun disappeared behind a large patch of clouds never to be seen for the next few hours.
Okanagan Wenatchee National Forest
WA USA
A Rainier Summer
I certainly count myself to be blessed to be living within a stone's throw of the Mighty Tahoma, even though my opinion might change when the big one finally erupts. Being this close affords me opportunities to visit the beautiful alpine terrain in different seasons. Late in the summer, I chanced upon a bountiful bloom of purple lupine flowering on the grassy slopes of Mount Rainier. The backlit flowers provided the perfect foreground to juxtapose against the colossal snow-capped slopes of Rainier.
Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA
Colors of the Northwest
Fall has properly set in the Pacific Northwest: thunderstorms with wind gusts topping 30miles per hour, temperatures dropping to freezing, and gloomy grey clouds that blanket the skies every day. But before the weather became winter-like, I had managed one last outing into the mountains on a rare fall day with bluebird skies. Vibrant colors, a consequence of the long and warm summer, covered every square inch of the steep alpine slope, and also served as wonderful hunting grounds for the sweet mountain berries.
The short but sweet fall has been my favorite season to shoot, but scenes like these won't return for another year. I am glad I got to visit it one last time before the onset of winter
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
A Midsummer Sunset
One of the many things I didn't realize about going to Alaska was that, as the day grows longer in the higher latitudes, so does the sunset. In midsummer, while sitting on the rocky shores of Glacier Bay National Park, I watched the sky transform slowly from the warm yellows to the vibrant orange to deep reds. This is a process that typically takes under a quarter of an hour at lower latitudes, but thanks to the angle of the sun at this higher latitude, this lasted for well over an hour. Seeing a sunset like this is a rarity in one of the cloudiest regions of the country, and hence I savored every minute of this hour-long sunset
Glacier Bay National Park
AK USA
The Beginning of Summer
While the Pacific Northwest is already in the binds of fall with cooler temperatures and shorter days, I still remember the beginning of summer as though it was yesterday. During one of the early heat waves, I made it out to this famed reflection of Mt Shuksan before it lost its coat of snow and ice later in the summer. Walking around in balmy 60 degree weather at sunrise, when it would have normally been close to freezing, was surreal
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
A Sunny Fall
Fall is here in the PNW, admittedly. Wandering around the neighborhood and on the hiking trails, the signs are unmistakable: the reddening leaves of the tiny blueberry shrubs, tall fireweed, and the broad leaved maples. That it is here a couple of weeks early, despite the mercury hovering around the nominal for this month. It meant that I had to prepone plans for capturing the rather short season when color changes around the Pacific Northwest.
Despite the spells of wet weather, I was able to head out during one of the sunnier days to capture the burst of colors carpeting the slopes of the North Cascades.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Waiting For Last Light
You wait in anticipation for this moment: as the sun approaches the horizon, the shadows lengthen, leaving the deep green valleys in cold darkness; the highest of the snow-capped ridges and glacier-covered peaks taken on a bright orange glow, while up above, the sky transforms from the azure blue of the day to the deep blue of dusk; clouds change from their frothy white to a deep orange as they drift effortlessly across the landscape.
As a photographer, it is not just the moment, but the actual transformation, that captures my attention, and draws me out to mountain-top vistas as the sun sets. Sometimes, I try to capture this as a timelapse, but in others, I just seek to capture a moment in time as the best possible representation of that beautiful evening.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Morning Landscapes
It was still cold when I stepped out of the tent. The soft tussock, wet from the overnight condensation, cushioned my steps as I headed towards the shore of the vast lake. The sun had been out for over an hour, a bizarre consequence of being at such high latitudes, and yet low enough in the the sky to cast long shadows that highlight the rocky treeless terrain.
It would be a while before the wind picked up, I was told, and hence I dragged my camera out to capture the reflection. I wasn't used to being above the treeline on the shore of a vast lake amidst this alpine wilderness, so I just took my time to immerse myself in the solitude of this morning, knowing fully well that I may never get to see the Alaska range highlighted on such a clear day.
Lake Clark National Park
AK USA
The Changing Summer
The summer has been a bizarre one in the Pacific Northwest. First the region was baked under a historic heat wave that melted snow off the summits of the North Cascades Peak, which triggered wildfires in varied regions across the west. And when the region normally suffers an unending deluge of smoke, the winds shifted direction and started cooling down. Rain showers, common during the summer, were few and far in-between. And in addition, the increase in local travel this year meant many of the easily accessible backcountry locations were far more crowded. These changes necessitated rethinking my hiking strategy, including skipping favored destinations in search of more off-beat ones.
I am glad I found a few, including this one that transported me to the Swiss alps. But with the season slowly coming to a close, I wonder what the winter, and next year, holds in store for this changing landscape.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA