While we are slowly transitioning from spring to summer in the lowlands of the Pacific Northwest, the mountains are still winter wonderlands, and it will be a while before it takes on a summer coating. Meanwhile, there is still plenty of snow to enjoy.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Rolling Greens of Palouse
The velvety greens of Palouse have me salivating for a trip to eastern Washington in summer. It is a landscape remarkably different from the urban scenes of Seattle, the lush forested landscape of the PNW or the snow-capped summits of the Cascades. And in the right light and location, Palouse really shines.
Steptoe Butte State Park
WA USA
Above Eagle Falls
The draw of Emerald bay in Lake Tahoe is its unique setting: a large bay in an even larger lake, ringed by mountains and thick pine forests. It used to be one of my favorite haunts when I lived in California, for, in the right light, it offered remarkable opportunities for hiking and photography.
Emerald Bay State Park
CA 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
Framing a fourteener
Imagine sitting down inside a warm log cabin nestled a winter wonderland, with a window overlooking distant snow-capped peaks.
This cabin wasn't one of those. It was a decaying remnant of an old mining or hunting cabin: its roofs had long since gone, and one of its sides was already missing.
But the window framing the snow-capped peak was still around, waiting for this composition.
White River National Forest
CO USA
A Long Climb
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. To get there, you have to push yourself, one step after another, and seek out the mountains to master and the nadirs to cross.
Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA
Rainless Sky
Sometimes I just stare in wonder at what nature can create. On a rare sunny winter day in the Olympics range of Washington, a small cloudburst empties itself into the thin dry air. I found myself drawn in to its inverse pattern created by the pyramidal mountains of the Olympics
Olympic National Park
WA USA
Fairies of Winter
A fresh snow storm transformed the steadfast conifers into angels of white. While trudging to the knee deep snow, I paused for a moment to seek solace in the silence amidst these fairies of winter.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Runnels at Rainier
At Mount Rainier, I came across these runnels formed as snowmelt runs down the snowy slopes in a very unique pattern. And I wouldn't have spotted it unless I had stopped to admire the intimate details of the landscape
Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA
Colors to Remember
There was not much holding me back from heading back to the comfort of my parked car that evening.
I was freezing on that beach and the best of the light had already left the skies. I was looking forward to a warm meal on that winter evening, but my gut instinct kept me back. Thankfully my instinct proved right, and the burn lasted for a long time
Olympic National Park
WA USA