Stories — A Camera Story

Wilds of Alaska

I have always hiked in sanitized wilderness, an oxymoronic term referring to the fact that I have been treading on trails established long ago, following routes and maps that I scope out with the help of a convenient smartphone. I camp on surfaces that have seen tents established by many others, and see sunsets at locations seen by many others. This trip into Lake Clark National Park was the first time that I walked on a path that hadn't even been created, followed maps that gave no clarity on the route I was taking, drank water straight from snowmelt, and camped on places that hitherto hadn't seen a tents in years.

And along that journey, I bushwacked through dense thickets of willows, tumbled on tussock and scrambled up alpine slopes to seek out the next valley. It wasn't easy, but it gave a taste of a wild Alaska. I hope to return back someday to experience a full meal.

Lake Clark National Park
AK USA

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Mountain Summer

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The month of July in the Pacific Northwest is typically characterized by balmy weather and sunny skies, with just the occasional shower to keep the temperatures at a reasonable level. The Cascades still retain a bit of their winter snowpack while down below, meadows take their summer green coat and burst with wildflowers. This year though, was a tad different. By late July, the Pacific Northwest had already endured two months of dry heat, thanks to the heat dome. Without any precipitation, wildfires spread far and wide, and their smoke spread through most of the Cascades. The heat also caused most of the snow capping the volcanic peaks to melt away and reveal the dirty understory. It didn't take long for us to realize it wasn't a normal summer.

The mercury has certainly dropped in August, but the smoke is still hanging on, and during one of the clearer weekends, I caught sight of the characteristic volcanic cone of Mt Baker rising high above the green meadows and wildflowers of the North Cascades ranges

Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

Summer on the Bay

I had hardly expected Juneau to be bathed in summer light. With an average of 280 cloudy days every year, I counted my blessings to be in Juneau on the one day when I could see the sun for more than 18 hours continuously. So I took that opportunity to explore the length and bread of the roadway network in the capital city of Alaska. Fortunately, it wasn't a lot - Alaska's Route 7 runs a mere 39miles north from the capital.

Hugging the coastline, the route provides expansive views of the mountains of Glacier Bay across the Favorite Channel (whose favorite channel was this?). And on this balmy summer day, with snow still dusting the high peaks across the channel, it was relaxing to watch the local crowd enjoying the few hours of sunshine.
Juneau
AK USA

March of the Mushrooms

Having spent most of my life in places surrounded by mountains, the thought of seeing vast open spaces, or in common parlance, 'big sky country' was limited to my visits to National Parks along the eastern edge of the Rockies and the long drives across in the Great Plains. I remember my first glimpse of such a sky while hiking up to a mountain vista in Glacier National Park and looking east into the vast undulating hills of Montana. I remember seeing the land and sky stretch endlessly to the blurred horizon. The great machinations of industrial agriculture, barns, silos, harvesters and tractors were but mere dots on this landscape, where even mile long grain trains seemed like tiny caterpillars crawling across the earth.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park was another place where I got to experience this big sky country. And on that fateful day, the sky was made even more dramatic by the appearance of a chain of nascent cumulonimbus clouds stretching across the badlands and the great plains beyond. I tried to capture the light falling on the precipitation from the middle of these thunderstorm cells as they resembled mushrooms marching across the parklands.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park
ND USA

Mornings in the Mountains

Every time I camp in the mountains, I look forward to the colorful sunsets and the dramatic sunrises. And when the conditions are right, I sometimes wake up to the classic Cascade sunrise where sunlight pours over the endless ranges of silhouetted mountain ranges. And in the next few hours, the pale orange sky and warm silhouettes slowly transform to a clear blue sky, where the rays stream between the gaps in the ridges and the valleys. Meadows that were in the shadows at dawn, slowly take on the lush mid-day green, and splashes of colors from vibrant fireweed and bright parsnips highlight the scene.

There are few places still in the North Cascades where this vision of a lush summer can still be experienced. I was glad to get experience one this summer season.

Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

Colors in the Garden

While grand vistas draw me out to the mountains, there are times when I try to focus on the intricate details of the scene, especially in places whose aesthetic shines. Japanese gardens exude such aesthetics with a unique sense of design that highlight the natural landscape. And in fall, these intricate gardens are saturated with warm colors, which, when combined with architectural elements such as pagodas, teahouses and stone lanterns, form colorful subjects to photograph.

During a fall visit to the famous Portland Japanese garden early in the morning, I found many such scenes waiting to be photographed. I found one such scene where these architectural elements were juxtaposed against the green needles of Red Pines and the vibrant Japanese Maples in the soft morning light. Hopefully the smoke this year hasn't had too much of an impact on the garden this year.

Portland
OR USA

Summer mornings

High in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest lay wilderness areas which I can only dream about. Many are inaccessible, requiring scrambling up steep mountains just to get glimpses of snow-capped peaks. Thankfully, this was one of those places where wide open vistas of Mt Baker greet any hiker. And if you are the lucky ones to spend the night up here, beautiful sunrises and sunsets await them.

It is a rather short season season to visit this destination in the Pacific Northwest. Are you making the most of the amazing time in Washington?

Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

A National Parks Journey - Lake Clark National Park

Alaska is one of those places where the names of the National Parks don't ever reveal what the Park is actually about, except, perhaps for Denali National Park. And even though the main attraction of that Park (the 20th National Park I had visited) is Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, the Park preserves an ecosystem and biome far more diverse than just the small area around the peak. However, unlike Denali, the Lake Clark of Lake Clark National Park is but a small piece of the large region preserved by the Park. And even though it occupies a vast swath of southwestern Alaska, it is only the 7th largest National Park.

With most of the park in the backcountry where access and logistics are challenging, I chose to go with an outfitter to explore the stunning wilderness in the heart of the Park. It is a rugged terrain where there are no hiking trails and no navigational landmarks, and where mosquitoes reign supreme. And yet, even in this harsh landscape, I found a slice of heaven in the interior where craggy mountains reflected in the shimmering surface of a turquoise lake. I found a pristine wildlife environment where Brown bears, Arctic foxes, Caribou roamed free in a roadless landscape.


Lake Clark was my 52nd National Park, and I still have 10 more remaining to visit. Will I get to them this year? Only time will tell.

Lake Clark National Park
Ancestral Homelands of the Dena'ina people
AK USA

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A National Parks Journey - Voyageurs National Park

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NP51 - Voyageurs.jpg

Visiting the Boundary waters between Canada and the US was something special: it was a vast ecosystem with acres of water as far as the eye could see, interspersed by lushly forested islands that floated like mats of green on an large aquatic biome. I only had the opportunity to visit these waters in Voyageurs National Park, but it was enough to give me a sample of what the rest of this place has in store. And in the couple of days I spent there, I garnered enough memories to treasure our visit for a lifetime

Far away from any major airports, getting to this Park in the northernmost reaches of Minnesota required a long and tiring drive from Minneapolis under a hot summer sky. But once I entered the Park, which is mostly water-based, the mood suddenly shifted. From the visitor center, I spied the boundless waters of Lake Kabetogama Lake in all directions, and under the mid-day sun, was refreshing to dip into.

Thereafter, we rented a canoe, and paddled into the waters of Rainy Lake, hoping to trace part of the route the ancient Voyageurs during the fur trade years of the 17th and 18th century. But being novice paddlers, we instead chose to stay by an isolated campsite on an island in the heart of Voyageurs. And this isolation made it the perfect escape from the chaos of civilization: from relaxing on a private beach to cool down under the hot sun, to watching colorful sunrises and sunsets from your doorstep, and to falling asleep under the twinkling fireflies and the scintillating stars. I could not hope to or ask for more.

This was one such sunset scene with unique cloud formations created by the heat wave spreading over the boundary waters.

Voyageurs National Park
MN USA

A National Parks Journey - Glacier Bay National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park was my 49th National Park that I had visited on my journey to the 63 parks. And my 50th had to be special. When I raised it to my partner, she recommended that we visit the spectacular Glacier Bay National Park. At first glance, the name just brought up imagery of vast mountain ranges getting slowly carved by glaciers, and long fjords bristling with tidewater glaciers descending down from the peaks. But after visiting there, I realized that it was so much more than that.

The park isn't easy to access - but it certainly isn't the hardest one to access in the 49th state. It required two flights to get to the lightly populated island of Gustavus, and the Park itself featured only one hotel and one campground, despite encapsulating a substantial area in Alaska. But it was its remoteness and lack of accessibility that made the experience so much better. Compared to the crowds in parks of Utah, this felt completely isolated. And yet, the Park had so much to offer, featuring rich history and culture that felt alive, and, of course, bountiful nature.

Colorful displays in the visitor center tell the story that led to the creation of the park, starting with the rapid advance of the Grand Pacific Glacier in the 18th century that pushed away the Tlingit settlements who had lived there for hundreds of years. In addition, tastefully done ranger programs tell the narrative of the lives of the Tlingit disrupted by the advance of the glacier, the creation of the Park and the subsequent conflict with the Tlingit, as well as the efforts taken now by the Park system to preserve, protect and enrich this rich cultural heritage. And finally, the day cruise into the tidewater basin, which I highly recommended, showcases the complex ecosystem in the nutrient rich waters of Glacier Bay which served as home for humpbacks which rear their calves, seals and sea lions who are year-round denizens, plethora of migratory seabird species, and the iconic grizzlies fishing along the undulating shoreline.

And to frame all this is the vast glacial landscape where tidewater glaciers descend down from the snow-capped peaks to meet the freezing waters of the Pacific. It is a landscape so challenging to explore except by water. And I hope to return one day to explore its rugged backcountry.

Glacier Bay National Park
AK USA