Spring in the Air

My normal travels during April would have taken me to seek out the bountiful spring blossoms across the state and country. But this is not a normal year. Most of my planned travels have taken a backseat to the ongoing pandemic. I just hope the beautiful blooms continue to happen, providing sustenance for the tiny pollinators that are responsible for this kaleidoscopic shows of color.

As for now, if the long road ahead seems daunting, pause to think how far we have come, and how much impact we have already had in containing this pandemic.

Southern California

Sleepless in Seattle

As the boundaries between work and home are erased (for some), the lines between the days of the week are also getting blurred. In the past years, I'd look forward to traveling as the spring season rolled around into the Pacific Northwest. They'd be the delightful breaks that motivated me to complete work early and plan for my next sojourn. These set the boundaries that defined my year in perspective

But in this new era, that is no longer the case, and as the days roll on, I have to find new mile markers to define my life.

I am blessed that I can continue to work remotely, which is not the case for many in this beautiful city. My heart goes out to those who keep this city (and others) running like a well-oiled machine despite the sever restrictions we face now.

Seattle
WA USA

Shutdown

Everything will be be okay in the end.
If it's not okay, it's not the end

John Lennon

With every single passing day, where grim news pervades the constant news-stream, it may seem we are in a hopeless place. While some countries have already started to turn the tide and have started pushing back, the epidemic has plenty of room to grow, and it'll be a long while before the last waves of this pandemic washes on the shores of humanity.

How the nations react, and how the people come together (by going apart) in this time will determine how impacted we become. Separated, we stay united in the fight against this invisible invader. I appreciate the steps the state and the country have taken to encourage social distancing. But, deep in my heart, it pains to have the wilderness separated from humanity.

I hope that this too shall pass.

Olympic National Park
WA USA

Life in Isolation

Just as the Pacific Northwest was getting out of one of the longest spells of darkness with short days and gloomy skies playing havoc with sanity, the region got hit with one of the more contagious viral diseases. The stay-at-home order instituted by the Governors of Washington and Oregon, necessary to slow down the spread of this disease, not only has a devastating economic impact on the region, but also affects our own mental stability.

To keep my brain occupied while being couped up in the walls of my domicile, I go through my archives of the wonderful collection of photos I have taken. It helped remind me that there is a world outside of the viral epidemic, fresh and ready for exploration when the epidemic simmers down. It'll be my salvation for the months that I have spent staring longingly at the outdoors.

Here are memories from a winter snowshoe to Hurricane Ridge, a rare day when the winter wonderland opened up to a sunny day.

Olympic National Park
WA USA

Escaping Paranoia

The last few weeks have certainly not been peaceful: between the rapid onset of a contagious virus, hyperactive media coverage, and a lack of decisive action by multiple developed countries, paranoia has set it. And in paranoia, human beings have not been rational actors. Not a day goes by when you don't hear of people defying quarantine, or of hoarders stocking for the next decade, disrupting the finely tuned supply-chains. It makes you realize what a thin veneer of order human beings superficially present, and how quickly this can be subverted

In then end, I am eternally grateful for the people who keep civilization functioning: the medical personnel taking care of the sick and researchers finding the next cure, the expansive supply chain supplying essential goods, transit workers, safety services, and utility providers without whom nations would grind to a halt.

During these pressing times, what gives me solace are the little signs of upcoming spring: a poppy flower opening up its colorful petals, a budding field of color heralding warmer weather, bountiful waterfalls under fleeting light, and alpine meadows renewing under the growing warmth of the sun. I hope that by the time spring rolls around, things will become more peaceful again. And in the meantime, I am going to be hunkered down at home, admiring memories of these little signs of solace.

CA USA

Winter Blues

More often than not, the mountains of the Pacific Northwest are often mired in grey clouds under gloomy skies. But when the never-ending miserable weather does break, the mountains transform into a winter wonderland; acres of conifers laced with fresh snow stand guard like winter sentinels, smothered by the occasional fog drifting up the steep slopes of the Cascades, while high above, snow-capped peaks glint in the warm morning light under bluebird skies.

I trudged through fresh snowdrifts on one such recent outing under such conditions, the terrain transforming from featureless shade to fresh glinting snow in the early hours. My snowshoes sank a foot or more in heavenly powder, while the eerie silence of the forest made me forget that I was right across from one of the more popular ski areas of Washington. Despite being alone, I felt connected to the forest, the snow, the mountains, the wind and the silence. But by the time I returned however, that peace had given away to large groups of families and kids playing around in the winter wonderland.

Have you experienced that connection?

Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

The Wilds of Central Asia

Descending down on that bumpy dirt road into a vast green valley dominated by a single glistening deep blue lake was an experience I'll never forget even though it was almost 3 years ago. Lacking any trees or vegetation except grass and ground-hugging wildflowers, the seemingly endless green meadow ringed by snow-capped peaks in the horizon had no sense of scale.

Soon after we arrived, the clouds started to coalesce together, a foreboding sign of a thunderstorm. Soon thereafter, the thunderhead towered over the lake and the distant mountains even while sun shined brightly. Nevertheless, it was time to head back to the safety of the yurt.

Eventually, the thunderhead did disappear, but not before unleashing a torrential downpour on this fragile landscape in the heart of Kyrgyzstan.

Songkol
Kyrgyzstan

Heart of the Dunes

Walking into the heart of the dunes sounded appealing at the visitor center when I first entered one of the newest National Parks. But at the trailhead, with winds gusting upwards of 20 miles per hour, I had to rethink my decision, since all I could see in front of me was a wall of white blasting down my face.

I had visited White Sands National Park when it was still a National Monument and had hiked down the same trail to the heart of the sands. But back then, it was a calm balmy day, with a gentle breeze and mild temperatures. Quite unlike today.

I decided to go on, climbing over dune after endless white dunes, with nary a sign of life, all while getting sandblasted by pure white gypsum sand. I couldn't even turn back as my footprints were getting erased as fast as I created them. The only thing leading me own were the odd markers sticking above the ever shifting sand dunes.

I survived, but was coated in sand from head to toe. And my camera fared no better. But at least it continued to take photos.

White Sands National Park
NM USA

The Singing Sands

From the distance, it just appeared as a mass of white in a scorched desert environment. Plants seem to have shied away from this natural bowl between two mountain ranges where this mass lay. And as I got closer, the discernible shape of dunes emerged out of this mass of white.

White Sands was a surreal place, where the pure white gypsum sand place tricks with your mind: it looked like snow, behaved like sand, and flowed like salt, and yet, it had all the characteristics of a regular sand dune. And when the winds picked up and whipped into a frenzy, the dust storm of white sand was like nothing else.

I am excited to be returning back to this amazing place. And while it was a National Monument then, it has since been upgraded to a National Park status. Hopefully that brings more attention to this unique corner of New Mexico

White Sands National Park
NM USA

The Waterpocket Fold

There are not a lot of places on this planet where one can see the earth's surface folded up like a crumpled piece of paper. The Waterpocket fold that dominates the heart of Capitol Reef National Park in southern Utah is one of those other-worldly places where smooth red sandstone lies next to and above strata stretching back hundreds of millions of years.

And while I had only 36 hours to explore the nooks and crannies of this beautiful National Park, the sheer diversity of landscapes revealed by the Fremont river eroding away at the Waterpocket fold was mind-boggling. I hope I return some day to explore more of this unique corner of Utah.

Capitol Reef National Park
UT USA