Light on the Sands

Sunset on the sand dunes can be special. Sunset on white sand dunes with a gusting windstorm is even more.

Just before the pandemic lockdown shut all travel, I had ventured out to White Sands National Monument. My previous trip had been more than 9 years prior, and I had longingly looked forward to this trip. I had planned on camping in the sand dunes as I knew the landscape would turn spectacular at sunset and sunrise.

As luck would have it, the forecast called for gusts of winds up to 20mph which I knew would make for a poor camping experience with sand everywhere. But there was a silver-lining to this: a layer of undisturbed white sand stretching for miles and lending to unique compositions that I would find nowhere else.

What I eventually witnessed as I scrambled from site to site, hunting for new compositions, was beyond extraordinaire. I lucked out with the right combination of weather, light and location in this unique corner of New Mexico.

White Sands National Monument

NM USA

Hidden Gems

In my four days of wandering the Appalachian foothills, I found that the real wonder of the region is not in the Smoky Mountains or the famed Blue Ridge Parkway, but in the national forests that surround the east to west spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Peaceful lakes with undisturbed trails and bountiful waterfalls adorn the undulating and lush landscape of the Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests.

I enjoyed the serenity of one such lake in western North Carolina far more than I thought I would, and it was only my first day in this beautiful part of the country.

Nantahala National Forest
NC USA

The Fleeting Summer

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

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Shimmering Cascades of the Smokies

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If you are always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you are in?

It had been a hectic trip until then, driving miles and miles around the Appalachian foothills, and enjoying the vast difference in scenery this place had to offer. It was easy to get the big picture, but it was hard to slow down, stop, and enjoy the little creeks, the tiny cabins, the mellow wildlife, and the gentle colors of the forest.

I did want to slow down, but in the pursuit of "seeing everything" in a limited time, I was on the verge of missing all. And so I did. I found this lovely little creek cascading under the canopy of the golden leaves of fall. And I plonked myself right in the middle, just to enjoy its gentle gurgles.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
NC 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

Hidden in the woods

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.

A tiny cabin is adorned by the colors of autumn in the heart of Nantahala National Forest.

Nantahala National Forest
NC USA

A Walk in the Woods

I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees

- Henry David Thoreau

The earthy trail wound through the tall denizens of the misty woods. It was eerily silent, the only sound being the crunch of every step I took towards my destination. And yet, I never felt alone - I had the forest for company and I had so much to learn during my trek on the Kumano Kodo.

Kumano Kodo
Kii Peninsula, Japan

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