The Sierras of Washington

I hardly expected to see a granite landscape in the PNW. The unique geology of the Cascades means that most of the granite is covered under thick layers of sediment, and only gets exposed in the higher elevations (unless its not already covered by snow, glaciers or even older metamorphic rocks). The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is one of the few regions in Washington where it does become exposed.

Climbing up to this point took me to a wonderland quite reminiscent of the granite escarpments of the Sierra Nevadas. I was in a region with glistening blue lakes surrounded by tall cliffs, craggy rocks and snow-capped peaks. I can't wait to explore more of this region before the season ends.

Alpine Lakes Wilderness
WA USA

The Medina

My heart goes out to the people of Morocco who have been affected by the terrible tragedy that occurred last week. During my travel there, I was struck by the kindness and hospitality, the richness of their history, and their way of life rooted in tradition. Walking around the medina was an experience where all my senses got overwhelmed: the fragrant smells of spices, the dine of the street hawkers, the colorful fabrics, carpets and leather goods and so much more. I can only imagine how terribly these places were impacted.

The people of Morocco are resilient. I hope they pull through this difficult time.

Marrakech
Morocco

The mountains of Georgia

I felt at home in the mountains in Georgia, watching the clouds play with snow-capped peaks, admiring massive glaciers carving endless valleys, and exploring tiny villages in the alpine environment. While mountains might be everywhere, it felt special here. A bit more rugged, unexplored, and hard-to-reach, but all the more beautiful.

Here are some of the scenes I captured in the Caucasus mountains of Georgia.

Caucasus
Georgia

Alone with the Stars

It was silent up there. Every rustle from the pine trees, every hoofbeat on the meadow, every chirp of the grasshopper were as loud as the crack of a bullet. But this silence let me focus on the beautiful night sky above me.

The sky glittered with the light of a million stars. The occasional meteor from the Perseid shower sped across this sparkling dome in a brilliant scintillating flash. And behind this, the bright band of the Milky Way arched across, a highway from earth to the heavens above.

Moments like these make me realize that we are but an insignificant mote in the vastness of space. And out here, in the PNW, such moments are rare to come by. I am glad I could be in wilderness on nights like these to enjoy its dazzling splendor.

Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA

The Core of Novarupta

Most people associate Katmai with its famous grizzles. They are the star of the show, after all. However, there is an entirely different aspect to the National Park that very few people get out to explore.

In the summer of 1912, this park lay witness to one of the largest volcanic explosions of the century: the Novarupta explosion. It created an umbrella cloud 1000 miles wide, and expelled thirty times as much ash as Mt St Helens, lowering earth's temperature by more than a degree. The ash flow piled 700ft deep into the glaciated valley which now resembles a moonscape. This is the Valley of the 10000 smokes, so named for the innumerable fumeroles and vents that were observed in the aftermath of the explosion.

This valley is like no other: a vast ash-strewn landscape with nary a sign of vegetation stretching for miles into the horizon. The distant glacier-covered volcanoes are a reminder of the active nature of this region. In the late afternoon light, I snatched a few telephoto images of this mountainscape to capture the interplay of shadow and light.

Katmai National Park
AK USA

Waiting for Dinner

When do you decide from being a spectator to becoming an active participant? When it comes to wildlife, my principle is never (interfere). But there are times which have come close to testing it. This was certainly one of them.

Out at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, it was still early in the season. The salmon still hadn't started their upstream migration to their spawning grounds. They were waiting patiently in large numbers at the mouth of the river for some hidden signal that only they knew. The grizzles had just come out of their long winter hibernation, looking both famished and tired. The salmon is a key component of their summer diet, and the ursine population needed every salmon they could get their paws on; it was the only way to recover from the lost reserves.

And so, this year, the grizzlies waited at the same spot they wait every year. They were hoping to catch their break-fast, a feast of juicy salmon. However, with the slow run of the salmon, they just kept waiting in the cold waters of the river, looking sad and forlorn. 634 Popeye ( I think ) was one of them, and every spectator out on the deck felt so sorry for this guy that we all contemplated just feeding him a salmon from the store. Thankfully our better instincts (and a warning from the ranger) prevented us from doing so. So all we could do was just watch nature take its course.

Katmai National Park
AK USA

Last Light

Climbing high above the clouds puts one in a special place, a place where your only concern is survival. It seems like a place removed from the realities of everyday life and humdrum work, of politics and power struggles, and of the pressures of time and place. Out here, you can sit and admire the slow changes in the sky as the sun sets, and of the blue mountain ranges giving way to the twinkling lights of cities far in the horizon.

Eventually, the cold takes over, forcing you to settle in for the long night, but not before capturing one last look.

Mount Adams Wilderness
WA USA

The Beach

This is not the beach from The Beach (2000) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but this is a beach in the Polynesian island chain. What makes it special is that it is one of the least visited beaches in one of the least visited National Parks. Getting out here was not the easiest trip, but the reward for that effort was this unspoilt beach with a pristine reef right off the beach.

Most folks choose to come to the National Park of the American Samoa to experience a slice of the Polynesian life. Set 2500 mi away from Hawaii, this chain of volcanic islands close to the equator is at the heart of this amazing culture. For some, this is their 63rd (and final) National Park, but for me, it was my 56th. I had sought out this park to experience a land away from the crowds thronging the mainland. And this beach on this remote island is the closest I ever came to it.

National Park of the American Samoa
AS

Skydance

It is rare in the lower 48 states of the USA  that one gets to shoot the aurora borealis. And even when it appears, it is not as bright as what you get to see near the Arctic (Alaska, Iceland, Norway etc). And long exposures, and timelapses of the long exposures are probably the best way to visualize the dance of the northern lights.
Here is one such from the recent auroras that appeared through March and April. I hope I get to see more of these next year.

Prosser

WA USA


Music: Bensound
License code: 9HSZBLJQSJMKEODF

Pillars of Heaven

After the aurora storm last Month, I wasn't expecting to see another storm until end of the year. So when the aurora indices were picking up another storm earlier this week, I was certainly surprised. But PNW showed of its true spirit by hiding the entire state under clouds right that night. Thankfully, I spotted an opening in eastern Washington, a good 3+hrs from home.

I weighed my options on whether to make the long journey through the night, and whether the show would be worth sacrificing productivity on Monday. Thankfully, the fore-casted window in the clouds stayed for the most part, and the fore-casted aurora painted the sky with colors. This is one of the many frames I shot while doing a timelapse to capture the dance of the night sky.

Prosser
WA USA