As the kayak drifted slowly through the shallow waters of Cedar creek, I passed by baldcypress trees with their broad ribs and towering tupelo trees cradling the riverbank. The morning light of late fall lit up the faded yellows and orange of the swamp cottonwoods. The still waters of the creek created a sublime and moving reflection of the entire scene. The gentle chorus of songbirds as they were starting their morning flight echoed throughout the forest.
The everchanging pattern of colors, light and sound captured, in my mind, the essence of Congaree National Park, which preserves the last old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. This scene from Cedar creek in the National Park is the featured image for November in my 2024 calendar available at this link.
Congaree National Park
SC USA
Reflections of fall
The surest sign of fall across north-western US and most of Canada is the larches changing to a golden yellow in unison. Out in the PNW, this synchronized phenomenon happens like clockwork across all the major larch forests in early October. And for the most part, these forests lay hidden in the higher altitudes and require a bit of effort to get up and see the golden palettes.
And even though the show is brief, I savor every moment of hiking under a canopy of vibrant orange larch forest.
You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link. And as before, all proceeds get donated to the Sierra Club Foundation
Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest
WA USA
Above the clouds
September in the PNW is truly the best time to explore the vast hinterlands of the Cascades. The temperatures are a bit cooler, the bugs are gone, fires usually die down, and the occasional storms provide for some photogenic cloudscapes. And it comes with the added bonus of delicious ripe blueberries and huckleberries waiting to be picked up. The stark changes in the hues of the landscape towards the end of the month is just icing on the cake.
I can't wait for the next year to see such mountaintop vistas once again.
You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link.
Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
The high Caucasus
In August of this year, I found myself wandering through the Svaneti region of northern Georgia (the country). This mountainous province, landlocked within the high mountains of the Caucasus range, was a delight to explore. Snow-capped peaks towering over 15000ft lined the northern border of the country, interspersed by massive glaciers and alpine landscapes. This was the region that put Georgia on the prominent circuits of the European hiking community. And after spending a few days here, I could understand why.
Here is one of the mountain passes I summited during a 4-day trek in the Svaneti region, and is the featured image for August in my 2024 photography calendar. You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link. And as before, all proceeds get donated to the Sierra Club Foundation.
Svaneti
Georgia
Starlight magic
The transformation of the PNW in the summer is a sight to behold. Snow-covered winter landscapes become sun-drenched. Long nights transform to long days. And dreary grey days are replaced with a beautiful tapestry of sunlight during the day and a bejeweled carpet of stars at night. For long, I had visualized, in my minds eye, of a scene where the bright arc of the Milky Way draws out over the snow-capped summit of Mt Rainier while streaks of a meteor show dazzle in a starry spectacle.
This image, featured in the July month of my 2024 calendar, is a realization of such a scene. You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link.
Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA
Novarupta
While the term Katmai National Park conjures up images of Fat Bear Week and of gluttonous grizzles gorging on salmon, I found the volcanic wastelands of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes far more fascinating. The eruption of the Novarupta volcano which deposited hundreds of feet of ash on this vast valley took place in 1912, and it was the largest eruption of the 20th century. Though news of this eruption was overshadowed by an even more titanic disaster, the sinking of the Titanic.
Hiking into this remote valley left me with an itch to explore more of this unique landscape someday.
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
Katmai National Park
AK USA
Pacific bliss
May of 2023 will forever remind me of the furthest distance I have ever traveled to visit a National Park. Situated 2500 mi west of Hawaii, the National Park of the American Samoa is spread across a chain of islands in the southern Pacific. Getting to American Samoa proved half the challenge. Getting to an even more remote island, which featured one of the best shoreline coral reefs, undoubtedly harder. But the effort required to get to this tropical paradise was well worth the reward. Hence, this became the featured image for May for my 2024 calendar
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
National Park of the American Samoa
American Samoa
Skagit blossoms
April has always been symbolic of tulips for me. From my very first visit to the tulip fields of Skagit Valley more than a decade ago, I have been fascinated by the vast carpets of vibrant reds and crimsons, bright whites and yellows, soothing rose, and vivid blues and purples. Being blessed to live less than an hour away, I try to seize every opportunity to explore the ever-changing spring patterns out here.
Earlier this year, I was lucky to capture the beginnings of a storm-front rising above the tulip fields during the late afternoon hours. I found these bright red tulips a perfect contrast to the grey and yellow clouds.
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
Skagit Valley
WA USA
Superbloom
While March is cold and dreary in the Pacific Northwest, signs of spring manage to squeeze in. The Cherry blossoms peak in mid-late march, and different sets of flowering plants start showing off their colors with every passing week. But for the best signs of spring, there is no better place that the wildflowers of California. The bumper rains of the winter of '22-23 meant that the spring of 2023 was going to be a superbloom year, where acres of predominantly sun-drenched dry landscapes were going to be transformed into a vast carpet of colors.
I paid a visit to central California during this time, and even though I was a week early, the scope and size of the wildflower blooms I witnessed was nothing short of extraordinary.
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
Carrizo Plains National Monument
CA USA
Alpine Ascents
As I was selecting the images for the calendar, I pondered over how to theme the calendar correctly. And that meant digging through the archive to find representative images of various seasons. Sometimes that works, and sometimes I have to indulge in a bit of creative licensing to find the right image. This featured image for February, for example, was shot in the middle of summer, but it still captures a slice of winter high on the slopes of Mount Adam.
Mount Adams is one of those summit attempts that requires an alpine start. But starting the summit day amidst biting cold and in the dark at 9000ft of altitude isn't an easy task. But many do, as it allows you to climb up the steep slope before the snow becomes soft. Here is one group starting their morning ascent just as the western horizon emerges from the shadows and the the first rays of light hits Mt St. Helens.
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
WA USA