Waterscapes

Superior Hues

My National Park #60 - Isle Royale in Michigan.

Even though I had spent a couple of years in Michigan more than a decade ago, I never got around to this Island over Lake Superior. Stuck in the extreme northwest corner of the state, getting here involved a 9hr drive and a 3hr ferry to get the largest island in the middle of the largest freshwater lake in the world. And that wasn't a luxury I could afford during my time in Michigan a decade ago.

Fast forward to 2026, and I finally got around to visiting this gem of a park. The difficulty in getting there made the journey and beauty even more memorable. Sublime sunrises and serene sunsets met me every day. These were accompanied by the haunting sirens of the common loon that echoed over the vast surface of the still lake. The crystal clear waters of the lake beckoned me to its freezing embrace on the warm summer afternoons as a respite from the swarms of mosquitoes and blackflies.

Nearly a month after the trip, and I still hear the siren of the loon, feel the cold lake lapping on my feet and smell the watery undertones of Lake Superior.

Isle Royale National Park
MI 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

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Colors of Palouse Falls

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A lovely side-trip from the Palouse region is Palouse Falls. Set within the rolling terrain created in the aftermath of the cataclysmic Missoula Floods, the falls appears out of nowhere. The falls takes the Palouse river from a narrow rocky escarpment down to a wider shallow basin leading to the Snake River.
Capturing the falls in all its glory is challenging endeavor, even with the widest of lens, as you can see above. It also requires the sky to cooperate, which it only partially did on this day.

Palouse Falls State Park
WA USA

Idyll in the Wild

And finally, not all winter destinations in the Pacific Northwest are of snow-covered landscapes. There are a few low-altitude destinations that are accessible year around, and provide spectacular vistas for photography on crisp winter days. This is one such location in the Olympics that I visited on a rare sunny day in the Pacific Northwest

Olympic National Park
WA USA

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Not your typical tundra

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When I was planning the trip to Lake Clark, I was told I would be hiking through the Alaska tundra. When I imagined the tundra, I expected a mosquito-filled boggy marsh, interspersed with thick dense bush, all moist from a perennially cold summer drizzle that would never stop. But when I arrived there, the marsh I expected was still there, sans mosquitoes. Grey moody skies and cold rain were replaced by balmy weather, bluebird skies and puffy white clouds, straight out of a New England summer.

It was not your typical tundra, at least not for another three days after which a powerful thunderstorm slammed the region with torrential rain and copious water. But until then, the tundra I enjoyed out at Lake Clark National Park was sublime.

Lake Clark National Park
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 - Channel Islands National Park

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The little set of islands tucked just off the coast of southwestern California is quite unlike the mainland: picture the same rocky and rugged California coastline enveloping a windblown ocean environment replete with kelp forests and the islands own unique wildlife. So near and yet so different - that was the impression I carried from my short visit to the largest island from the town of Oxnard.

I remember wandering around the tiny island, learning about its history, and admiring the tiny island foxes that roamed around the island carefree and unafraid of humans. Its not an island paradise of Hawaii, but it certainly had its own charm.

Channel Islands National Park
CA USA

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A National Parks Journey - Dry Tortugas National Park

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Tranlsated literally, dry tortugas means dry turtles, though I could never fathom how that name stuck to the series of Caribbean reef islands situated on the far end of the Florida Keys. They weren't the easiest to get to. Starting with a 3hour drive along the heavily trafficked US Route 1 to the end of the Florida keys, it continued on a 3hr ferry ride on choppy waters that took us to a series of atolls, including one topped by a 19th century fort. But it was worth every minute of it.

Far from any population centers, the only folks that provided company on this island paradise were the tourmates from the ferry and the Park personnel. I took the time to explore the nooks and crannies of the historic Fort Jefferson, and tried to juxtapose the red-brick architecture with the azure blue skies above and turquoise waters below. My only regret was not being able to camp at Dry Tortugas, and enjoy a Caribbean sunset. Perhaps that calls for a return visit.

Dry Tortugas National Park
FL USA