Not your average market

It was not your average Saturday market.

One lane was replete with shops selling scarves and sweaters ranging the entire gamut of colors. The next was bright sheets and linens made from the regional favorites - alpaca wool and sheep wool. A third was fruits and nuts from the equatorial mountains of Equador. And interspersed in-between were tiny shops selling colorful handicrafts, local farmers selling their wares, weavers selling baskets, bags and shawls, and intricately designed native artwork.

This was the Otovalo Saturday market, one of the largest Saturday markets on the continent, attracting buyers and sellers from all over the country, and its neighboring one (Colombia and Peru). Buyers arrive by the bus loads on Saturday morning, hoping to catch some great deals. And by 11am, the entire market is thronging with foot traffic.

Having stayed the previous night, I got to experience the market in the wee hours of the morning, just as the stalls were setting up. And I got to witness some solemn scenes of the market-life, including this tired owner catching a quick nap while waiting for business to pick up.

Otovalo

Ecuador

Blues of Mt Rainier

I turned my head east, into the glowing orb of the sun. A silhouette of endless peaks beckoned. Mountaintops were lit bright, while shadows stretched deep into the dark misty valleys below. This was a blue sunrise at Mt Rainier

I had arrived at that lookout point at dawn, hoping to capture sunrise lighting the imposing massif of Mt Rainier. As the deep whites of the glacier-capped Mt Rainier cycled through a vibrant scarlet, lush orange, and bright yellows, I became completely engrossed in shooting the light unfolding in front of me. And I had completely ignored the blue silhouette of endless peaks forming behind me. Until I turned my head east.

From atop this peak, I circled round and round: the massif of Mt Rainier on the west, the distant glowing summit of Mt Adams to the south, an unending series of blue mountain ranges on the east, the glacial summits of Mt Baker and Glacier peak to the north. Nowhere else could one be treated to such a noble sunrise vista.

Mt Rainier National Park

WA USA

Election Day

Tomorrow is election day in the US. It is a Constitutional right, nay, privilege to be able to shape the future of the nation. While your contribution may be a drop in the ocean, it is an important one.

In the past two years, the elected officials on one side have put party over policy, religion over science, bigotry over decency, war-mongering over diplomacy, fear over hope, and chaos over peace. That is not, and should not be the norm. The country deserves better.

I am not a citizen. I am an immigrant. But I have been fortunate enough to avail many opportunities this country had to offer. I have spent enough time to call this nation home. And yet I worry about the future of the democratic principles that was the basis of this nation-state and seem to be eroding away.

I cannot vote yet, but I wish I could. For after all I have seen in my travels through the continent, I still believe in the power of the people.

Go Vote.

Image is from a country road in Acadia National Park in the midst of fall.

Winding down to winter

Memories of Summer.jpg

As the colorful fall slowly slips into the grey gloominess of winter in the Pacific Northwest, I often look back at the archives of the summer wonderlands of the country to help tide things over until the next blast of sun. Not only does it help with the Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder, it also gives me something to look forward to for the next year.

I found this grey gloominess to be a challenging change as I moved from California to the PNW. While it makes the summer ever so glorious, I miss the ability to go outside year-round as I did in the Golden state. While I can still enjoy quiet winter moments in the snowy woodlands of Cascadia, it quite doesn't compare to the stimulating freedom that the southwest offered.

It is time for another winter here. So here is a blast from the past summer: the crystal clear sparkling waters of Lake Tahoe

Sand Harbor State Park

NV USA

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When in New Hampshire

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The weather forecast called for partly cloudy skies with pleasant conditions. But where I was, standing in freezing rain and overcast conditions, the sky clearly hadn't gotten that forecast. But all that didn't matter, for what I was seeing was a sublime fall scenery in the heart of New England.

Standing atop Artist's Bluff in Franconia notch that foggy morning, a carpet of gold stretched in all directions, carpeting the Appalachian range. The twin lanes of the Franconia Notch Parkway stretched into the horizon, bordering a still lake reflecting the golden hues.

Immersed in the tranquil scene, I momentarily forgot about the freezing winds and sleet as I rushed the bluff. Until I stopped shooting.

I wanted to stay and soak in the colors, but there was terrain to cover. And I was glad to leave the frozen bluff that beautiful morning.

Franconia Notch State Park

NH USA

Last of Summer

The trail kept climbing on. Along a narrow tree-lined cliff, up a steep grassy ridge, and onto a rocky scree at the lip of a receding glacier a couple of thousand feet above. It was not a sprint; it was a long marathon. I would have given up were it not for the jaw-dropping mountainscape opening up the more I climbed.

It was late afternoon by the time I got to the glacier. Endless vistas of jagged peaks stretched into the blue horizon. The stalwarts of the North Cascades - Mt Baker, Mt Rainier, and Glacier Peak, all made their exalted appearance. It was landscape that made me wish I could spend the night amidst the mountains so close to the stars. But what goes up must come down.

This was taken on the way down, just as the sun was starting to disappear behind the jagged edge, highlighting the fall landscape in the high sub-alpine terrain of the North Cascades

North Cascades National Park

WA USA

Alpenglow at Rainier

I opened my eyes to a loud alarm. It blinked 4am.

I was dazed, a light hangover persisting from last night, and wondering why I had set the alarm so early?

Then it all came back. Sunrise at Mt Rainier. My date was at 7:30am. It is a 2hr drive and a 45min hike to get to the viewpoint. And it was the last weekend before the road closed for the winter.

...

The smooth pavement stretched into the fog, winding between ranches and forests heading into the black unknowns. I didn't even have time for coffee. It was pure determination to capture this that kept me going.

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Mt Rainier was glowing in an ethereal pre-dawn light. I was still a mile away from the viewpoint, hiking as fast as my legs could carry me. Another 15 minutes.

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The Belt of Venus slowly dipped into the horizon: a band of pink and blue curving over the western horizon: earth's shadow casted into the sky. And as it descended, the tip of Rainier was glowing pink, matching the color of the sky beyond. I was all alone atop this viewpoint, enjoying Nature's spectacle

Mt Rainier National Park

WA USA

Country Roads of Vermont

I was driving along a winding country road in search of that elusive farm, up and over rocky ridges, across green grass valleys, cutting through gurgling brooks and rustling forests. The view changed with each bend: glorious fall foliage replaced by rustic farmhouses replaced by mirror-like ponds replaced by hardy livestock. I had transported to a Jane Austen countryside.

And even though I was kicking myself for not having a more accurate map, I was enjoying every moment being lost in the beautiful Vermont landscape going through the last of its fall colors. I eventually did find the working farm - a plethora of cars and photographers waiting for the perfect spot and the perfect light gave it away.

Here is that famous farmhouse in the heart of Vermont's English countryside donning the colors on the eave of autumn.

Woodstock

VT USA

The Season of Colors

The changing of seasons is heralded by nature with a spectacular explosion of colors as the deciduous trees of the temperate climes all over the world start settling down for the winter. While there is no one single factor that triggers the change, it is the combination of lowering light levels, temperature drops and other factors that cause the chlorophyll in the leaves to transform to those vibrant reds, oranges and yellows.

The greater Siberia, Central Europe, North-Eastern US, and Eastern Canada are some of the best places to observe this change of seasons. This particular image was from the Upper Peninsula region in the state of Michigan, a sunrise over Lake Superior with deep pinks in the sky complementing the rich colors of post-peak fall colors by the lake.

Here's hoping all of you get to experience a colorful fall!

Munising

MI USA

Gold Rush

The morning sun shone through the dense conifers, a warm respite on that freezing morning. The 50s when I had left home at dawn had dropped to freezing, an unnerving temperature drop. I continued climbing, hoping to find the promised larches.

I was hiking up the Blue Lakes trail in the eastern side of North Cascades. Having missed the opportunity last year to capture the golden larches, this year, I was determined not to. And that determination motivated me to do the 3 hour drive to the cold reaches of Cascadia the past weekend. And hike in search of larches.

And they were waiting. Golden larches glowing in that morning sun along the shores of the glistening alpine lake against the backdrop of the lightly-dusted Cascades and a window of blue skies. A photographer's Gold Rush

Okanogan National Forest

WA USA