Another year passed by. We all got a little older - arrow of time did not change direction. Here are some images and stories to capture how I spent the year - photographically and travel-wise. With my two kids and a busy job, I did not get far from Seattle, but when you live in the midst of one of the most beautiful places on earth, you really don't need to get that far.
Instead of doing Top 10 or Top 13 - I thought that I would just pick some of the favorite images and remember the year.
Jan-Mar
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| Crystal Ski |
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| Stevens Ski |
2012-13 was a great year of skiing in the NW - my son Aranya (who was only 5 years old back in Jan) started doing more difficult slopes with me. It's a joy to watch for a father to see his son grow up and do all the things that can be enjoyed together. The above two shots are my favorite shots of him skiing - one in Crystal Mountain and the other one in Stevens Pass.
Spring- early summer
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| Rattlesnake storm clearing |
With arrival of spring in NW, hiking season kicked in. Here is a shot from a warm up hike up the Rattlesnake ledge - a rather popular hike but an unique view taken with a 200m lens - a tele-landscape.
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| Ira Spring - Summer is here |
This one from another hike up Ira Spring trail on a great day as Mount Rainier visible in the distance.
Summer
In the early July, I went to Tofino in Vancouver Island - it was a long time dream to go there, but I finally made it. Tofino did not disappoint - it's a stunning area with so much to do, so much to see and so much to photograph.
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| Tofino from air |
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| Tofino sunset from air |
Tofino Aerials - The above two shots are taken from a small sea plane that I chartered. This was not an easy flight to time properly - after two days of misfortune (cloudy one day and too much wind on the next), I finally lucked out on the 3rd evening and had some awesome time shooting from the air.
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| Mudflats, Meares Island, Tofino |
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| Zodiac whale watching |
Apart from the aerial shots, these are the other two Tofino images that are my favorite.
Summer Backpacking
I had a lot of big plans for backpacking, but only could do one single and short trip. Fortunately I made it to Goat Rocks Wilderness. What a place! On top of that, this was my son's first backpacking trip - it was a memorable trip in many ways. Incredible wildflowers, unique landscape - this area has it all.
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| Goat Rocks Wilderness |
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Starry night - Goat Rocks
Summer and Fall hiking
Apart from backpacking, I managed to squeeze out a number of day hikes in NW - I have long bucket lists of hikes that I want to do and managed to hit a number of them. Notables were Spray Park and Summerland in Mount Rainier, Ingalls Pass in Cascades and Colchuk in the outer Enchantments.
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| Spray Park |
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| Summerland |
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| Ingalls Pass and golden larches with Mt Stuart |
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Colchuk Lake
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Oregon Coast
No year is complete without a trip to the amazing Oregon coast. This time we went to Bandon, Cape Kiwanda and Cape Perpetua. Condition was less than optimal with marine fog ruining every other sunrise and sunset, but it was a good time with friends and I did get rewarded a few times.
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| Cape Kiwanda layers |
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| Bandon foggy sunset |
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| Bandon - morning after storm |
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Splash - Cape Perpetua
Climbing
I tried to jump-start or resume my alpine climbing aspirations, but managed only two short trips this summer - not too bad actually! The first trup up the SilverStar peak in N Cascades near Washington Pass was a good conditioning trip - though we missed the route and never managed to summit. On the 2nd trip, I went solo - this time on Ruth - a relatively simple and easy peak. It was a long day climb but very satisfying.
On the Ruth Mountain
Thanksgiving in BC (British Columbia)
Over Thanksgiving, I checked out some of the places in BC that I want to photograph in future. Harrison Lake, Hope and nearby areas are promising. Also, I made it through EC Manning park to all the way to the BC's Okanagan wine country. Some incredible landscapes and good life - will be back for sure
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| Harrison lake walk |
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| Harrison Lake light |
Christmas in Silver Star Mountain, BC
Finally, we spent the Christmas in stunning Silver Star mountain village in BC. It was a superb few days of skiing - great powder, cute colorful village and also some snowshoeing for the whole family.
Christmas sunrise
Morning run
Village houses
Pow heaven
New year...
In this time, my younger son just became more and more cute and he grew up a lot! Incredible how fast they grow - he's 16 months old. Like any parents, I take a lot of shots of my kids - here is one for your enjoyment...
Happy New Year everyone
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