Mt Shasta juxtaposed with our consumerist selves

Mountains can be teachers. They can show us our place, help keep our ego in check, and give us the dose of awe we need to stay grounded. We were driving back from Mt Lassen when we stopped for a coffee and from the parking lot of a Starbucks I caught this view of MtContinue reading “Mt Shasta juxtaposed with our consumerist selves”

Using a camera in snowy conditions

I used to use my Canon in very extreme conditions and it just kept working. I have switched to Sony in the last few years and it’s too delicate to be exposed to the elements. And it’s also hard to use with gloved hands. I wonder if my current camera’s limitations has made me adjustContinue reading “Using a camera in snowy conditions”

What if there was a giant, snow-clad mountain in Silicon Valley

For years I was obsessed with this mountain. Old habits die hard – I always try to fly only at sunrise or sunset in Seattle. Just to get a glimpse of this awesomeness in perfect lighting. Seeing Rainier is a hit or miss. It is not visible everyday. Yesterday, I fell asleep on the wayContinue reading “What if there was a giant, snow-clad mountain in Silicon Valley”

Camping at the base of Brokeoff Mountain

This was our campsite in Lassen Volcanic National Park. The “black” triangle in the top center is Brokeoff Mountain (also known as Mt Tehama). This was at 4am. We had just woken up to an “alpine start”, to try and summit the peak while the snow was still hard, before the sun came out andContinue reading “Camping at the base of Brokeoff Mountain”

I want my Mountain back. Mt Rainier shut down

Because of the government shut down all National Parks, including Mt. Rainier, are shut down. Due to websites being considered non-essential, they can’t even update the website to let people know what to expect. Turns out, the roads have been blocked, gates have been locked and it’s not possible to drive into the National ParkContinue reading “I want my Mountain back. Mt Rainier shut down”

On top of Mt. Kilimanjaro

We took a longer, circuitous, beautiful path around Kilimanjaro to get to the top. It was colder than we had planned for and the lack of sleep compounded the effort needed. The endless strong wind that ran across the continent became very overbearing after a few hours. But we were there and we saw theContinue reading “On top of Mt. Kilimanjaro”