Sagebrush and Snow

This post: Images from two hiking trips I've done the past two weekends.

(Above)  from the sagebrush country of Central Washington; and (below) from a snowshoe trip up into the snowy high country near Mt. Rainier.

Both landscapes were Perfect Places to Be (in my opinion,) but oh so visually different.

Happy Holidays, and Peace!

Aspirations

Every month my Tibetan friends gather at their Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Seattle and offer prayers for the well-being of others, for long life for their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and for peace.

Peace. With all that has been going on in our world recently,  prayers for peace sounded good to me.

As you can see here, I generally "participate" in the monthly prayers by taking pictures -- for eight years now, photography has been my ongoing contribution to the Tibetan community here. Heck, for my entire adult life photography has been my voice.

At Saturday's prayers, however, there came a point when I put my cameras down, closed my eyes, and silently became one with my friends' aspirations.

Peace.

White Friday

I did a hike to a place called Sibley Pass in the North Cascades on October 17, before snow began to fall in the high country. It was a gorgeous, almost-balmy day as several friends and I trekked up out of a basin and climbed onto a ridgetop where we took in amazing views, dramatic and severe-looking peaks in every direction.

As perfect as that October day was, I found myself wondering what that landscape would look like in Winter. And without even realizing it, I guess I began planning a return trip.

A week ago, the day after Thanksgiving -- the day that the marketing world calls Black Friday -- two friends and I went back to Sibley Pass.

Above are two images from the October hike, and below are pictures from the most recent trip -- a day we trekked in so much snow I took to calling it White Friday.