NatureNan2018
Mount Rainier National Park | The Stark Truth
I shot this image a week after my grim visit – see my previous post. Today, I breathed MRNP’s clear air, replenishing my lungs from the relentless wildfire smoke east of the park. Maybe it was because clear air had become so precious that I was super aware of MRNP’s signature scents and fragances -- they’re deliciously sweet and dreamy. As I sat in my car eating my picnic dinner, I gazed out at the scene of Mount Rainier towering above Reflection Lake. Wonderful dappled clouds quilted the sky – their pattern began unraveling about an hour before sunset. I was able to capture this image when the light, color and placement of clouds were still appealing. This part of Reflection Lake has a boggy and fragile shoreline and reflected the clouds nicely – I was set up on the carpark walkway. A family of ducks were enjoying their evening swim, and there was a heron seemed poised for some serious fishing. As you can see in this image, majestic Mount Rainier is alarmingly stark with shrinking glaciers and short-lived critical annual snowpack. Is this the inevitable and undeniable truth of climate change? In his closing remarks in a live interview on Mount Rainier National Park’s Facebook page on September 13th, recently arrived park superintendent Greg Dudgeon said that he can’t imagine any challenge more relevant to our time and our day than climate change, and that he sees a role and a responsibility both as park staff and as stakeholders, to make certain that as people come to enjoy the park, they’re also understanding and appreciating the challenges ahead. Thank you Ranger Greg Dudgeon!
Flickr Explore 4nov21
Mount Rainier National Park | The Stark Truth
I shot this image a week after my grim visit – see my previous post. Today, I breathed MRNP’s clear air, replenishing my lungs from the relentless wildfire smoke east of the park. Maybe it was because clear air had become so precious that I was super aware of MRNP’s signature scents and fragances -- they’re deliciously sweet and dreamy. As I sat in my car eating my picnic dinner, I gazed out at the scene of Mount Rainier towering above Reflection Lake. Wonderful dappled clouds quilted the sky – their pattern began unraveling about an hour before sunset. I was able to capture this image when the light, color and placement of clouds were still appealing. This part of Reflection Lake has a boggy and fragile shoreline and reflected the clouds nicely – I was set up on the carpark walkway. A family of ducks were enjoying their evening swim, and there was a heron seemed poised for some serious fishing. As you can see in this image, majestic Mount Rainier is alarmingly stark with shrinking glaciers and short-lived critical annual snowpack. Is this the inevitable and undeniable truth of climate change? In his closing remarks in a live interview on Mount Rainier National Park’s Facebook page on September 13th, recently arrived park superintendent Greg Dudgeon said that he can’t imagine any challenge more relevant to our time and our day than climate change, and that he sees a role and a responsibility both as park staff and as stakeholders, to make certain that as people come to enjoy the park, they’re also understanding and appreciating the challenges ahead. Thank you Ranger Greg Dudgeon!
Flickr Explore 4nov21