Cauldron in the Sky

Lohagad - My last trip to Lohagad was about 7-8 years back and impression in my mind was that the trek from Malavli railway station was quite long, boring and on a tar road which was not scenic or interesting, hence visit here was never again in my list of things to do. However unexpected calling came from my friendly neighbor who wanted to a half day outing for their guests. Due to Lohagad's proximity, connectivity by vehicle and also not so strenuous climb, I suggested this place and they ok'ed it. We drove right up to the base of the fort and climbed up the fort.

It turned out to be a very beautiful October day.

The view is of a pond at top of the fort "Ashtakon Talav" with clouds rising from below the fort hill.

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Misty Cauldron

We did a 4 day road trip to North Scotland spending about a day at Isle of Skye. The landscapes as we approached Glencoe on A82 were very scenic. We did not get clear sky, but had clouds accompany and fortunately no rain. I guess, the preservation of the clear mountain summit views by clouds gives a different mystery to the landscape.

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Tea Valley

Early morning, looking down the tea plantations with clouds hanging low in the valley near Munnar.

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Sunset Above the Clouds

I had just reached LA and had no plan for the long weekend of 4th of July. So I just picked my tent, sleeping bag and started early morning on CA1 towards Monterey. I trusted my luck for an overnight campsite on the way. However I could not get a site that night and had to spend the night in my car in a Denny's parking lot at Monterey.

It was evening and i just passed a small coastal town covered in fog and I had tough time driving. As the road along the cliffs started gaining height, I came out of the mist to catch the beautiful sunset over the low lying clouds.

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Somewhere on CA1

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Colorful Evening

Another of the colorful evenings of Mangalore - this one is taken at Panambur beach. This stretch of rocks extends into the sea forming one side marking the approach to the harbour. It also provided perfect spot for fishing and to get into the sea without getting wet - almost. On windy days at the end of the rock stretch, the waves would bounce off the rocks and could nearly drench a person.

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Enlightenment

One of the many unique evenings at beaches of Mangalore. It was typical routine to go the beach by 5:00pm in the evening for the sunset and be back at workplace by 7:00pm. The pleasant breeze with beautiful sunset - mostly when clouds were present - provided the energy to continue work in evening into late nights.

Lenticular cloud

Midst of winter (Jan'08) - generally a long hibernation time in Seattle. Was longing to go out and got just perfect day to visit Rainier. We had started late and kind of reached around 12:00 noon - just on time to go for a snowshoeing walk with the NPS rangers on the Nisqually Vista Trail (http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/winter-recreation.htm#CP_JUMP_142395). The tour was just perfect with first experience of snowshoeing, and being on Rainier when being graced with the cloud cap - which I found is named as Lenticular cloud. I had just got my Canon 30D and the sole 17-50mm lens. This was my first outdoor with the camera. On that day I was the only one carrying an SLR on the tour and kind of got some stares from the group. I remember one of the person started talking to me about the advantage of using a point-and-shoot and not much being the difference between an SLR and a point and shoot. I did not cross him much as I did not want to spoil his trip or mine. Towards afternoon 3:00pm - or rather evening considering the season - I captured the above snap. The visitor center on the right nearly buried under snow and cloud on the left gave an out-of-world look. This is unprocessed shot and straight out of camera.