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Due to popular request (of one, but a very very good friend), I am making posting these night photos of Snoqualmie Pass a priority :)  The first series of theses photos are taken in 2011, you can understand why the hurry, lol.

These was taken during my first time ever trying snowshoeing, introduced to me by my good friend and photo buddy – Ken.  The best time to learn how to snowshoe for the first time is of course at night and hiking up a very steep trail, not that I am complaining, no problems here, piece of cake, let’s do it :)

Hiking with snowshoe is actually surprisingly easy to get a hang of and really not that much different from normal hiking, of course, other than the fact that we are walking on top of perhaps 10 feet deep of snow.  If you really think about it, it’s actually quite scary.  What if you fall into a 10 feet deep snow trap?  Well, luckily, that didn’t happen and I actually very much enjoy my first ever experience with snowshoeing and love it!

Walking through the pine forest at night is so surreal, it was so amazingly quite and the feeling of solitude can engulf anybody whole within seconds.  Even though the forest is vast, but the limitation of light and visibility make the forest seems small and tide, it feels more like walking through a small and long tunnel instead.  This kind of environment boost my self awareness to all time high and it forces me to recognize my existence, to really enforce the concept of “I am alive!”  “I am real!” “The world is real!”.  You know what I am saying?  :)

Walking on snow, walking on mid tree line, this is a strange world indeed, it feels like a place that can only exist in dreams.

With a bright moon and reflective snow all over, the whole place is actually pretty bright, we do not really need to use our headlamp most of the time.

I remember it was a windless night, everything is so still, no sound, no movement.  These photos are taken with long exposure, but notice everything in the photo, even the tip of the trees, is crisp and sharp, that’s how still the night is.  The cloud action from the LCD camera is the only thing reminding me that time hasn’t stop, everything is still normal, I am still on earth.

Without the trail, I would have got lost easily in the thick forest.

The mysterious forest, the mysterious moon, a mysterious night.  I can’t help but to indulge myself in this fairy-tale land.

It was a clear night, it was a great night.  I was so lucky the weather is so cooperating and the visibility is so good, that I was able to take a clear photo of this mountain.

After returning to the real world, I felt like I have journey to a wonderland, another planet, a different dimension, or perhaps a parallel universe.  It’s very hard to explain the feeling, it’s kind of like waking up from a dream but this time the dream not only feels real, but it is real.  It is an unforgettable experience to say the least, and this memory will sure last a life time for me.

Here I want to thank you my good friend Ken for this amazing and wonderful experience.  Ken is an avid snowshoe-r and he has a lot of amazing photos from his countless snowshoeing trips.  You can check out his photos here:  KCVensel Photography.  Ken, once again, thanks!

/Lumaca Moderno