Forests in Fog

By Bharath Srivatsan

November 24^th, 2022

I'm starting a photography project to tell stories of climate optimism! Over the coming months, I'll be photographing and interviewing people saving the places we care about most by preventing or reversing manmade environmental destruction. Read more and subscribe at The Places We Save!

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I was rained on during two of my camping trips over the past year - a backpacking trip to Redwood National Park and a night at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. I got drenched both times; even after learning from my mistakes in the Redwoods, a rip in our tent at Calaveras meant that I was soaked overnight anyways.

On the bright side, though, the rain came with absolutely ethereal foggy conditions. Though I don't usually enjoy shooting in the fog (wet equipment, fuzzy focus) or dense forests (messy foregrounds, waving leaves), both parks were absolutely stunning.

The other upside to the conditions was that I had the redwoods almost entirely to myself. I was solo backpacking, and went ~18 hours without seeing a single other human being. Alone, I walked through an eerily primordial landscape - moss-covered bridges, desolate forest roads, and pathways lined with ferns that reached up to my shoulders.

Every now and then, I happened upon a clearing. With the fog dampening any noise from distant roads, all I could hear was the rhythmic pitter-patter of a light drizzle filtering down through the leaves.

Footnotes

For more: read essays on climate optimism (https://theplaceswesave.substack.com), purchase prints at my store (https://society6.com/bharath), subscribe for new posts (https://stories.bharathsrivatsan.com/site/subscribe), and follow me on Instagram (@barrystravels)!