Yellowstone National Park

Wow! The geysers and hot springs are out of this world. You usually have to go in a cave to find things that wild.

The weather was perfect. Sunny, with just enough of a breeze that the occasional blasts of steam you pass through were welcomed. I had great timing the whole day too. Walked up to Old Faithful about 10 minutes before it blew, and Oblong Geyser started going right when I got to it. I hiked probably 20 miles today with some doubling back on sections to get to all the main geysers and Mammoth Hot Springs.

Chalk up one full day for me.

Old Faithful

Oblong Geyser

Mammoth Hot Springs

Punch Bowl Spring

Morning Glory Pool

Grand Teton, Day two

Chalk up another great day in paradise. I started out with a mama bear leading her cubs across the road in front of my car after which I found a campsite at Jenny Lake and wandered down to the lake itself for a panorama of the mirrored surface and a detail showing just how beautifully clear the water is. Then I took about a 4 mile hike to the far end of the next lake in the chain - String Lake. It too was clear but neither had much in the way of fish at least on the east side where I was. While at string lake I shot another panorama where you can see a bit of downed timber, the lingering remains of a fire. Also of note, a black bear came up the hill from the lake, and was rummaging around in the grass right next to the trail, blocking it. That is really what led me to making a 10 mile jaunt up and down the lakes instead of just up one lake and back.

Jenny Lake in the morning

Beautifully clear water

Remnants of a fire from long ago

Grand Teton National Park

This was quite a drive from the badlands. I reached the outer extents of the park around 6 and zigzagged through the pre-park and watched buffalo for a bit and shot some panoramas. Around 7 I actually made it to the visitor center and entrance gate. The first two campsites I checked out were full but the third time was a charm. I got a nice spot and two days worth of fishing license. I expect a good nights sleep tonight then tomorrow I'll move camp a few lakes down the road where I hear the fishing is good. The catch limits on trout are way more than I'd need to fill my belly too. I love trout. Hopefully I get at least one.

Between the park boundary and the actual entrance gate

My lovely home.

Minutes away from my campsite.

Badlands National Park

I bet your office has walls. Mine doesn't! The views here are fantastic, and so is the trip. I will say though that it started out hot, and I'm not huge fan of the heat. And the only real exercise I'd been getting was from jumping to conclusions. Yet, as soon as I got onto the trail I found myself sprinting to the top and on to the next hill. My batteries are so recharged right now. I haven't felt this alive in years.

As for the sights, this is an overlook from just inside the main entrance to the park.

Deeper into the park, the territory is a bit rougher.

Birds aplenty!

This Westerm Meadowlark kept me company whenever I was at the campsite, and he was rumaging in the grass in front of the tent when I woke up too.

Flies can be cool too

When you think of flies, its normally the boring black houseflies or even worse those nasty biting horse/deer flies that come to mind. But other flies are actually quite beautiful and interesting. Flies are of the order Diptera, which means two wings.

This is a robber fly, in the Asilidae family. This particular one was pretty tiny. In general robber flies will attack other kinds of flies, beetles, dragonflies, and the like. A quick google turns up all kinds of critters that various robber flies have conquered.

Next is a hover fly, the Syrphidae family. They are generally harmless, mostly feeding on pollen and nectar. They have so much great color and detail in their abdomens, which are designed to mimic wasps and bees as a defensive tactic.

Here is a bee fly, family Bombyliidae. This is another harmless nectar eater, superficially looking like a bee, a cute fuzzy little bee.

All of these were shot near Berthoud, Colorado, the last two with a 28-105mm lens (with an ultrasonic focus, so it locks on fast which is a big help for these) and some combination of +2, +4, or +10 close-up filters, the on-camera flash even though it was full daylight, and the tightest aperture available (f/25), from a distance of about 3 inches. The robber fly I somehow lucked out and got it from a couple feet away with a long lens.

Pawnee National Grassland

What do you find in a national grassland? Not a visitor center. Not even a whole lot in the way of roads. And yet, it is a pretty sweet place to visit. I found hawks aplenty for starters. Some of them were in the air above me, once was carrying a snake, and another devoured a mouse for my viewing pleasure - the Swainson's Hawk in the previous post was that very hawk. It has plenty of grasses, obviously, rabbits, rabbitbrush, pronghorns. It lacked people though. No lines of cars. When I was there I think I saw two cars the entire day. What do you expect from 193,000 acres of largely flat ground? 

Swainson's Hawk

I've been asked what got me interested in birdwatching. It was definitely this, a lucky shot of a hawk which at the time I had no idea what it was or even how to narrow it down. In trying to find this out, I got introduced to a good group of birdwatchers in Colorado, and it set me on a path to have some skill at identifying birds, plus quite possibly an addiction to reference books on the subject.

My initial guess on this was that it was a Red-tailed Hawk. At first glance it seems like a reasonable possibility. The overall coloring is similar. The key though are the flight feathers - the big sturdy ones that make up the bulk of the wing's surface area. On a Swainson's Hawk, those feathers are dark and the covert feathers (near the "arm" bones of the wing) are relatively light. That is the biggest distinguishing feature for a hawk in flight. Red-tailed Hawks have dark coverts and light flight feathers. There is room for variation, but a Swainson's Hawk will usually have a dark hood and chest with a light throat patch and a banded tail. The first picture especially is a textbook example. It was taken near Berthoud, Colorado. The second photo is a different bird, found in the Pawnee National Grasslands in northeastern Colorado, and it shows a much darker variation.

Other fun facts about them, their diet consists primarily of grasshoppers though I have seen them carry off a snake. Their wingspan is a bit wider than otherwise similar hawks, making them better adapted for gliding and long flights. In fact, while some hawks only migrate down to Mexico for the winters, these continue all the way to Argentina to escape our winters.

Barred Owl

This is why I take a camera with me everywhere I go. I was headed home down some random back road when I saw an unmistakable silhouette in a tree ridiculously close to the road, so of course I had to slam on my brakes and get this shot. Its tough enough to even find an owl, and when you do its usually at night or from a long distance. I rarely have luck getting a worthwhile owl photo. So the perfect storm that made this one happen blew me away.

Barred Owl, found just across the river from Durand, WI. In the middle of the day, no less.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

I am saying goodbye to the midwest, but keeping some fond memories of the twin cities. There are some wonderful people there. So many great places to eat. Good music. And the prettiest city skyline that I have photographed so far. The two shots here are of Minneapolis. The first was taken from the Broadway bridge looking South which is a great view of the city, and we even shot part of a short film beneath it in a guerrilla shooting session once during Art-a-Whirl. The second picture is taken from the city itself, on the Central Avenue bridge looking north towards the previous camera position. Hennepin Avenue is a fairly major street running across the city, and its bridge is all lit up and the focal point of that shot. Imagine relaxing on a patio, listening to live music, eating great food, and enjoying that view. Good times. I'll miss that. I've got some pretty spectacular views ahead of me though, so stick around for those.

Western Meadowhawk

Dragonflies are as bizarre as they are beautiful. I've managed to get wickedly close to them for extended lengths of time, which allowed for some pretty spectacularly detailed photos. Using a lens that focuses fast is a big help, and I like to add just the ridiculously cheap +10 close-up screw-on filters so the sweet spot of focus is about an inch in front of the glass. Yes, a dedicated macro lens would be nice, but a $10 addition to an existing lens is all it takes to open up a whole world of new subjects without breaking the bank. Choose the tightest aperture available, and use a flash. Even the camera's popup flash works fine if the lens itself is not too long. The trick I learned when shooting dragonflies is to just chill out with them for about an hour before seriously trying to shoot them. If you're around that long without managing to hurt any of them, you are clearly either a vegetarian or a really bad hunter. Bottom line, you aren't much of a threat. The second trick is to always keep one of your eyes hidden behind the camera body. Two-eyed monsters are a threat, one-eyed monsters have no depth perception and are therefore going to be safe. By that same logic, wearing an eye patch like a pirate would probably help when stalking small critters too. I'll have to try that sometime.

This is a Western Meadowhawk I shot near Berthoud, Colorado.

Pika

Another above-treeline critter I fell in love with is the Pika. They are in the lagomorph order, making them closer relatives to rabbits than rodents. When I stopped at a pullout to take in fresh air, I heard a bunch of high pitched beeping sounds. It came from these cute buddies. Fun fact: they collect bundles of grass which get stored for the winter since they don't hibernate. I've also spotted some Yellow-bellied Marmot in some of the same rocky outcroppings as these guys.

These were all found above treeline in Rocky Mountain National Park, about 3 miles southeast of the Alpine Visitor Center.

White-tailed Ptarmigan

These birds are super cool, and not just because they love a good alpine environment. They come equipped with built-in snow boots! Yeah, thats just extra feathers around their feet, but a nice winter adaptation at any rate.  And check out the sweet camouflage the late summer plumage provides. This shot also came from Rocky Mountain National Park, just a dozen feet or so below the Forest Canyon Overlook.

The adventure begins

I came to the realization that the path I was on was really getting in the way of my life. It was time to walk away from the stresses and start living. I'm just about done tying up some loose ends on a film project and packing for my new life. Ahead of me now is camping, fishing, exploring National Parks and anything else that catches my fancy along the way. I'll be building a collection of high resolution panoramas and critter photos and a story or two about the whole experience.

I'll start things off here with a few of my classic shots from Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is quite a sight being above treeline, the point where conditions are so harsh the flora is pretty much limited to lichen on rocks, short grasses, and the occasional flower. Small birds and rodents foraged near me but the wind made up most of the sounds up there. The sense of scale just doesn't make sense in your mind. You see little dots of green that you know are giant trees. And there are so many of them.