Corona Arch and sunburst, near Moab, Utah, March 18, 2025

 After participating in the 2025 Spring Arch Rally with the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, we hiked to Corona Arch out of Moab, Utah. The trailhead for this hike is off of the Potash Road. The hike to this arch crosses railroad tracks and involves scrambling with a handling and a ladder. It also passes by a pothole arch named Bowtie Arch.

This magnificent natural rock span is listed as having both a span and height of 110 feet and is a buttress type arch in Navajo sandstone. This view is from the side away from the direction we first approached it.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Parallel Double Arch, Klondike Bluffs, near Moab, Utah, March 14, 2025

 We attended the 2025 Spring Arch Rally by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society centered around Moab, Utah. The rally was held from Saturday, March 8th to Saturday, March 15th.

On our seventh day of hiking, our host Peter Jamieson took us to the Klondike Bluffs area north of Moab, Utah. One of the several natural rock spans that we saw on this hike was this one called Parallel Arch. This double arch was high on a cliff of sandstone.

The dimensions of these arches, according to the World Arch Database is, for the outer arch, 32 foot span, and the inner arch is 22 foot span.

We tried measuring the span and height of these two natural rock spans and came up with the following numbers:

Parallel Arch Outer

Span - 17.178 meters (56.36 feet)

Height - 12.617 meters (41.38 feet)

Parallel Arch Inner

Height - 9.067 meters (29.75 feet)

Span - 

Remember it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Concealed Bridge, Herdina Park, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, 2025 Spring Arch Rally, Natural Arch and Bridge Society, March 10, 2025

 We attended the 2025 Spring Arch Rally by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society centered around Moab, Utah. The rally was held from Saturday, March 8th to Saturday, March 15th.

On our third day of hiking, our host David Alexander took us to the Herdina Park area of Arches National Park. One of the several natural rock spans that we saw on this hike was this one called Concealed Bridge. To get to it we had to duck under an overhang of sandstone before reaching a dryfall, or pouroff, This span  was on the edge of a pothole.

The span of this arch is 9.5 feet and the height is 10 feet and is listed as a waterfall-type natural bridge.

Remember it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Big Sur southern coast, Kirk Creek Arch, Monterey County

 

We found out about an arch along the southern end of the Big Sur coast from a Facebook posting from an avid hiker we're following. She mentioned where she was and included several photos, including an arch in the Pacific Ocean. It was actually next to a campground we were already thinking about visiting, so her posting made us take the trip to see it sooner rather than later. We saw it first during a higher tide, with waves crashing under the arch. We came back about 6 hours later and the tide was low enough that we could stand under it. We took measurements with a laser measurer and reported our results to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society. It turned out that we were the first to report this arch to them.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Alabama Hills, the Eye of Alabama natural arch

 

Here is a close view of the second most famous feature in the Alabama Hills, the Eye of Alabama. We parked along the road and hiked up to this feature to get a closer image. There are over a hundred natural arches in this area. We visited during the Fall Arch Rally sponsored by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society in November 2024. We were part of a group of about 15 people on this day.

The Paiute name for this area is Payahuunadü, "land of flowing water."

Fuji GFX100S, ISO 100, f8, 1/220 sec., 100 mm (79mm equiv.)

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Mobius Arch and the Milky Way, Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, November 4, 2024

 We attended the 2024 Fall Arch Rally of the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, which was centered around the Alabama Hills for the first half of the rally. One night we hiked out to Mobius Arch to get some night shots of it, including this light painting of the arch with the Milky Way galaxy overhead.. Mobius Arch is the most noteworthy granite natural arch among many arches in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Mobius Arch silhouette, Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, November 4, 2024

 We attended the 2024 Fall Arch Rally of the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, which was centered around the Alabama Hills for the first half of the rally. One night we hiked out to Mobius Arch to get some night shots of it, including this silhouette. Mobius Arch is the most noteworthy granite natural arch among many arches in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Greater roadrunner, Borrego Palm Canyon Campground, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California

 After setting up our campsite at the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, this little greater roadrunner visited our site looking for something to eat apparently and seemed to be hoping that we might feed it a snack. He hung around our site for a long time and got really close to us at times, perhaps as close as two and a half feet.

Roadrunners are members of the cuckoo family and prefer running along the ground rather than flying. They got their common name  from their habit of running along side wagons in the Old West waiting for the wagon wheels to scare out a lizard or a snake that it could then pounce upon for an easy meal.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Comet C/2023 A3 at Morro Bay, California

 

View of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan, Atlas) from Morro Bay, California. Rick was camped next to Morro Creek for two nights hoping to get a photo of the comet with Morro Rock, but it was foggy for those two nights. The third morning appeared mostly sunny, so Rick paid for another night hoping for clear skies that night. He was fortunate that it worked out well that time. The nearly full moon helped to light the foreground for this long exposure. The end of Morro Rock and Pillar Rock appear on the left side of the photo.

October 16, 2024, Fuji GFX100S, 20 seconds, 45 mm (36 mm equivalent), f/5.7, ISO 800

You can watch our YouTube video about this project at: https://youtu.be/j-zvldptmLc

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Aurora borealis, aka northern lights, over Borealis Base Camp, Fairbanks, Alaska, September 15, 2024

 Bob got the chance to go to Alaska in September 2024 to try and see the aurora borealis, aka northern lights. He stayed with his group at the Borealis Base Camp north of Fairbanks. Most of the days during his visit were overcast, but fortunately the second and third nights of his stay cleared up enough that he was treated to a spectacular display.

This photo is of the aurora looking like a green curtain in the sky. The igloo in the lower left corner happened to be lit by a car's headlights as it was driving in among the igloo accommodations for visitors, while the shutter on Bob's camera was open. It was a happy accident that helped light paint the scene.

Auroras occur when charged particles from the sun strike the Earth's atmosphere and are directed toward both the north and south poles by the Earth's magnetosphere. These charged particles energize oxygen and nitrogen molecules causing them to glow. Around the South Pole, the southern lights are also called aurora australis.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Alamere Falls in Point Reyes National Seashore, lit by flashlight at night

 

We attempted to determine if Point Reyes's Alamere Falls could produce a moonbow during the July full moon period. We hiked along the beach from Wildcat Camp while the tide was changing from high to low. This also was one day before the full moon, which means an earlier start to the moonbow, if it happens. We didn't find a moonbow, but we may have arrived too late. We still have hope that it can happen here. 

While near the base of the falls, we set up our cameras and tried taking moonlit images and light-painted images. Light painting involves using a source of light combined with a long exposure to artificially light up a night-time scene. This one worked out quite well.

Fuji GFX100S: 30 sec, f5.6, ISO 1600, 45mm (36mm equivalent)

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

El Capitan reflected in the Merced River, Yosemite National Park

 While visiting Yosemite National Park to photograph the "firefall effect", we stood on a bridge over the Merced River and noticed El Capitan's reflection in the still water. The sun was setting and the shadow of El Capitan's "nose" was already moving across the eastern wall towards Horsetail Fall. Unfortunately, Horsetail Fall was dry this year, 2022, so the firefall didn't have the drama that we were hoping for, but this image helped make up for it.

The image was actually two images captured with a Samsung 152 smartphone and merged together to create a larger image. ISO 100, f 2.2, 1/100 sec, 13 mm equivalent focal length

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Yosemite, Lower Falls Moonbow in June 23-24, 2024, from bridge and "the wall"

Here's an image of Yosemite's moonbow in the lower falls as viewed from the bridge over Yosemite Creek. Moonlight tends to make soft shadows and a less sharp photo. Here's the link to our YouTube video: What is a Moonbow? - https://youtu.be/S_ay06ZPjqA

ISO 3200, f4, 60 seconds

And this is an image of the moonbow in the Lower Falls of Yosemite from straight on. You can even see some of the Upper Falls at the top of the frame, along with some stars. We were up well past 3am getting these moonbow images. There is a predicted time online for viewing it from the bridge, but we found that moving to a different perspective allowed for much more time to view the moonbow. Most of the other photographers there that night had already left after the predicted time ended, but we kept at it and that action paid off.

ISO 3200, f8, 50 seconds

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!