Deer mouse during low tide at Point Reyes National Seashore

During a night-time hike along the shore south of Coast Camp at Point Reyes National Seashore, we were using our flashlights to check out the creatures in the tide pools and the tops of rocks. At one of those rocks, we noticed something darting along from one side of the rock to the other. After shining our lights on the darting critter, we found this deer mouse settled into a spot where it seemed comfortable enough to pose for us to get several photos of it. What is was doing in a tidepool was a bit of a mystery, maybe it has a taste for mussels.

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

Window Arch in City of Rocks National Reserve

Window Arch is one of many arches and other granite features in the City of Rocks National Reserve, in southeastern Idaho. This feature can be reached by hiking an easy 0.1 mile trail from the parking spot for campsite number 37. It is situated along a ridge that allows for getting good photos of it from either side. I chose this side because of the interesting cloud formations in the sky that you can see under the arch.

To give you a better idea about the size of the arch, look at the picture below with Rick standing in it.

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

Butler Wash Cliff Dwelling in the Bears Ears National Monument

This is an area within the Bears Ears National Monument. You reach by parking at a turnout off of Road 95, west of Blanding, Utah, and then taking a short hike, about 1/2 mile or 1 km) to reach this viewpoint. It's called Butler Wash and has an Anasazi cliff dwelling at the upper end. The end of the trail has a steep dropoff, so there is railing there, which also makes it easy to know where to stop. There's no developed trail in to the ruins, but it is possible to get to the bottom of the wash and work your way there. We were on our way to Natural Bridges National Monument and couldn't spend as much time here as we would've liked. We definitely intend to go back.

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

El Capitan and a leafless oak in silhouette, Yosemite

April showers in Yosemite led to this formation of clouds that has the peak of El Capitan looming above and below the clouds, while the lower cloud provides the proper background for a bare oak tree's silhouette. This picture was originally taken in April of 1984 with slide film, specifically Kodachrome. Rick stood in El Capitan Meadow to get this photo.

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

The Windows, in Arches National Park, from the west looking eastward, plus the North Window Arch, up close

Within Arches National Park is this dramatic feature that can seen several miles away along the main park road, well before you turn off to get a closer look. There is a path around these features, which you can see at the right edge of the image. You can also see people underneath the left "window." In both cases, going through these arches leads to a somewhat dramatic drop off on the other side. We visited this park as part of our Spring Break 2017 trip through southern Utah. The second picture is the North Window Arch, up close and consisting of four shots that have been merged to create a detailed image of this feature.

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

Yosemite Falls reflected in a seasonal pond in Cooks Meadow

This is Yosemite Falls as viewed from the Sentinel Bridge parking area. During the spring and early summer, Cooks Meadow fills with meltwater and runoff to become a temporary pond. If you stand in the right spot and crouch down a bit, you can get the falls and its reflection in one shot. We've also taken multiple shots from this perspective and combined them, but this one was taken in one frame with a film camera in 1992. The trees have had another 25 years worth of growth since this was taken and are noticeably taller now.

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

Chuckwalla posing at Valley of Fire

A chuckwalla lizard poses for the camera at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. We saw this critter along the trail out to the park's equivalent to the "Wave", pictures of which we posted earlier. We don't know if it was curious about us so that's why it hung around, but it could have been disturbed by the kids pointing him out to their parents and by us looking him over and taking some good photos, but it didn't seem to mind.

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

Yellowstone's Tower Falls with the boulder on the brink, before and after

In Yellowstone, one of the popular places to stop and look at the scenery is at Tower Falls. Until the spring of 1986, this 132-foot waterfall had a precariously perched boulder on the brink. That year, the boulder fell to the bottom. We visited Yellowstone in the 1970's several times and got pictures of this waterfall with the boulder still there, as you can see below. The boulder to the right of the one that fell is still there. During the 1975 trip, we hiked down to the base of the falls and looked up at the boulder and tried imagining what it would be like to be under this waterfall when that boulder finally came down. The sign at the overlook asked the question about when the boulder would fall, but now it's not there, of course. It also looks like the same trees are there to the left of the creek after 40 years. The trees closer to the overlook have obviously gotten taller.
Tower Falls gets its name from the volcanic pinnacles that line the stream course.

   Here are the two pictures side by side for comparison.

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

Grand Prismatic Spring from the new overlook in Yellowstone National Park

This is a view from the new Grand Prismatic Spring overlook that Yellowstone National Park opened just this year, 2017.  A number of visitors had hiked off-trail to get this view overlooking the spring before the Park Service decided to make the overlook view official with this new spur trail off the Fairy Falls Trail.

This overlook allows visitors to get a much better view of the different colors of the Grand Prismatic, the world's third largest hot spring, than they can get from the boardwalk that runs along the far edge of the spring in the picture.  The spring is 370 feet in diameter and 160 feet deep and discharges 560 gallons of 160 degree water every minute.  The colors in the spring are from thermophilic (heat-loving) microbes that appear blue, green, yellow, and orange depending on the temperature of the water at that point.

The rising steam behind the Grand Prismatic is from the Excelsior Geyser Crater.  This thermal area is known as the Midway Geyser Basin.

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

Gibbon Falls in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

This is Gibbon Falls in Yellowstone National Park between the Norris and Mammoth areas in the northwestern quadrant of the park.  The falls are about 84 feet high and are about 4.7 miles upstream of the Gibbon River's junction with the Firehole River after which this watercourse is known as the Madison River.  The park provides a large parking and overlook area for visitors to enjoy views of this feature.

This photo was taken with an eclipse filter on the lens which enabled Bob to shoot a long 15 second exposure which gave the waterfall its silky appearance.

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

Great American Solar Eclipse from central Oregon

The solar eclipse during totality, with a couple of small stars shining below and to the left of the sun. Outside the frame of this picture, Venus and Saturn were also visible. Rick viewed the eclipse from central Oregon from Beech Creek Summit, near John Day, Oregon. The summit is actually north of the small town of Mount Vernon, Oregon, along Highway 395, but John Day was the biggest town in the area and it's where he camped. His fellow eclipse viewers at the summit were from parts of America, like California and Washington state, plus Germany, and Ireland. The diamond ring effect that you see just before totality starts and just as it is ending can't be compared in a photograph to the actual experience of seeing it. The best I can say is that when you see it in person, the little diamond sparkle is still bright enough to blind you. The corona itself is very bright and seems to display threads of light that don't show in typical photographs that well, but it also makes witnessing the eclipse in person a more dramatic experience than viewing a photo of it.

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

It was totality worth it! A vertical photo of the solar eclipse over the Tetons.

Here's another shot of the eclipsed sun over the Teton peaks as seen from Table Mountain.  Bob backpacked to the top of Table Mountain in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness Area in order to see the solar eclipse from the classic view of Le Trois Tetons made famous by William Henry Jackson.  He was a photographer on the earliest survey expeditions of the Yellowstone and Teton areas and took some of the first photographs of the Tetons from Table Mountain.

The black dot in the sky is the moon eclipsing the sun.  The horizon in all directions looked like the sun was setting, even though the sun was high in the sky.

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

Sheep Rock at the John Day Fossil Beds in Oregon

While visiting Oregon to get in position for the Great American Eclipse, we visited the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, which consists of three units. One of those units is named after this feature, Sheep Rock. The line of totality included this area, with the center line not far north from here. We went through the visitor center looking at many paleontological displays that prove the scientific value of this area and why the National Monument designation was well-deserved. The other two units are the Painted Hills and Clarno. The river is named for John Day, but he didn't discover the fossils, nor did he even explore this far upriver. The person considered responsible for establishing the scientific value of this area was Thomas Condon. The visitor center in the Sheep Rock unit is named after him.

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

It was totality worth it! The total solar eclipse over the Tetons August 21, 2017

This is a still from the video I, Bob shot of the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 with my GoPro Hero 4 Black.  I've posted that video on our YouTube Channel.

I backpacked in to the Jedediah Smith Wilderness Area on the west slope of the Tetons to the top of Table Mountain to observe and record the total solar eclipse with the classic Le Trois Tetons view for the landscape.  The small black dot surrounded by white in the upper middle of the frame is the moon eclipsing the sun.  The three main peaks on the horizon are the Grand, Middle, and South Tetons.

This was a totality awesome experience.  I could see the moon's shadow completely blacken Teton Valley and Driggs, Idaho to the west as it raced toward me and then the sun became totally eclipsed.  The partial eclipse didn't seem to be that much different from a regular sunny day, but totality was an eerily freakish experience.  The sun's corona lit the earth around me with a kind of light I had never seen before.  Also, the horizon in all directions looked like sunset even though most horizons never get a setting sun, plus the sun was still high in the sky.

It was totality worth it!

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

Yosemite's Bridalveil Falls and the Leaning Tower

In Yosemite Valley, Bridalveil Falls is one of several waterfalls cascading over the granite cliffs that wall in the valley. Usually, people see Bridalveil from the west looking into the valley, such as from the Tunnel View. This perspective is showing the falls from the west and includes the Leaning Tower, to the right of the falls. This year, 2017, was a very wet year in California, so all of Yosemite's waterfalls had much more water in them than the last 5 years of drought. There is a trail that leads to the base of the falls, allowing the hiker to get thoroughly drenched early in the summer.

Taken at 1/60 sec, f4, ISO unavailable.

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

The Fire Wave in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Another look at the feature called The Fire Wave in the Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada.  You can reach it by a short hike from a well-marked trailhead. The rangers referred to it as their version of "The Wave." The hike was only about a mile and it was during spring break, so there were lots of hikers on the trail.  We had to wait our turn to get pictures of the "wave" without any other people in the picture. The outcrops in Valley of Fire consist of a mix of bright red Aztec sandstone and gray and tan limestone.

The Valley of Fire State Park is significant for all the Star Trek fans out there. This was the location where "Star Trek Generations" was filmed. This is the movie where Captain Kirk and Captain Picard meet and have to work together to defeat an evil scientist. At the end, Kirk dies and Picard ends up burying him.

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

Hidden Arch, aka Goulding Arch, the arch in Monument Valley near the campground

We traveled through southern Utah and northern Arizona in April 2017. We lucked into a campsite in Monument Valley and the lady doing the check in for us mentioned a hidden arch. After we asked for more information about it, she told us that it's actually called Hidden Arch and is a short hike from the campground, but can't be seen from the campground. So the next morning we went to see and photograph it.

We hiked through the arch from the campground side and are looking back in the direction of the campground for this image. This image was made from three separate images and combined in the computer to create a more detailed final image. These images were taken with a Sony camcorder that can also be used to take 20 megapixel still images. The final result is about 46 megapixels. Taken at 1/60 sec, f/4, 6.2 mm, ISO unknown.

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

The Windows, Arches National Park features

These two arches in Arches National Park, are combined as one feature called The Windows. They can be seen from a long way off, but you can also park and walk under them. You can see a small group under the left arch. Both arches are rounded and look like eyes. From this perspective, though, the left "eye" has a rock feature beyond it that fills in its left side. From further back and to the left, there is a spot where you can see both eyes clear and filled with sky. In some places, you can see signs of boulders having fallen from the underside of the arch. Makes you wonder about your safety sometimes!

Another thing this feature looks like is a sea turtle.  The arcs of rock enclosing the Windows can be thought of as flippers while the rock mound between them looks like the head.

ISO 100, f6.7, 1/180 sec were the settings.

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

Utah's Geological Mexican Hat

In southern Utah is a little town called Mexican Hat. We always thought the name just referred to the sombrero, but then we discovered that there's a geological feature that reminds you of the hat. So here's a picture of the actual Mexican Hat that inspired the town's name.

We had driven through southern Utah and seen the Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monument before heading south into Arizona by going over the wildly crazy road called the Moki Dugway. The town of Mexican Hat is not far south of this winding section of dirt road that can tap into your fear of heights while you're driving it. The Mexican Hat geologic feature can be seen from the main road and only requires a short drive on dirt road to get close enough to it to get pictures. The photo looks especially red because we were passing by this feature as the sun was setting.

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

Valley of Fire, Nevada, has its own "wave"

This feature in the Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada, is along a short hike from the road. The rangers referred to it as their version of "the wave". Instead of being in a slot canyon, though, this feature is right out in the open, down a slope. The hike was only about a mile and there were lots of people there, we had to wait our turn to get pictures of the "wave" without any other people in the picture. We also got pictures of a chuckwalla lizard near here. The road is off to the right out of view. Other people continued beyond the "wave" and looked at other features. It appears to be sedimentary rock that has been eroded by the wind as it swirls around.

The Valley of Fire State Park is significant for all the Star Trek fans out there. This was the location where "Star Trek Generations" was filmed. This is the movie where Captain Kirk and Captain Picard meet and have to work together to defeat an evil scientist. At the end, Kirk dies and Picard ends up burying him.

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

Cascade Creek Falls, lesser known waterfall in Yosemite Valley

This is Cascade Creek Falls in Yosemite Valley. It's a lesser known waterfall that has a stop for it not far into the park from the Arch Rock Entrance, which is the western entrance to the park coming in along Highway 140 from Mariposa. This view was not from that highway, however. This view involves driving toward Highway 41 and going through the famous tunnel. And the lower end of the tunnel, many people stop to look at the view of Yosemite Valley and take pictures. There's no denying the view is wonderful from that perspective. But this is one Rick discovered by going above the tunnel to a large pullout area along the road and climbing over the stone fence found there. After traveling down the slope for some distance, one can look down on Cascade Creek Falls from above and see the creek above and below the falls. The creek leading to the falls can't be seen from the turnoff along Highway 140. So, the view from above is more inclusive.

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

Early Evening Sun with Smoke-filled sky near Canyon Village, Yellowstone National Park

This is the sun a short time before sunset near Canyon Village in Yellowstone National Park.  A forest fire was raging north of the Madison River to the northwest from this spot and the smoke bloodied the sky.

We photographed this scene on August 16, 2016.  During the day, we had driven along the Madison River and saw where the smoke was coming from, the Maple Fire which was caused by lightning.

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

Owachomo Natural Bridge from near Zeke's Bathtub

This is Owachomo Bridge in Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah.  This monument was set aside in 1908 to protect three magnificent natural bridges and they can be viewed along a one-way scenic loop road.  Owachomo is the third bridge along the road and is the most photogenic and thinnest of the three.  It's also the easiest one to hike to, both because it's the shortest distance from the road and because it has the least amount of elevation change to get to and from.

The pool in the foreground is called Zeke's Bathtub after Ezekiel "Zeke" Johnson, the national monument's first superintendent.

Owachomo spans 180 feet, is 106 feet high, 27 feet wide, and is only 9 feet thick.  Because of its thinness, it's considered to be a very old natural bridge.

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

Yosemite's Indian Rock Arch from the south, looking northward

Indian Rock Arch is a granite arch. The only one in Yosemite National Park. Granite arches are rare. Arches are much more likely to form in sandstone and other easily eroded material. But arches can form in granite and Yosemite does have one. Surprisingly, few people seem to know about it. The map for the area only lists the feature as Indian Rock and doesn't include the word "arch" to let hikers know what a unique feature they can visit. The arch is just off the North Dome trail which starts at the Porcupine Flat parking area along Highway 120 that crosses over the Sierra in Yosemite National Park. It involves about three miles of hiking to visit. You can hike right up to the arch itself and we've even passed under the arch from one side to the other. Such a formation is believed to result from granite eroding through a process called exfoliation, where plates of granite break away from the main rock.

This particular view is from south of the arch looking northward to see the feature set off against the blue sky. We've hiked to the arch a number of times, including once when we carried an extension ladder, hoping to get a better view of it up a tree on the north side. Several people gave us funny looks along the trail that day, so we simply assured them that we were working on a photography project, and they seemed satisfied with that answer.

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

Ribbon Falls, Yosemite's tallest seasonal waterfall, 2004 & 2017

The above picture shows Ribbon Falls, in Yosemite Valley, in March 2004. This is Yosemite National Park's tallest seasonal waterfall. The water in it actually freefalls a greater distance than the water in Yosemite Falls, which has a Middle Cascade before the water freefalls off of the lower falls. By summer, it is usually dried up, but this year, 2017, had a lot of precipitation, so the picture below shows Ribbon Falls in June, still with plenty of flow. The water falls 1,612 feet (491 meters). In contrast, Yosemite Falls' longest drop is 1,430 feet (436 meters), before cascading over 5 smaller plunges in the Middle Cascade. So, it turns out that the longest single plunge for a waterfall in America is Ribbon Falls.

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

First Hike to the Top of Yosemite Falls, June 2, 2007

We've just posted a video about my (Rick's) first hike to the top of Yosemite Falls. I went with my wife, Mally, and her brother, Art, on June 2, 2007. Before starting out from Camp 4, we saw a car damaged by a marauding bear. The hike involves covering 3.2 miles and gaining 2425 feet in elevation. That's 5.15 km distance and 739 meters elevation.

Here's the link to our video: https://youtu.be/0jmZVzwASW8

Remember, it's not just a picture (video), it's a story!

San Joaquin River Parkway wildlife video

As part of our video on the San Joaquin River Parkway, we edited together a series of videos and stills of the wildlife that can be found along the San Joaquin River and put it to music. We decided to take that part out of the Parkway video and present it on YouTube by itself with some minor edits to improve it. Enjoy the wildlife! 

Here's the link: https://youtu.be/mxwp32Lop8s

Remember, it's not just a picture (video), it's a story!

San Joaquin River Parkway recreational video

We produced a video on the San Joaquin River Parkway, near Fresno, California. It was originally available in 2001. We canoed, biked, hiked, and flew over this parkway to make the video. We've now posted it online for all to enjoy. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/qJrMUAUFA_M

Remember, it's not just a picture (video), it's a story!

National Trails Day, June 3, 2017

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

Sipapu Natural Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah

Sipapu Natural Bridge in Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah.

According to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, Sipapu is the 13th largest rock span in the world with a span of about 225 feet and a height of about 144 feet.

This is the first of the three meander-type natural bridges that visitors encounter along the loop road in Natural Bridges National Monument.  The bridge is visible from a viewpoint at a pullout along the road, but visitors can also hike a trail down to the bridge itself.  The roundtrip hike is only 1.2 miles, but hikers lose and then gain back 600 feet of elevation and have to climb a couple of ladders.

This photo is from a long ledge along the trail that affords a great view of just how big the opening under this arc of rock is.

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

Delicate Arch from the rim of the sandstone amphitheater

A view of Delicate Arch on the side away from the trail that leads to it.  The trail to the arch is a 3 mile round trip that gains and loses 480 feet.

Delicate Arch is one of the most iconic natural rock spans in the world.  Many Utah license plates feature an image of this arch.

This is a free-standing arch perched on the rim of a sandstone amphitheater.  The opening is 64 feet high and 45 feet wide.  The Entrada Sandstone that makes up much of the outcrops of Arches National Park tends to form narrow fins of rock that are conducive to the formation of arches.

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

Bears Ears, as viewed from the visitor center of Natural Bridges National Monument

These buttes are called the Bears Ears. They are in southern Utah and can be seen for miles around, possibly as much as 50 miles. A new national monument bearing their name was declared by President Obama in December 2016 with the support of conservationists and five Native American tribes. The reason the tribes supported this is that there are many historical sites, such as cliff dwellings within the Bears Ears area, that were once homes to their ancestors. From a distance, it's supposed to remind you of the top of a bear's head with its rounded ears showing.

This view of the buttes is from the visitor center of Natural Bridges National Monument, site of three of the largest natural bridges in America, all in the same area. We visited the area over our spring break, early April 2017.

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

Delicate Arch at the rim of a red sandstone amphitheater, Arches National Park

The world-famous Delicate Arch, in Arches National Park, formed on the rim of a red sandstone amphitheater where swirling winds carried sand to scour the formation into existence. It was windy on the day we visited the feature, along with as many as one hundred other people. The other side of the arch is a small ledge and then a steep cliff. It's rather steep all around the bowl-shaped area, but we were able to position ourselves at the opposite side and get distant shots that the usual photographer might not.

The snow-capped La Sal Mountains are in the background to the right.

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

Chuck-walla you lookin' at?

A chuckwalla lizard checking out the people along the trail to the feature called the Fire Wave, at Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada. The Fire Wave was actually right behind me as I took this lizard's picture. There was a family up the slope looking down on it and they let us know about its presence. It seemed quite content to stay where it was and allow time for us to take plenty of pictures.  Chuckwalla lizards store fat on their sides so it makes them look "chubby". Other lizards, like the Gila monster, stores fat in its tail. Chuckwallas also can inflate their bodies with air to wedge themselves into a crack in the rock so that predators can't dislodge them.

The Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada, is also famous with Star Trek fans. It served as the setting for the planet Veridian III in "Star Trek Generations", the one in which Captain Kirk dies and Captain Picard buries him.

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

Coming at you! A California Condor in flight over the Colorado River

Coming at you!  A California Condor glided over us at Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River, south of Page, Arizona.  We learned on this trip to the Southwest during Spring Break 2017 that all condors, except one, are tagged.  You can see the tags on this condor on the front edge of each wing.  Also, on the left wing, on the right as you look at this photo, you can see the antenna of a transmitter. This condor was Number 53, which turned out to be a five-year-old female, according to The Peregrine Fund researcher that we ran into later in the trip.

Not that long ago, only 22 condors were left in the world, but thanks to captive breeding and reintroductions, there are now over 200 in the wild.

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

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.  This free-standing arch is perched on the edge of an amphitheater.  We hiked about a mile and a half on a mostly uphill trail to get to this view point.  The opening under the span of rock is 64 feet high and 45 feet wide.  This arch has had a number of names in the past including "Cowboy's Chaps," which it kind of resembles.  The snow-capped La Sal Mountains are visible to the left of the arch.

Much of this park consists of Entrada sandstone, which is a relatively pure sandstone that lends itself well to the formation of arches.  Over 2000 arches have been documented with Delicate Arch being the most famous.

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

Lehman Cave in Great Basin National Park, Nevada

During the 2017 Spring Break, we went to visit the Great Basin National Park in Nevada. It's not nearly as well known as many other parks, but it's the biggest National Park unit in Nevada. It used to be called Lehman Cave National Monument, but it was enlarged and made a National Park in 1986.

The Park Service offers cave tours to help show the features of the cave while also protecting them. The natural entrance is no longer used for entering and exiting the cave, instead, you enter and exit through separate tunnels that are sealed with doors at both ends. We tended to be the last ones to move along the tour since we took lots of photos.

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

Grand Canyon of Tuolumne, Yosemite, Sierra Nevada Backpacking 2009

The Robinson Twins just posted a video about Rick's third backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park. He went hoping to show others the string of waterfalls down the Tuolumne River in this canyon, but a forest fire prevented him from going far enough downstream to see all of them. So, of course, that means we have to go again. This video is only about 20 minutes long, so enjoy! Here's the link: https://youtu.be/QHhMT0NjV40

Here is a still photo Rick took of the Tuolumne Falls on the trip shown in the video.

Remember, it's no just a picture (video), it's a story!

Robinson Twins - American River Parkway

Our first recreational video, The American River Parkway, was video-recorded in 1999 and released in 2000. This part of Sacramento is our home turf, so to speak, so we wanted to make it first. We went to college by walking along the American River, we've biked the parkway's length several times, go jogging along it, and have paddled most of it. For the video, we also flew over it in a small airplane. We hope you enjoy the adventure that's within easy reach of hundreds of thousands of people in Sacramento County, California. Here's the link to our video: https://youtu.be/gmbOhAckfc8

The picture is from our airplane flight and shows Discovery Park and the confluence where the cleaner American River joins the muddier Sacramento River. The closer bridge is Jibboom Street while the larger bridge is Interstate-5. Old Sacramento State Historic Park is nearby to the right of this photo (not shown).

Remember, it's not just a picture (video), it's a story!

Teton Crest Adventure (The "Real" Teton Crest)

We've put our video of the backpacking trip we took to cover the Teton Range in 1999 online. There is a Teton Crest Trail mostly in Grand Teton National Park, but the National Forest on the western side of range also had a Teton Crest Trail, which actually covers a longer stretch of these mountains. We backpacked on the Forest Service's trail but discovered after completing our trip that the Forest Service trail is no longer maintained. We had to do some route finding at the north end, so we had a little bit of a challenge starting out. We backpacked from the Hominy Peak trailhead in the Jed Smith Wilderness, Targhee National Forest to the Rendezvous Mountain tram at Teton Village. The trip was in September so we hardly saw anyone else and the weather was clear until the last day. The high point of the trip was at Table Mountain, where we could look across Cascade Canyon at the Grand Teton peak, only about 2 miles away.

Here's the link to the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/k3Sj6CJY4_Y

Remember, it's not just a picture (video), it's a story!

Half Dome reflected in the Merced River in September

This picture of Half Dome was taken in September of 2012 after the summer heat subsides and the weather cools leading into autumn. It was actually taken after the autumnal equinox of September 22nd. This is a very popular spot for taking a picture of Half Dome such that it is reflected in the Merced River. You can park next to Cook Meadow, then walk over to the Sentinel Bridge that crosses the river in order to look eastward at Half Dome. We tend to avoid Yosemite during the summer because of the crowds, but in more recent years we've decided to go ahead and visit during the summer anyway.

Drive over the bridge in the evening and you might find it packed with photographers hoping to get the reddish glow of the setting sun reflected from the face of Half Dome. The best time to get pictures of Half Dome is in the afternoon and evening since the face is in shadow throughout the morning. The face has a slight northeast to southwest angle, so it isn't lighted by the sun until afternoon.

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

The Maze in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, east of San Diego, California

This feature is called "The Maze" and is within the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, east of San Diego. In some places, you have to turn sideways to get through. The last time I went through it, we encountered a couple of men racing up through the maze with their GPS units recording their hike. We had to pull over to one of the small pockets on the side to let them pass. We had parked near the upper end, where these hikers parked at the lower end and hiked up. We didn't make it all the way to the bottom since we had other places we wanted to see that day, so we turned around soon after encountering the other hikers.

This picture was taken at ISO 400, 18mm focal length, f3.5 and 1/60 second, vertically to emphasize how steep this feature really is.

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

Lexington Arch in the south end of Great Basin National Park in Nevada

Lexington Arch is a limestone arch in the southern part of Great Basin National Park in Nevada.  To get here you have to drive on dirt roads and then hike about a mile and a half on a rugged trail.  The fact that this arch is composed of limestone is very noteworthy, since most of the arches in the West occur in sandstone.  The fact that this rock span occurs in limestone may mean that it was once part of a cave that has eroded away.  Or it may be that the stream that carved Lexington Canyon carved this span when the canyon was much shallower, in which case this arch would actually be a natural bridge.

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

Rick in Yosemite above Tunnel View, selfie with shadow

Rick is in Yosemite working on getting a picture of the firefall on February 12, 2017. Along the way, we stopped at Badger Pass for some cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, then stopped at the parking area uphill of the Wawona Tunnel. From this area, Rick decided to try getting a selfie after looking at Yosemite Valley and Cascade Creek. After he took it, he discovered that he got his own shadow when taking this selfie. Make's for an interesting effect.

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

Horsetail Falls in Yosemite showing the firefall effect.

In Yosemite, a rare event called the "firefall effect" happens for about two weeks, one week on either side of February 18th, along the eastern ridge of El Capitan. The sun sets at such an angle that the cliff of this eastern ridge is lit up by the setting sun, which can glow red when the conditions are right. A seasonal waterfall named Horsetail Falls can catch this red light and take on a glowing appearance to the point where it can appear to be on fire or like a lava flow.

This image was taken on February 12, 2017, around 5:30 PM. The light from the setting sun turned a shade of pink but never turned fully red. Actually getting a deep red sunset works out better when there is more dust in the air. The whole state of California has had many storms this season and the air has been pretty well cleared of dust for now.

This picture is one that I took on February 16, 2007, ten years ago. This was my first attempt to capture this event after I had learned about it.

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

Bob at Moss Cave in Craters of the Moon next to the Bridge of Tears, almost 20 years apart

Bob having dinner at camp by Moss Cave, Craters of the Moon, late 1990's

Bob hiking next to Moss Cave in August 2016, Craters of the Moon

In the late '90's, we backpacked into the Craters of the Moon Wilderness to find the Bridge of Tears, Amphitheater Cave, and Moss Cave. Craters of the Moon is known to be a very windy place, so we set up our camp on top of a collapsed lava tube, which ends up being like a trough, for better wind protection. Rick took the above picture of Bob having dinner near our tent with Moss Cave's entrance behind the tent in that image.

In 2016, we went back to the Craters of the Moon Wilderness to pay another visit to the area and to see the cave we discovered. Because we were the first to describe the cave's location in writing, we got to name it. Since we, the Robinson Twins, discovered it and it had two openings, we called it Twin Cave. During this return trip, we went to the Bridge of Tears and Moss Cave where I had Bob pose in about the same spot where we had camped almost 20 years earlier, as you can see in the bottom photo.

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