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!