The Robinson Twins camped in Yosemite along the Glacier Point Road

 

We went to Yosemite to check out Rick's new 4-season tent. We skied along Glacier Point Road and set up near the Sentinel Dome parking area. According to the reviews, this tent can have excessive condensation and needs better ventilation. That matches our experience with it. We've since learned that this model has been re-designed to improve ventilation, so now we have to figure out to accomplish that with the old design. 

The camera was set up on a tripod and we used a timer to get this image the next morning of the trip.

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

Lower Calf Creek Falls by moonlight, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

Bob attended the Natural Arch and Bridge Society's 2022 Fall Arch Rally at Escalante, Utah.  After he finished a hike to see a couple of arches, he hurried to the Calf Creek area in the Grand Staircase-Escalanate National Monument to hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls.  He made it to the falls in the early evening and then stayed to take photographs of it by moonlight, since it was the night before the full moon.  This was his last shot before packing it in for the night.

The long exposure makes the waterfall look silky and the stars show up in the sky.  This last shot had a cloud show up above the gap that the waterfall flows through.

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

 

Rainbow Fall, Devils Postpile NM, taken at night

 

During a July visit to Devil's Postpile National Monument, Rick visited Rainbow Fall at night to see if he could get moonlit shots of the waterfall. Except for the top quarter, the rest of the fall was in moonshadow. The shadows of the trees along the left wall are from moonlight. You can see stars in the sky. Using a very bright flashlight, he lit the water during a long exposure and got this image.

18mm focal length, ISO 1600, f8, 30 seconds, Canon EOS 70D set on a tripod

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

Horizon Arch double arch, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Escalante, Utah

 On Day 4 of the 2022 Fall Arch Rally, Bob decided to go on the trip to visit Horizon Arch.  South of the town of Escalante out of the Coal Bed and Mitchell Canyons, this double arch sits on a ridgeline not surprisingly given its name.  This rock outcrop also had a number of smaller arches carved into it.  The arch has a span of about 15 feet and a height of 10 feet.

The hike here was only about 2 and a half miles, but gained something like 1000 feet through loose rock, boulders, and pinyon-juniper type forest, so it was strenuous.

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

Cosmic Ashtray, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

 On Day 3 of the 2022 Fall Arch Rally with the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, the leaders wound up cancelling the hike that Bob had signed up for to see arches due to a chance of afternoon thunderstorms and wound up suggesting doing the hike to see this feature known as the Cosmic Ashtray.  Also known as the Cosmic Navel, but also inappropriately as The Volcano, this is one of the largest potholes in the world.  Located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, this measures almost 200 feet wide with a 33 foot tall rock outcropping poking out of a continually shifting rust-colored sand dune.

Thanks to the leader bringing a rope and other climbing equipment, Bob was able to climb down into the pothole and did three laps around the perimeter before scaling the near wall back out.

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

Poor-Will resting on a granite boulder, Carson-Iceberg Wilderness

 

While backpacking in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, Rick went from his campsite to a stream to filter some water for the night and along the way saw this bird hanging out on a granite boulder. At first he saw the reddish eye-shine but didn't know what it was. When he brought his flashlight up in addition to the headlight, he saw that it was a bird of some kind. As he approached it, the bird didn't move. So Rick walked past it to get to the stream and filtered water. When he walked back toward his campsite, the bird hadn't moved, so he told it he'd come back with a camera. When he returned, it still hadn't moved so he was able to get this class image of a poor-will. Poor-will, related to the whip-poor-will, hunts at dawn and dusk catching flying insects. The whisker-like feathers on either side of its mouth allow it to tell when it's made contact with the insect so it can turn its head and snatch the prey item out of the air.

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

Metate Arch, Devils Garden Outstanding Natural Area, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

I, Bob, am attending the 2022 Fall Arch Rally by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society (NABS).  The second day trip was cancelled due to a forecast of afternoon thunderstorms.  The alternative was for our group to go to the Devils Garden Outstanding Natural Area instead, which was the object of the other trip scheduled for this day.  The Devils Garden consists of sandstone formations called hoodoos and are similar to the hoodoos that Bryce Canyon National Park is famous for.  The most impressive arch in the Devils Garden was this one called Metate Arch.   Its span is 16 feet with a height of 22 feet.

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

Broken Bow Arch, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

 I, Bob, am attending the 2022 Fall Arch Rally by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society (NABS) and hiked to this arch on the first day.  This is Broken Bow Arch in the Willow Gulch area of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.  It has a span of 94 feet and a height of 100 feet.  This was near where our group first came around a curve in the canyon and saw it for the first time.

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

Crowley Lake Columns east of the Sierra Nevada in California

 

These rock columns are along the eastern shore of Crowley Lake, east of the Sierra Nevada, in California. Geologists believe this feature is the result of a lava flow that had rain or snow fall on it while it was still liquid causing the rock to solidify in a somewhat regular pattern. You can see the tops of the columns standing above the ground level. The dark line on the columns indicates the water level of the lake earlier in the season during the spring runoff. The columns appear to be disk-shaped rocks stacked on top of each other and you can see all the disk-shaped rocks from eroded columns make up the shoreline. Getting here required driving a rough dirt road and hiking a steep slope for 200 yards. Others had to park farther away and walk a mile on the road to get here. You can also boat across the lake from the west side to the east side to get here. This is a panoramic shot taken with a Samsung A52 set at ISO set for Auto, f1.8, 24 mm equivalent focal length. Below is a shot with Rick between columns for size comparison. You can see the upper parts of these columns are still in rock matrix while the water from the lake has eroded away the matrix where he's standing.

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

Solitary Sandpiper wading in a wetland in Yellowstone National Park

 

When we went for a backpacking trip to Shoshone Lake, in Yellowstone National Park, we saw and managed to get a good photograph of this solitary sandpiper. The wetland was right along the trail so after we remained still long enough, the bird continued its normal activity. We especially wanted to get its reflection along with a clear image of the bird.

Canon PowerShot SX520 HS, ISO 100, 1/200 sec., f8, 215 mm focal length

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

Colorado Columbine in Granite Canyon, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

 This is a photo of a Colorado Columbine (Aquilegia coerulea) in bloom in Granite Canyon in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.  We were on a backpacking trip in the southern part of the park and we were in Granite Canyon on our first day.

Columbine flowers are very distinctive thanks to the spurs off of their petals.  These flowers are in the buttercup family.

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

Sunrise in Yosemite Valley, clouds catch the rays

 

From Yosemite's famous Valley View, Rick watched the horizon get brighter on the morning of June 12, 2022. At first, Rick thought the clouds would block the sun's light, making the sunrise darker than it might have been. But then as the reddish sunlight illuminated the undersides of the clouds, the sky took on a more dramatic look. Half Dome cuts into a red streak on the horizon.

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

California Bush Poppy at El Portal, outside of Yosemite National Park, May 29, 2021

 Bob caught this shot of a California Bush Poppy (Dendromecon rigida) in full bloom while visiting Yosemite National Park in May 2021.  This particular shrub was blooming in El Portal, outside of the Arch Rock Entrance to Yosemite.  The blooming season for this species is April to July.

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

Moonbow in upper Yosemite Falls, from the trail.

After hiking up the Yosemite Falls trail in the dark, we were able to find a dramatic viewpoint from which to get images of the moonbow at the base of upper Yosemite Falls. Part of the Middle Cascades shows through the moonbow. This entire scene is lit by moonlight and you can see stars in the sky. This excursion took us well into the early morning hours. This photo was taken at 12:15 am.  We took photos from this spot for 3-1/2hours total, before hiking back down to Camp 4. Thanks to Brian Hawkins for his moonbow predictions which we verified by being on the scene. The most was starting to form a second moonbow above the first.  It's much fainter, though.

The photo details are ISO 1600, f6.7, 20 sec exposure. vertical orientation.

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

 

Moonbow and Yosemite Falls from OMG Point, Yosemite National Park, California, May 13, 2022

 This is a nighttime 3-shot panorama of Yosemite Falls from top to bottom showing Upper Yosemite Falls, Middle Cascade, and Lower Yosemite Falls.  Bob took this from OMG Point, aka Oh My Gosh Rock, a short unpublicized spur trail off the Yosemite Falls Trail.

We were there to see the moonbow on the night of Friday, May 13, 2022.  The moonbow is visible at the base of Upper Yosemite and the top of Middle Cascade.  We arrived there at 10 PM and stayed until 2 AM.  The moon shadows of our tripods and cameras are in the lower left corner.

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

A Yellowstone elk female sticking out her tongue

 

A female elk feeds on clover and licks her lips because of how tasty it is. We saw elk along the road in Yellowstone and this female was right by the road. Clover is a special treat for many herbivores. Elk will migrate out of the park during the winter to seek fresh sources of food at lower elevations and milder temperatures.

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

American Dipper in the Yellowstone River

 

This American dipper, otherwise known as the water ouzel, was traipsing around in the Yellowstone River's Le Hardy Rapids. Dippers feed on the insects that live in rapids, so it can move through the water with little threat of being swept away. They actually walk on the bottom surface of the river and feed on insects that wash down the river or are attached to the rocks. There's a small parking area next to the Le Hardy Rapids and a trail with a deck for visitors to look out over the river. We caught sight of harlequin ducks and pulled off to take pictures of them and the dipper turned out to be a bonus.

Dippers don't get cold in the river water because the have the most wax in their feathers of any songbird. When they dip into the water, their feathers don't get wet at all.

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

A cluster of snow plants growing in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, June 2015

 Bob was returning from a trip to McCloud in northern California when he decided to drive home through Lassen Volcanic National Park.  This was in June, which is still kind of early in the season for wildflowers in this park.  During his drive, he saw this cluster of snow plants near the park road.

Snow plant is a parasitic plant, meaning that it grows off of nutrients that fungi attached to the roots of pine trees make available to it, rather than photosynthesizing.  This is why the plant has no green chlorophyll in it.

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

Side-blotched Lizard, male at KCL Campground, Carrizo Plain NM

During my recent visit to the Carrizo Plain National Monument, I camped at the KCL Campground, roughly in the middle of the area. The campground has a healthy population of this species, the side-blotched lizard. The males are more colorful than the females. This male was hiking under a shrub that had a big gap in the middle, so I had a clear view of him. There was also the opening to a burrow being used by a young antelope ground squirrel. As the lizard moved around, he had his tail hanging down across the opening and the squirrel came up and wondered what was going on.

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

Yellowstone cutthroat trout feeding at the surface of the Yellowstone River

 

The Yellowstone River is famous for its fishing. Yellowstone National Park has a native cutthroat trout that gets its name from the reddish color over the gills. At the north side of Yellowstone Lake, the river emerges and travels north, eventually reaching the Canyon area. Where the river emerges there is a bridge that allows travelers to reach Lake Village. That bridge, from which we captured this image, is appropriately named Fishing Bridge.

Canon EOS 70D, ISO 400, 1/500 sec. f8, 400mm

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

Snowy egret along the American River, Sacramento, California

 Rick got these images of snowy egrets, possibly the same one, but in different spots, while we were pedaling in Bob's new-to-him Hobie Mirage tandem kayak.

Snowy egrets are smaller than great egrets and have distinctive yellow feet.  Because they are wading birds, it's not always possible to see their feet.  Also has what can look like a little yellow mask over its eyes.

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

Yellow billed magpie, William B. Pond Recreation Area, Sacramento, California

 After getting shots of a sea lion in the American River, which we made into a video on our YouTube Channel, Bob continued on his  bike ride upriver and encountered a flock of yellow billed magpies at the William B. Pond Recreation Area in Sacramento, California.  This is a cropped shot of one of the magpies.

Yellow billed magpies are unique to California.  Its more widespread relative, the black billed magpie occurs throughout much of the Western United States, except the Central Valley of California.

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

Ol' Blue Eyes, Montery Coast, California (Brandt's cormorant)

 

On a SCUBA diving trip to the Monterey Coast, in California, we explored the shore for scenery and wildlife and managed to get pretty close to some Brandt's cormorants. These birds dive underwater and catch fish by extending their necks and catching their prey in a beak that has serrations that point toward the mouth so the fish can't escape. Their feathers are a shiny black and their eyes are blue as you can see in this photo. They can be seen with their wings spread out to dry in the sun.

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

Marbled Godwit and Sanderlings, Monterey, California

Bob was looking back through some of his old photo folders from our trips to the Monterey area and came across this photo of a marbled godwit and sanderlings foraging through the sand of San Carlos Beach at the Coast Guard Pier in Monterey, California.  Sanderlings are fun to watch running at the edge of the surf because of how fast their little legs have to go.

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

 

El Capitan and the Big Dipper, May 2018, Yosemite National Park, California

A shot of El Capitan with the Big Dipper in the night sky.  El Cap is lit up by a nearly full moon.  Bob and Rick were camped at Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley in May 2018 when they decided to take a drive around the Valley enjoying seeing the key landmarks lit up by the nearly full moon.

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