Great American Eclipse, Annular eclipse, October 15, 2023, from Crater Lake National Park

 Rick and Bob chose to go to different places to observe the annular solar eclipse. Bob went to southern Utah, to Natural Bridges National Monument. Rick went to Crater Lake National Park, in Oregon. The forecast in Oregon was for cloudy skies, so Rick went there with the possibility of not seeing the eclipse at all in his mind. He drove into the park around 6:30 a.m. and got to the rim of Crater Lake, where there were already huge crowds of people hoping to see the eclipse, too. The cloud cover had an interesting pattern, though, so he took some photos of the clouds over Crater Lake and the rising sun over the lake, as well. 

The time arrived for the eclipse to start, but the cloud cover hid the event from us. Rick got nice photos of the lake and sky, but no eclipse. Snow was on the ground from an early storm, but the park service had cleared the roads in time for the eclipse. Rick got in his truck to warm up and kept checking the time to monitor the progress of the eclipse. Then he saw a couple in the next car over get out, put on their eclipse glasses, and start pointing at the sky. That encouraged Rick to get out and have a look and there it was! Through breaks in the cloud cover, you could see the eclipse in progress. This photo was taken at the peak of annularity. The cloud cover ended up adding drama to the image.

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

Natural Bridge Falls and Boulder River panorama

Natural Bridge Falls is located in Montana as part of a National Forest Day Use Area. A natural bridge above the waterfall gave the area its name. The original bridge collapsed in 1988, but the stream flows through an underground passage that still qualifies as a natural bridge. It's just much less obvious.

This picture shows the Boulder River emerging from the passage below the brink of the falls and then continuing downstream in a wide meander. During high water, the river will flow over the falls and through the passage. 

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

Finger Arch, aka West Rim Arch, McInnis Canyons Recreation Area, Colorado

 One of the hikes Bob went on with the Natural Arch and Bridge Society's 2023 Fall Arch Rally was to the above arch named Finger Arch.  It is also known as West Rim Arch. The first photo was shot with a Canon EOS 6D Mark II, while the second photo was shot with a GoPro 8 Black with its wider angle view.

 Getting to and from Finger Arch was less than a three mile round trip hike that involved some bushwhacking and scrambling up and down steep slopes.  It is a mature, pothole type arch eroded into Entrada Sandstone and has a span of 50 feet and the opening is 30 feet wide.  It gets the name West Rim Arch, because it's one of several arches in Rattlesnake Canyon, but is on the western edge of the canyon while many of the other arches are on the east.

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