Half Dome approach from the east

Here's Bob posing at the western end of the Sub Dome before we start on our way up to the top of Half Dome. You can see the famous cables going up the eastern side of Half Dome that give people a secure way to make it to the top. From this side of Half Dome, you can clearly see the way that granite erodes. The process is called exfoliation, which means that granite slabs flake off and eventually fall down the cliff.

Bob and I backpacked into the Little Yosemite Valley the day before, then finished the trip to the top on this day. Before hiking to the top of Half Dome, you have to climb to the top of the Sub Dome, which is very steep and a little scary. Then you drop down a little bit to a notch between the two domes. That's the spot behind Bob, where a couple of people are walking. Farther along, you reach the base of the cables. Sometimes, the Park Service leaves a basket full of gloves for hikers to use if they didn't bring their own. You can see people about half way up to the top, using the cables to make the ascent.

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

Side blotched lizard, along the trail on Santa Cruz Island

We were hiking from the Scorpion Canyon campground to Cavern Point and saw several of the side blotched lizards along the trail. This one was surprisingly cooperative. It allowed me to crouch down for a better look without running away. Males of the side blotched lizards can have orange, yellow, or blue throats, while the females can have orange or yellow. The orange-throated males are very territorial while the blue-throated ones don't maintain a territory and will sneak into the territories of others.

The image was taken with ISO 100, 1/180 sec, f13, and 105 mm focal length with  a Canon 70D.

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

Little Gibbon Falls, in Yellowstone NP, along the Gibbon River

We were hiking out from Wolf Lake in Yellowstone and saw a sign for a side trail to Little Gibbon Falls, along the Gibbon River. We figured it would be worth the time to go take a look and we weren't disappointed. This image is the view from the trail, which has a steep dropoff in this area. The water falls over rocks that have a stair-step pattern, which matches the sedimentary rock layers in the cliff face next to them.

We spent quite a bit of time here and were joined by dayhikers. We discovered from the map, that this waterfall is only about two miles from the road. But we were approaching it from the wilderness area, having backpacked in to Wolf Lake the night before. We also realized that we could've hike in to Wolf Lake from the main road on this trail and would've had less distance to cover. Backpacking in from the Ice Lake trailhead was a little bit longer. Something to keep in mind for next time!

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

Sugar Pine Trail, Rails to Trails, Fresno Clovis

The Sugar Pine Trail in Fresno and Clovis is an example of a rail to trail project. I use it regularly for jogging and biking. So, I've made a video describing it and it's on our YouTube channel. It actually has the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trees planted, 4400, by 3000 volunteers.

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 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!

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!

"America's Next Top Lizard", a sagebrush lizard at Dante's View, Death Valley National Park

While in Death Valley during this year's "superbloom", we went to Dante's View to look down on Death Valley from a high vantage point and managed to find a photogenic lizard. This little guy stayed on the top of this rock for over half an hour. We got closer and closer to it to get pictures and it didn't seem to mind at all. Eventually, we even put on close up lenses and got pictures of its face. The lenses came to within an inch of its face, but it still didn't move. Rick started calling it "America's Next Top Lizard", because it turned out to be such a good model for us. We pointed it out to people passing by and they were able to get their smartphones close to it for close up images, too. It finally left after we saw an insect land on the rock below it and the lizard dropped down quickly to snatch the bug in its mouth, then it scampered off to the ground and continued on its way. We wished we had a camcorder running to catch that action, but we missed it. This was the same cluster of rocks where we saw the chuckwalla shown in our earlier post.

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

Indian Rock Arch, Yosemite's only granite arch, viewed from the south looking north

This photo shows Yosemite National Park's only granite arch, called Indian Rock. It's not identfied on maps or even by the signs along the trail, that this feature is an arch. It forms through the process that erodes granite features generally, exfoliation. Sheets or plates of granite peel off through the the freeze and thaw process. Arches are rarely made of granite because the exfoliation process would have to leave the arch behind as other parts of the rock peel away. Reaching Indian Rock involves hiking three miles from the Tioga Pass Road starting at Porcupine Flat. This view of the arch is from the trail to its south looking northward during the morning. We've posted another picture of this arch in our gallery looking at it from the north looking south, with Half Dome appearing underneath the arch. We've camped near and hiked to this arch more than 5 times. This photo is 2 photos that have been merged to a proportion of 2x1.

There is another granite arch in the Sierra south of Yosemite along a route known as the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway.

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

This picture shows Bob sitting by the arch on the north side.

Marmot from Grand Teton mountain range, Yellow-bellied Marmot (ground hog of the mountains)

The Yellow-bellied Marmot lives at higher elevations in the Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and other mountain ranges. It's a large rodent related to the ground hog that lives in burrows among boulder fields. We saw this one during a backpacking trip along the Teton Crest Trail on the Death Canyon Shelf after crossing over the Fox Creek Pass. It didn't seem to mind our presence at all and we were able to get this shot from a distance that didn't cause it any concern about our intentions. There had been thunderstorm activity on this day and it seemed the marmot was trying to warm up on the rock.

The Teton Range in particular has a high incidence of melanism among the yellow-bellied marmot population. Melanism is a condition where the animal's skin and fur has a lot of pigment and appears all black. It's the opposite of albanism, in which an animal has no pigment and appears all white. We did see a melanistic yellow-bellied marmot on this day. It's shown below for comparison. On previous trips, we've seen a regular colored yellow-bellied marmot and a melanistic one playing with each other near their burrow entrance.

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

Yosemite Falls by moonlight, reflected in Cook Meadow's pool, with the Big Dipper above

This image was taken in June 2011,  when there was still a large pool in Cook Meadow. We tried to get pictures of the moonbow in Yosemite Falls, the lower end, then moved back farther, to the Sentinel parking area, to see if the upper falls showed a moonbow, as well. After getting out of the car, Rick noticed that Yosemite Falls was being reflected in the pool. After spending some more time examining the scene, he noticed that the Big Dipper was just above the falls, as well. This image is the result of 3 images being merged seamlessly together, was lit by moonlight and each image was taken for 30 seconds. You can see the reflection and a little of the bottom of the pool at the same time. It has been cropped to an 11x17 ratio.

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

Vernal Falls in Yosemite with a double rainbow

Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park with a double rainbow in the mist.  This was in early June with California in its fourth year of drought, but fortunately there was enough water flow to create the mist that causes the rainbows to appear.  This view is from the aptly-named Mist Trail. While I positioned myself to get the photos of the double rainbow, Rick stepped farther back on the trail and got a photo with the rainbow beside me.

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

Upper Graveyard Lake reflection, High Sierra, John Muir Wilderness

This photo shows the upper Graveyard Lake with the surrounding ridge reflected in its still water. Rick explored this area during a backpacking trip to the John Muir Wilderness in California's High Sierra mountain range. He camped at the lower Graveyard Lake the first night and hiked to this lake the next day. The wind was surprisingly calm in the late morning when this image was taken. The area gets the name of Graveyard Lakes and Graveyard Meadow farther down-slope because all the granite boulders that were left behind when the glaciers retreated after the last Ice Age, that the area seems to be filled with "tombstones".

Rick took this image as a vertical in an attempt to get the top of the ridge and its reflection in the water.

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

Nearly full moon rising next to Half Dome, viewed from North Dome, July 11, 2014

After hiking about 4 and a half miles from Porcupine Flat to North Dome, I waited for the sun to set and the moon to rise. July 11th was the day before the full moon, so the scenery would still be lit by the sun, or at least still be bright, as the moon was rising. I had to reposition myself around North Dome until I saw the moon lined up the way I wanted it. I hoped to see the moon between Half Dome and the smaller high point to its left, called Sub Dome. Fortunately, that worked out. Then I hiked back out from 9PM to 11PM.

Getting the exposure on the moon and the landscape in the same image is very difficult. The moon at this phase is very bright, so a setting that properly exposes the landscape results in a washed-out moon. Properly exposing the moon results in a dark landscape with no detail. To solve this problem, you can take two images, one exposed for the landscape and the other exposed for the moon, then combine the moon from the one image into the washed-out moon in the other.

While atop North Dome, I decided to take a selfie with my smart phone as proof that I was there.

Richard Robinson standing on the highest point of North Dome with Half Dome over his shoulder.

The picture shown below is the bench mark for the highest point of North Dome, at 7531 feet elevation. On topographic maps, you'll see these labeled as BM and a plus sign or crosshair on the map, so that when you see this marker on the land and find that mark on the map, you know exactly where you are.

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

Yosemite's "Gateway" from the west to east from Tunnel View area

Yosemite Valley's "Gateway" is the Cathedral Rocks to the south and El Capitan to the north. This view was taken from the Tunnel View looking eastward from above the valley floor. Below the Cathedral Rocks is Bridalveil Falls. Beyond them is Sentinel Dome, in this photo it is covered in snow and showing above the lowest of the Cathedral Rocks. Beyond Sentinel Dome, is Half Dome, Yosemite's most famous land mark. Then, beyond Half Dome, in the center of the photo, is Clouds Rest. It's covered in snow and has a long north-facing slope. Clouds Rest is actually 1000 feet higher in elevation than Half Dome.

We drove to Yosemite from Fresno, California and parked at the popular Tunnel View turnout. However, Rick knows some locations around there that the typical tourist doesn't go to, allowing for a view that's not so common. This image is the combination of 4 images combined in the computer to get much more resolution, as well. The day was sunny despite being in February.

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

Bryce Canyon in early Spring

Bryce Canyon, in southern Utah, is famous for having red rock features called hoodoos, pillars of rock sculpted by erosion. This image was the result of two images being merged and cropped at an 11x17 ratio. Rick was here in late March, so there was still quite a bit of snow around. During the summer, visitors have to take a shuttle bus to get to the various viewpoints, because of how crowded it can be on the road. There is only one road out and back in Bryce Canyon National Park. Trails lead from the rim down into the basins. The Kaibab Plateau makes the tree-covered, and snow-covered, horizon.

Bryce Canyon might not technically be a canyon, since that would require a stream flowing through it. It might be more accurate to refer to these features as ampitheaters, since they are more of a bowl shape. The many layers of sedimentary rock also show the much grander feature referred to as The Grand Staicase. Rocks in different layers with differing colors distinguish one step from another as erosion by water and wind reveals them over long periods of time.

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

Subway Cave: a lavatube cave near Lassen Volcanic National Park

Subway Cave is a lava tube cave near Lassen Volcanic National Park, in the Lassen National Forest. Lava tubes form when lava flowing out of a volcanic eruption cools and forms an upper crust, but lava underneath is still warm and fluid and eventually drains out, forming a tube. When parts of the roof collapse, entrances are created. Subway Cave has two roof collapses about .3 miles apart, which allows visitors to take a short hike from one to the other. The visitor can then return to the start through the cave or take a surface trail back.

Northeastern California has at least 300 such caves, but few are as high or as easily accessible as this one, being right off a main road. The cave entrances have cement stairs for easy access. The actual lava tube continues further along than where the stairways are located, but these parts of the cave may be considered less stable and therefore more hazardous. We've hiked into the extended parts of the cave to explore it more and found that the tunnel split. Very fascinating, these features, especially when you try to imagine what the flow of hot lava would look like when the tube was forming.

Anyone wishing a print of this photo will need to keep its dimensions in mind when ordering.  The dimensions that our online photo processing offers that applies to this image is 2x1 (or 8.5x17 legal size paper).

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

Yosemite Falls, upper and lower, with a lunar rainbow, or moonbow, with stars.

The mist from Yosemite Falls can turn moonlight into a moonbow, or lunar rainbow, around the time of the full moon. It also depends on how much precipitation the area had during the winter and sping, since the misting water droplets coming off the falls is what separates the white light into the spectrum of colors. The moon-caused bow is dim enough that human eyes can't distinguish the colors. We have rods and cones in our eyes, cells that respond to light. The rods respond to brightness and don't detect color, but the cones do respond to color, but only if their light has enough intensity. Moonlight isn't usually intense enough to trigger the cones. When looking at this moonbow, we only saw an arc of ghostly white light, but the camera's time exposure, 30 seconds, does pick up the colors that our eyes can't see.

This perspective also includes the upper falls and stars so that it's easier to tell that it was taken at night. To get here, you have to be willing to do a little scrambling off of the paved path over granite that is sometimes slick, right up to the base of the cliffs, but it's well worth it. You also should bring along a dry cloth to wipe the droplets off of your lens, since it will get wet. Wearing rain gear to keep yourself dry and protected from the wind is a good idea, too. Waterfalls create their wind. The falling water drags air down with it. 

This image was two shots, lower and upper, then merged together to create one larger image. The two were taken on June 2, 2012. We tried again this year, 2013, but last year's results were better.

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

Multnomah Falls, Oregon's tallest waterfall.

Multnomah Falls is the highest waterfall in the state of Oregon. For the traveler, it is very convenient to see it since it's right next to a major road. You don't even have to get out of your car to see it, but, of course, you'll want to get closer. The bridge that crosses the creek was built in 1914. There's a trail to the top of the falls that Rick hiked and got the view from the brink looking down at the people on the bridge, the Multnomah Falls Lodge and the parking area where his car was parked. This part of the Columbia River Gorge has many other waterfalls along the road and even farther upstream from those, if you're willing to do some hiking.

Because the falls are on a north-facing cliff, it is always in shade. That creates a bit of a challenge for photographers to get the right degree of contrast and exposure to bring out the details. Northern Oregon and southern Washington often have cloudy weather as well, adding a little more to the degree of difficulty. This image is the composite of three images that were merged together to capture more of the detail of the scene. The camera Rick had in 2006 was a 6 megapixel Konica Minolta camera, so the three images minus the overlap from the merge process gets to about 14 megapixels. The merging process allows a photographer to make images that are much greater in image detail than a single image.

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