Death Valley National Park's Telescope Peak is reflected in the temporary Lake Manley

 

California's Death Valley is America's lowest, driest, and hottest place. But this past winter season had unusually high amounts of precipitation. This caused the lowest point in Death Valley, Badwater Basin, to fill with water and form a temporary lake. Geologists know that this basin used to have a lake around the time of the last ice age and is called Lake Manley. So, this temporary lake is given that name, as well. 

This picture shows the lowest and highest points in Death Valley National Park, the lowest being Badwater Basin (with Lake Manley in it) and Telescope Peak (left of center). The lake beautifully reflects the ridge which culminates in Telescope Peak. The lake also shows salt crystals floating in it because it is totally saturated with salt and can't hold anymore. 

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!

Water ouzel (dipper) in Silver Creek, Alpine County, California

 

Over the Labor Day weekend, we went to Alpine County, California, an area where Rick worked in the Toiyabe National Forest on the trail crew. There was a fire south of us in Slinkard Valley, so we couldn't stay overnight, but we did get a chance to look at the east fork Carson River where Silver Creek joins it. We found this water ouzel (dipper) bird that lives along river rapids and eats insects that live in the rapids. I happened to catch this image of the bird with an insect in its mouth. This species of bird walks around in the rapids with no apparent concern for its safety. It can even dip underwater when looking for its food and walk on the river bottom. We've even seen these birds dipping into the Merced River in Yosemite, during the winter. It doesn't get cold because it has so much oil in its feathers, it doesn't get wet. 

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

Yosemite Falls with a moonbow in the lower fall, Yosemite Nat'l Park

This image of Yosemite Falls, with the upper and lower fall visible, is lit up by moonlight. You can see stars in the sky above the falls. The rainbow in the mist of the lower falls is caused by moonlight, not sunlight. When we viewed this scene with our own eyes, we couldn't see the colors, but the camera picks them through a long exposure of 30 seconds, ISO 800. We were just at the falls getting moonbow pictures in the lower fall, but as we were leaving, we decided to look back at the whole waterfall and see if the moonbow was visible from this other perspective.

This natural event can happen 2-3 days around the full moon in the spring and early summer in Yosemite Valley, especially when there's enough water flow.

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

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!

Climbing a Simple Route in Yosemite, plus bobcats

This photo was taken at the end of a climbing session in Yosemite. We were climbing this simple route up to the tree at the top of the picture. We took turns belaying each other. Rick took a photo of Bob from the top of the route. Lots of beginner climbing classes come to this area to get people started. This is also along the trail between Camp 4 and Yosemite Falls.

While here we also had a family of bobcats walk past us. It consisted of a mother and 2 kittens. One of the kittens was lingering behind, so we didn't get a very good picture with all three together.

 

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

Upper Yosemite Falls from the trail

In Yosemite National Park, you can see the tallest waterfall in America. Yosemite Falls, has an upper section, a middle cascading section, then a lower fall. There's a trail that leads to the top of the falls so you can look down on the entire falls behind a guard rail. This image was taken from along that trail showing just the upper falls. We've been to the top of the falls and have posted a video about that day trip to our YouTube channel, Robinson Twins Natural Adventures.

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

Mount Rainier Enshrouded in Clouds

This is Mount Rainier showing the effect of high mountains creating their own weather. We saw a long line of people heading to the top of the mountain despite the clouds. Without the clouds, though, this would've been a completely sunny day. Mount Rainier is a volcano and the highest mountain in Washington state. It is considered a premier destination for mountaineers all around the world.

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

Grizzly Creek in Kings Canyon, 3 merged images

On the way to Kings Canyon National Park through the National Forest part of the Kings Canyon, we stopped off Highway 180 to look at Grizzly Creek Falls. You can hear it and see parts of it from the road, but the closer look is clearly better. From the trail I took, I had to cross the creek to get this full top-to-bottom view of the fall. It's on the north side of the Kings River and has a small parking area travelers can use to park their cars clear of the main road. It's only about another mile (1.6 km) to the boundary of Kings Canyon NP approaching the Cedar Grove area.

This image is the result of merging 3 separate images together. I took photos of the upper, middle, and lower part of the fall in order to get more detail and because I couldn't the entire waterfall in one shot since I was so close.

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

Half Dome with a cloudy scarf

Got this image on a winter trip last February to Yosemite Valley. The clouds formed small puffs of cotton around Half Dome and slowly drifted around it. This cloud moved into just the right spot as the sun was getting lower in the sky, that its shadow went all the way across the face of Half Dome. Another nice feature was the snow on top of Half Dome and on the ridge west of Half Dome, too.

The ISO was set for 100, shutter speed at 1/250 sec, and the f/stop was 5.6. This was taken right about 5 PM so it was getting close to sunset for the third week in February. Taken from the Sentinel Bridge in Yosemite Valley.

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

Half Dome with a cloud on a bright sunny day

Half Dome is Yosemite's most iconic feature. It has many moods depending on the lighting, the presence of clouds, the season, and the angle from which you view it. This photo was taken from Sentinel Bridge, a popular spot from which to photograph Half Dome. The bridge connects the Southside Drive to the Northside Drive over the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. The face of Half Dome is in shadow in the mornings and isn't lit up by the sun until the afternoon.

Normally, we avoid visiting Yosemite in the summer because of how crowded it can be, but from time to time, we do make a summer time visit. This image was taken in early June, 2010. Rick lives close enough to Yosemite that he can make a day trip to visit the park. This was early enough in the season that there was still some snow on Half Dome. This was before the big five-year drought that California experienced. the dark trees in the image provide a nice framing effect and the cloud capping off Half Dome adds interest.

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

Mount Spencer lit by the sun through a break in the clouds, Kings Canyon NP

In early July, 2018, we backpacked in to Evolution Valley in Kings Canyon National Park. From there, we day-hiked to Evolution Lake and had lunch before heading back to our campsite. While at the lake, we were rained on for a while, but also saw breaks in the clouds. When we looked up from eating lunch, we saw the sun light break through the clouds and light up the mountain to the south of Evolution Lake, Mount Spencer. We also noticed the clouds curling over the top of the mountain. After taking a few shots, the rain came down more heavily and we headed back to camp.

This section of the trail through northern Kings Canyon National Park has both the Pacific Crest Trail and the John Muir Trail combined.

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

Yellow-bellied marmot on the move, Kings Canyon

The yellow-bellied marmot is also called the rock chuck, closely related to the wood chuck. We encountered this one at our campsite in Evolution Valley in the northern region of Kings Canyon National Park. It was the morning after a rainy evening and we were setting our gear out to dry in the morning sun. This marmot came along, seemed to have something to eat while hiding in a crevice, then came out to search around the area for more food. It didn't seem to mind our presence that much, so we had a chance to take 20 - 30 images.

I used my camera that has a 50x zoom lens so we didn't have to be that close. We didn't want to disturb him and for him to show natural behaviors. I got lucky in taking this image while he had his rear right foot off the ground while he was on the move. He hung around camp for about 20 minutes or so.

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

The Best View of Chilnualna Falls Ever, in Yosemite

For a while, we became obsessed with getting the best possible picture of Chilnualna Falls, in the southern part of Yosemite National Park. Everyone who hikes from the Wawona area to Chilnualna Falls, sees these falls from the north looking south. In fact, the trail is always north of the creek. We found a much better view by crossing Chilnualna Creek and positioning ourselves where we could see the falls from the south looking north, plus being there at the time of day when the sun's light reaches all the way to the bottom of the falls. Searching for the best possible view also invloved us climbing a rope up to a tree branch along the trail and also rappelling down the cliff face to the area at the right in this photo where the dried plants are located. That position got us too close to the falls to get it all in a single shot, so we figured on backing up further in order to take it all in. So that's what we did and how we got this image.

The falls can't be seen from the Wawona area because there's a big granite wall in front of it. After getting this shot, we also managed to get to the top of that wall and look at the falls straight on.

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

Granite arch in Yosemite, along Chilnualna Creek, Wawona area

During a backpacking trip in Yosemite during the second week of June, 2018, we were headed out on the last day along Chilnualna Creek and visited this natural arch. We had already found it years ago during a trip to this area. We think it was formed from a pothole in the granite that eroded downward until it broke through the bottom of a ledge. By estimating the size with Bob's tripod, we determined that the opening was about 1.5 meters or about 4 feet across. That puts it in the "minor" arch category, but still, an arch made of granite is a rare thing. We first approached the arch from the side of the creek where the trail runs along, but we took these pictures after crossing the creek upstream from this spot and positioning ourselves to see the maximum opening possible.

This was the third day of a loop backpacking trip we took along the Alder Creek trail and looping clockwise to come out by the Chilnualna Falls and cascades, which are dramatic in their own right. We really took our time in this area, almost 4 hours, before heading down the trail which loses about 2000 feet (610 meters) in elevation to the trailhead where we parked the car.

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!

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!

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!

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!

Bridalveil Falls along Highway 50, between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe

Bridal Veil Falls along Highway 50 east of Pollock Pines in January 2017.  This was after a series of storms had come through and helped bust California's drought.  This waterfall is readily accessible having its own turnout right off the highway.  This waterfall is formed where Esmeralda Creek falls 80 feet and then passes under the highway.

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