Robinson Twins Exploring Millerton Cave

In these two combined images, Rick and Bob are exploring Millerton Cave, located in eastern Fresno County, California. It's perhaps one of the best examples of a talus cave (also called corrasional cave) in the world. Rick is in the left image hoping to locate a small waterfall inside the cave. Bob is in the right image recording video of the inside of the cave while Rick provides the lighting. We've been to this cave several times but have yet to explore all of it. It's estimated to be 1/2 mile (.8 km) in length. It's located on public land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management called the San Joaquin River Gorge. It's also upstream of the Millerton Lake State Park. For those exploring it, there are some bolts already drilled into the granite at some of the natural entrances.

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!

Steamboat Geyser at night, Norris Geyer Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

This is a shot of Steamboat Geyser in the middle of the night.  Steamboat Geyser is the world's tallest active geyser and starting in the spring of 2018, it has entered a very active phase where the interval between eruptions is averaging about a week or so.

We went to Yellowstone at the end of July to early August 2019 to try to see a major eruption of Steamboat.  This photo was taken during the night of July 29th to July 30th while we waited overnight to make sure we didn't miss seeing it erupt.

Steamboat Geyser is in the Norris Geyser Basin in the northwestern central part of Yellowstone National Park.  This basin is considered to be the hottest and most acidic of Yellowstone's thermal basins.

While we waited overnight, Steamboat just steamed away and splashed water out once in a while, but didn't erupt that night.  However, our waiting did pay off after the sun rose, since it finally did erupt at 7:20 AM on July 30th. It continued erupting for much of the day, but we left after two hours and it was still going strong.

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

Roaring River Fall, in Kings Canyon NP, plus a huge boulder

In Kings Canyon National Park, there aren't as many waterfalls as in Yosemite Valley, but this one is in a special setting. Roaring River Fall gets its name because of how loud the water is as it drops down the canyon. The shape of the canyon at this point actually helps to amplify the sound. Also in this image is a huge erratic boulder that was left behind after the glaciers melted during the last ice age. You can get to this feature by parking along the main road and walking a short distance. During the spring, you'll be able to hear it. This image was taken in September after a very wet winter earlier in the year. So there was still a lot of water in the river. During the spring, though, the water can be as high as the whitish line of the rock face that you can see to the right of the waterfall.

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

Cave Falls in southwestern Yellowstone, long exposure.

We visited the southwestern corner of Yellowstone for the first time in early August 2019.  The highlight of the visit to this part of the park called the Bechler Region was Cave Falls.  It's also called the Cascade Corner because of the great number of cascades and waterfalls.  The river that forms these falls is the Falls River.  You can guess why.  This is the least developed part of Yellowstone and requires driving on dirt roads to reach.

Even though this waterfall is only thought to be 20 feet high, we've read that it's considered to be the widest of all the waterfalls in Yellowstone at 250 feet.

This photo was from the established overlook for visitors.  The "cave" that gave the falls its name was actually an alcove, the roof of which has collapsed.  The boulder field from that collapse is visible in the right middle of this image.  This boulder field is now marked as off-limits by the park in case additional rocks collapse onto the pile.

We visited the Bechler Region at the end of our trip to see the Steamboat Geyser erupt, so, after visiting Yellowstone for a few decades, we still got to experience things there that we had never experienced before.

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

Sunset in Yellowstone, lighting up Clepsydra Geyser

We arrived in Yellowstone on our 2019 trip around sunset. After setting up camp at the Madison Campground, we went to the Lower Geyser Basin, a.k.a. the Fountain Paint Pots, to look around before it got dark. We got to see Clepsydra Geyser in its nearly continuous state of eruption as the sun was turning red on the horizon. Clouds floating overhead helped reflect some of the sunlight back down. The way the western clouds were shaped made the fiery colors take on the shape of two prongs or maybe a duck. At least that's what it made me, Rick, think of. At this stop along the park road, this feature is the farthest out on the boardwalk.

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!

Island fox on Santa Cruz Island, in the campground, Channel Islands National Park

In the Channel Islands National Park, Santa Cruz Island has the resident island fox that was endangered. We camped in Scorpion Canyon at the eastern end of the island. Since they're protected, they have no fear of people. In fact, the rangers warn you when you get there that the foxes will steal your food if you're not careful. We arrived at campsite #1 on Scorpion Canyon and had a fox practically greeting us before we set our packs down at the table. Right after we turned our backs to look for a level place to put the tent, it leaped up onto the table and started sniffing our packs. Funny that we were hoping to see an island fox during this trip and they came to us. Over the course of the one-day visit, we saw three at one time working as a team.

The island fox in this picture was in a clear space under some bushes and must've felt pretty comfortable. I was standing on the trail taking pictures and recording video and it barely paid any attention to me. It was biting at its fur and scratching itself. The ranger told us that the total number on all the Channel Islands is now around 1600, up from about 60, and that this represents what is believed to be the historic numbers.

The image was taken at ISO 1600, f5.6, 105mm focal length, 1/80 sec. using a Canon 70D.

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

Half Dome and full moon at sunset, Yosemite National Park, California

A couple of photos of the nearly full moon rising above Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.  These shots are from the Ahwahnee Meadow and were taken in March 2010 with snow still covering the higher elevations.  The setting sun cast a bit of an alpenglow on the face of Half Dome in the second photo.

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

Sun and clouds over the Norris Geyer Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Clouds forming over the Norris Geyser Basin cast sun rays in a very interesting pattern.

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

Silver Strand Fall in Yosemite Valley's west end, above Tunnel View

One of the famous viewpoints in the world is the Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park. If you're at this view point earlier in the year, spring and early summer, you should also make a point of turning to your right (south) and looking for this waterfall, Silver Strand Fall. It drops about 574 feet (175 m), according to the wikipedia entry, though the topographic map shows it as 400 ft (123m). The creek flows under the road farther downhill and eventually joins the Merced River. Since it's fed by melting snow, it's usually gone by midsummer, but this year, 2019, was an especially wet year in California, so it was still flowing well in mid-June, when this picture was taken.

It's easy for people to get caught up in looking at the Valley, but with a little extra looking around, you can find this gem.

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