Grand Prismatic Spring from the new overlook in Yellowstone National Park

This is a view from the new Grand Prismatic Spring overlook that Yellowstone National Park opened just this year, 2017.  A number of visitors had hiked off-trail to get this view overlooking the spring before the Park Service decided to make the overlook view official with this new spur trail off the Fairy Falls Trail.

This overlook allows visitors to get a much better view of the different colors of the Grand Prismatic, the world's third largest hot spring, than they can get from the boardwalk that runs along the far edge of the spring in the picture.  The spring is 370 feet in diameter and 160 feet deep and discharges 560 gallons of 160 degree water every minute.  The colors in the spring are from thermophilic (heat-loving) microbes that appear blue, green, yellow, and orange depending on the temperature of the water at that point.

The rising steam behind the Grand Prismatic is from the Excelsior Geyser Crater.  This thermal area is known as the Midway Geyser Basin.

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

Gibbon Falls in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

This is Gibbon Falls in Yellowstone National Park between the Norris and Mammoth areas in the northwestern quadrant of the park.  The falls are about 84 feet high and are about 4.7 miles upstream of the Gibbon River's junction with the Firehole River after which this watercourse is known as the Madison River.  The park provides a large parking and overlook area for visitors to enjoy views of this feature.

This photo was taken with an eclipse filter on the lens which enabled Bob to shoot a long 15 second exposure which gave the waterfall its silky appearance.

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

Great American Solar Eclipse from central Oregon

The solar eclipse during totality, with a couple of small stars shining below and to the left of the sun. Outside the frame of this picture, Venus and Saturn were also visible. Rick viewed the eclipse from central Oregon from Beech Creek Summit, near John Day, Oregon. The summit is actually north of the small town of Mount Vernon, Oregon, along Highway 395, but John Day was the biggest town in the area and it's where he camped. His fellow eclipse viewers at the summit were from parts of America, like California and Washington state, plus Germany, and Ireland. The diamond ring effect that you see just before totality starts and just as it is ending can't be compared in a photograph to the actual experience of seeing it. The best I can say is that when you see it in person, the little diamond sparkle is still bright enough to blind you. The corona itself is very bright and seems to display threads of light that don't show in typical photographs that well, but it also makes witnessing the eclipse in person a more dramatic experience than viewing a photo of it.

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

It was totality worth it! A vertical photo of the solar eclipse over the Tetons.

Here's another shot of the eclipsed sun over the Teton peaks as seen from Table Mountain.  Bob backpacked to the top of Table Mountain in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness Area in order to see the solar eclipse from the classic view of Le Trois Tetons made famous by William Henry Jackson.  He was a photographer on the earliest survey expeditions of the Yellowstone and Teton areas and took some of the first photographs of the Tetons from Table Mountain.

The black dot in the sky is the moon eclipsing the sun.  The horizon in all directions looked like the sun was setting, even though the sun was high in the sky.

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

Sheep Rock at the John Day Fossil Beds in Oregon

While visiting Oregon to get in position for the Great American Eclipse, we visited the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, which consists of three units. One of those units is named after this feature, Sheep Rock. The line of totality included this area, with the center line not far north from here. We went through the visitor center looking at many paleontological displays that prove the scientific value of this area and why the National Monument designation was well-deserved. The other two units are the Painted Hills and Clarno. The river is named for John Day, but he didn't discover the fossils, nor did he even explore this far upriver. The person considered responsible for establishing the scientific value of this area was Thomas Condon. The visitor center in the Sheep Rock unit is named after him.

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

It was totality worth it! The total solar eclipse over the Tetons August 21, 2017

This is a still from the video I, Bob shot of the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 with my GoPro Hero 4 Black.  I've posted that video on our YouTube Channel.

I backpacked in to the Jedediah Smith Wilderness Area on the west slope of the Tetons to the top of Table Mountain to observe and record the total solar eclipse with the classic Le Trois Tetons view for the landscape.  The small black dot surrounded by white in the upper middle of the frame is the moon eclipsing the sun.  The three main peaks on the horizon are the Grand, Middle, and South Tetons.

This was a totality awesome experience.  I could see the moon's shadow completely blacken Teton Valley and Driggs, Idaho to the west as it raced toward me and then the sun became totally eclipsed.  The partial eclipse didn't seem to be that much different from a regular sunny day, but totality was an eerily freakish experience.  The sun's corona lit the earth around me with a kind of light I had never seen before.  Also, the horizon in all directions looked like sunset even though most horizons never get a setting sun, plus the sun was still high in the sky.

It was totality worth it!

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!

The Fire Wave in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Another look at the feature called The Fire Wave in the Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada.  You can reach it by a short hike from a well-marked trailhead. The rangers referred to it as their version of "The Wave." The hike was only about a mile and it was during spring break, so there were lots of hikers on the trail.  We had to wait our turn to get pictures of the "wave" without any other people in the picture. The outcrops in Valley of Fire consist of a mix of bright red Aztec sandstone and gray and tan limestone.

The Valley of Fire State Park is significant for all the Star Trek fans out there. This was the location where "Star Trek Generations" was filmed. This is the movie where Captain Kirk and Captain Picard meet and have to work together to defeat an evil scientist. At the end, Kirk dies and Picard ends up burying him.

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

Hidden Arch, aka Goulding Arch, the arch in Monument Valley near the campground

We traveled through southern Utah and northern Arizona in April 2017. We lucked into a campsite in Monument Valley and the lady doing the check in for us mentioned a hidden arch. After we asked for more information about it, she told us that it's actually called Hidden Arch and is a short hike from the campground, but can't be seen from the campground. So the next morning we went to see and photograph it.

We hiked through the arch from the campground side and are looking back in the direction of the campground for this image. This image was made from three separate images and combined in the computer to create a more detailed final image. These images were taken with a Sony camcorder that can also be used to take 20 megapixel still images. The final result is about 46 megapixels. Taken at 1/60 sec, f/4, 6.2 mm, ISO unknown.

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

The Windows, Arches National Park features

These two arches in Arches National Park, are combined as one feature called The Windows. They can be seen from a long way off, but you can also park and walk under them. You can see a small group under the left arch. Both arches are rounded and look like eyes. From this perspective, though, the left "eye" has a rock feature beyond it that fills in its left side. From further back and to the left, there is a spot where you can see both eyes clear and filled with sky. In some places, you can see signs of boulders having fallen from the underside of the arch. Makes you wonder about your safety sometimes!

Another thing this feature looks like is a sea turtle.  The arcs of rock enclosing the Windows can be thought of as flippers while the rock mound between them looks like the head.

ISO 100, f6.7, 1/180 sec were the settings.

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

Utah's Geological Mexican Hat

In southern Utah is a little town called Mexican Hat. We always thought the name just referred to the sombrero, but then we discovered that there's a geological feature that reminds you of the hat. So here's a picture of the actual Mexican Hat that inspired the town's name.

We had driven through southern Utah and seen the Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monument before heading south into Arizona by going over the wildly crazy road called the Moki Dugway. The town of Mexican Hat is not far south of this winding section of dirt road that can tap into your fear of heights while you're driving it. The Mexican Hat geologic feature can be seen from the main road and only requires a short drive on dirt road to get close enough to it to get pictures. The photo looks especially red because we were passing by this feature as the sun was setting.

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

Valley of Fire, Nevada, has its own "wave"

This feature in the Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada, is along a short hike from the road. The rangers referred to it as their version of "the wave". Instead of being in a slot canyon, though, this feature is right out in the open, down a slope. The hike was only about a mile and there were lots of people there, we had to wait our turn to get pictures of the "wave" without any other people in the picture. We also got pictures of a chuckwalla lizard near here. The road is off to the right out of view. Other people continued beyond the "wave" and looked at other features. It appears to be sedimentary rock that has been eroded by the wind as it swirls around.

The Valley of Fire State Park is significant for all the Star Trek fans out there. This was the location where "Star Trek Generations" was filmed. This is the movie where Captain Kirk and Captain Picard meet and have to work together to defeat an evil scientist. At the end, Kirk dies and Picard ends up burying him.

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!