Tag Archives: hiking

Flowers and Foliage

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A Small Collection of Nature’s Color

When I’m walking with my camera, I can’t help but stop, admire and photograph the flowers along the way. These walks might be close to home along the neighboring streets, strolling in one of the nearby gardens or hiking through some of our country’s amazing national parks. There are flowers everywhere.

And while an admirer of flowers is called an anthophile, I’m definitely not an expert. In fact, I know the names of only a few.

Anyway, let me just present my photo collection of flowers and foliage

Staying Safe

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As this year draws to a close, I’m looking back at those things we did during the Covid pandemic to keep ourselves entertained and yet stay safe.

Thanks to the widespread availability of the remarkable vaccines, often using face masks, adhering to social distancing and staying outdoors in the fresh air we were able to enjoy many of our favorite activities.
During the cold winter, we built an ice rink the the backyard to enjoy the crisp outdoors.


We used igloos at several restaurants to keep our distance from others. And skiing was another way to enjoy the winter.


When the warmer weather arrived the pool became the center of our attention.

One way to practice social distancing was to step into pristine Lake McDonald in Glacier NP.


A long telephoto lens let us drop into the Delicate Arch in Arches NP.


Hiking Fairy Falls Trail let us avoid the crowds at Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone NP

I think most of us are hoping that 2022 lets us enjoy even more of those activities that we miss from the pre-Covid days.

We wish all of you a very Happy and Safe New Year.

Road Trip – Part 2

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I’m on a cross country trip from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Reno, Nevada to deliver an older conversion van for my son and daughter-in-law to use as a “camper”.

Normally, this is a 2000-mile drive on Interstate 80, but I modified the route slightly to visit the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Here’s the path.

In Road Trip – Part 1 I described the itinerary from Grand Rapids to the Tetons.

Here I’ll fill you in on the remainder of the journey from the Tetons to Yellowstone National Park. During the next 30 hours, I took in a lot of scenics – so hang on for a fast ride!

As I was driving north of the Lake area, I spotted this elk grazing in a heavily wooded area.
West of Canyon, I found this coyote crossing a wide open field.

The next morning I awoke early enough to see the sunrise along the Madison River.
I arrived at the Hayden Valley to find the mist hanging above the Yellowstone River.

Still early, I watched this White American Pelican fishing for his morning meal.
From this overlook you can see the Yellowstone River winding its way through the Hayden Valley.

A glance upwards and I see this small flock of geese flying towards the river.
Heading north at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are the powerful Lower Falls.

Onward to the Lamar Valley in the north end of Yellowstone. Here is an osprey searching for prey on the tall hill below.
A short distance away I run into a sizeable herd of hungry bison casually grazing in the field adjacent to the road.

This bison was resting comfortably nearby.

Why did the bison cross the road?
My last stop on my whirlwind visit to Yellowstone is at the Norris Geyser Basin for a hike through the amazing moonlike terrain.

Steamboat Geyer. That evening, it errupted – the first time in 2 years. I just missed it.
Here’s a colorful mud pot sending steam and gurgling noise into the air.

Can you can see how the Emerald Pool gets its name?
This view shows the vast extent of Yellowstone’s thermal areas.

Vixen Geyser

Watch the Vixen Geyser in action

After my hike through the geyser basin I make my way over to the van, set my bearings to leave the park through West Yellowstone, MT and follow the Snake River in Idaho for a while until passing through the high plains of Nevada to Reno.

Making this stop off at these two national parks is undoubtedly a very enjoyable way to turn a long distance vehicle delivery road trip into a mini-vacation.
 
 
Written by: Arnie Lee