admin

Canada Vancouver

Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. It's a fun outing, especially for kids. Be advised, however, that you should arrive early if you wish to walk the bridges and through the forested sides of Capilano Gorge in peace. For once the tour buses arrive --…

adminAugust 9, 2008

Canada

Lost Lake, Whistler, British Columbia

Whistler is plugged with mountain bike trails, like a huge web running through the woods. I made a few outings to Lost Lake and the trails around there, running one morning and biking with my kids the next. We would often see shadowy figures moving deep in the forest on…

adminAugust 8, 2008

Canada

Ilanaaq on Whistler Mountain, British Columbia

While in Whistler, we saw a few unusual stone structures. One was at the top of the gondola station, near the patio overlooking Whistler Village. The other was larger and situated on a clearing on the summit of Whistler Mountain. After asking around, we learned that these were statues of…

adminAugust 7, 2008

Canada

Green Lake Panorama, Whistler, British Columbia

The weather we experienced in Whistler in July was spectacular. Warm, sunny, with hardly a cloud in the sky. However, that lack of clouds made for some truly uninspiring landscape photography. I only found one image from our stay in Whistler that I was very happy with, and that is…

adminAugust 6, 2008

Canada Vancouver

Granville Island Public Market, Vancouver

While in Vancouver we spent a few days on Granville Island. The collection of shops, marinas, parks and pubs there makes walking around the small island really enjoyable, and the views across to downtown Vancouver are great. We particularly liked the Granville Island Public Market, a conglomeration of grocers, fruit…

adminAugust 3, 2008

Canada

British Columbia Parliament Buildings, Victoria, Vancouver Island

Facing Victoria's famous and scenic Inner Harbour are the British Columbia Parliament Buildings. Built in 1893, the buildings are home to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The British Columbia Parliament Buildings are located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and serve as the seat of the Legislative Assembly of British…

adminAugust 1, 2008

Canada Panoramas

Big Trees Trail on Meares Island

We had a few hours in Tofino one afternoon. Our choice was to go kayaking or take a boat ride over to Meares Island to walk the Big Trees Trail. We choose the latter. Arriving on the narrow shoreline after a 10-minute skiff ride, our boat driver told us he'd…

adminJuly 31, 2008

Canada

Rainforest in Pacific Rim National Park

One wet foggy morning while in Tofino (come to think of it, most mornings seem to be wet and foggy in Tofino) we rolled a short way down the road into Pacific Rim National Park and took a nice hike, more of a walk really, on the Rainforest Trail. The…

adminJuly 29, 2008

Canada Vancouver

Vancouver at Night

This is downtown Vancouver at night -- the Yaletown district -- viewed from Granville Island. After dinner my younger daughter and I took a stroll along the boardwalk in front of our hotel. The walk was now empty of tourists (all of whom had retired to the Granville Island brewery)…

adminJuly 28, 2008

Canada GeoBlog

British Columbia Photos on Google Earth

We returned from our British Columbia trip last weekend. We spent time in Whistler, Tofino, Victoria and Vancouver and managed to do a lot of biking, ziplining, hiking, flying, eating and beachcombing. During the past week I've reviewed all the photos we shot and edited down to a selection of…

adminJuly 27, 2008

California La Jolla

Bear, Stuart Collection, UCSD

Bear is one of the newer pieces in the Stuart Collection of Art at University of California, San Diego (alma mater). Bear is another of the odd outdoor "art" pieces of the UCSD Stuart Collection. Created by Tim Hawkinson in 2001 of eight large stones, it sits in the courtyard…

adminJuly 8, 2008

Uncategorized

Photo of a Fossilized Fish

This is another fossilized fish from the Green River geological formation, Kemmerer, Wyoming. A member of the Phareodus genus, this specimen was preserved in the fine sediment of an ancient lake. It is thought to be about 40 to 50 million years old, from the Eocene Epoch of the Cenozoic…

adminJuly 7, 2008

Uncategorized

Fossil Fish

This fossil fish was collected at the Green River geological formation, Kemmerer, Wyoming. Well preserved deep in the sediment of an ancient lake, this fossil fish is estimated to be about 40 to 50 million years old, from the Eocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era. From a private collection. Fossil…

adminJuly 6, 2008

Surf

Fourth of July Surf

A beautiful Independence Day morning at Ponto: sunny, glassed with lots of little peaks rolling by. Too bad all the folks from out of town got there at 6am and blocked the Coast Highway with their mega-RVs, making it nearly impossible for the people who actually live around here to…

adminJuly 4, 2008

California Funny

Health Food

We made our annual visit to the Del Mar Fair last night. I hate to admit it, but we ate some of the food. Have you seen the food at the Del Mar Fair? It's enough to give a cardiologist a heart attack just looking at it. Grease and salt…

adminJuly 2, 2008

Surf

Cardiff Morning Glass Redux

I got out early again this morning and swam out at Cardiff just north of Seaside Reef. For the most part the size had dropped off but it was still warm, glassy, not a speck of wind and sunny at 6:30am. Once again I had a huge stretch of water…

adminJune 22, 2008

Surf

For Immediate Release: Summer is Here

Thank you for your patience. This is your official notification: summer is here. You are now free to dive in, a wetsuit is no longer required. Effective until September: casual Friday is expanded to include Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as well. From this morning: Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow…

adminJune 21, 2008

Surf

Carlsbad Morning Surf

Got out for the first time in a long time this morning for a swim before work. Summer is here. Morning surf.Image ID: 20793Location: Carlsbad, California, USA Morning surf.Image ID: 20795Location: Carlsbad, California, USA

adminJune 19, 2008

New York

Photo of the Williamsburg Bridge, New York City

From a trip to New York City a few years ago: I took a boat around Manhattan Island and saw all the bridges that cross from various burroughs into Manhattan. This one is the Williamsburg Bridge. The Williamsburg Bridge viewed from the East River. The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension…

adminJune 12, 2008

Arizona

Photo of Buckskin Gulch

Last one from Buckskin Gulch: a hiker considering the towering walls and narrow, convoluted passageway of the the Buckskin Gulch narrows. The trail continues behind the hiker, disappearing into the twisting walls so that it is hard to tell that it is even there. The floor of the passage is…

adminJune 11, 2008

Arizona

Buckskin Gulch Backpacking

Here are a few backpackers walking through the Buckskin Gulch narrows. They are blurry because it is so dark in the narrows that a tripod and long exposure must be used, which caused the backpackers to smear across the photo as they walked while the stationary walls and ground remain…

adminJune 10, 2008

Arizona Panoramas

Hiking Buckskin Gulch

This is a 360-degree panorama showing, in a single image, a hiker in Buckskin Gulch both coming and going. I set my camera on a tripod in the middle of the trail through Buckskin Gulch, leveled it with a bubble level, and spun it in a complete circle taking sixteen…

adminJune 9, 2008

Uncategorized

Bubble Rings

Bubble Ring Day. It was so hot in the desert today all we could do was swim in the pool. Good thing I had my trusty uber-unterwasser-oring-foto-kamera along. We blew off some fine bubble rings and had fun watching them wobble and grow as they floated up through the water.…

adminJune 8, 2008

Arizona

Photos of the Wire Pass Narrows

After an easy half-hour walk from the Wire Pass Trailhead, one reaches the end of the sandy Wire Pass trail. At this point the trail enters the first of two Wire Pass Narrows, two fine examples of sandstone slot canyons. Formed by years of water erosion these slots are really…

adminJune 7, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

Wire Pass Trailhead

If you are going to hike to Buckskin Gulch or the North Coyote Buttes, you will likely start at the Wire Pass trailhead. Here is what it looks like at 6am. The dirt road you see, on which the trailhead parking lot is located, is the House Rock Valley Road.…

adminJune 6, 2008

Utah

Bad Cop, No Donut

While passing through beautiful Kanab, Utah, on my way to hike Wire Pass, Buckskin Gulch and the North Coyote Buttes, I spotted a cop on the side of the road, presumably speed-gunning people as they entered town. Last time I blew through Kanab I noticed it was crawling with cops,…

adminJune 5, 2008

Underwater Life

Kelp Fronds, Santa Barbara Island

Santa Barbara Island is part of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. I used to dive at Santa Barbara Island a few times each year. There are a few pinniped rookeries there, the best one being the sea lions at Webster Point. When the water is clean at Santa Barbara…

adminMay 18, 2008

Galapagos Diaries GeoBlog

Galapagos Islands Photos on Google Earth

Selected images from our collection of Galapagos Island photos can now be browsed in Google Earth. If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you should be able to click on the link below and have our layer of images open up within Google Earth, showing where in the…

adminMay 17, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

The Wave, North Coyote Buttes, Vermilion Cliffs / Paria Canyon Wilderness, Arizona

The Wave is such a wonderful place. I am fortunate to have visited the Wave a number of times and several times have had near-perfect conditions to make my hike and take photos. OK, this is last time I post a photo of the Wave! Well, at least until next…

adminApril 30, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

Photo of the Second Wave

The Second Wave is found a few hundred yards from the Wave itself. While the Second Wave is characterized by striated sandstone in the same way that the Wave is, beyond that it is quite different in appearance, having a half-hourglass shape and being somewhat lighter in color. For photography…

adminApril 28, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

Photo of Brain Rocks

Brain Rocks are found in the vicinity around the Wave. Here are some sporting a view across the Navaho sandstone of the North Coyote Buttes: Brain rocks, curious sandstone formations in the North Coyote Buttes. Image ID: 20611 Location: North Coyote Buttes, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA Photos of…

adminApril 27, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

Photo of the “Heart of the Wave”, North Coyote Buttes

Sitting on the rim of the main bowl of the Wave -- right where the photograph below was taken -- I watched a couple of hikers arriving. There reaction was natural: no sooner did they step foot through the entry passage than they looked around at the strange surroundings in…

adminApril 26, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

The Wave in the North Coyote Buttes: The Perfect Skatepark?

Before X-Games and Tony Hawk, nay even before Bahne skateboards, Chicago trucks and Cadillac wheels, there was the Wave. Formed in the days before mankind walked erect, indeed before there was a mankind, God created the ultimate skatepark, one that has yet to be improved upon. The Wave has waited…

adminApril 25, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

Photo of Diagenetic Coloration in Sandstone, North Coyote Buttes

Not far from the Second Wave is a broad swatch of sandstone displaying exellent examples of diagenetic coloration, various iron oxides producing different colors in the Navaho sandstone strata, dating from the Jurassic era: Striations in sandstone tell of eons of sedimentary deposits, a visible geologic record of the time…

adminApril 24, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

Hiking the Wave in Arizona’s North Coyote Buttes

Walking around the area surrounding the Wave in Arizona's Paria Canyon / Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, one is certain to find this interesting alcove. During the time of day that it lies in shade, it receives only deep red light reflected from neighboring walls. That, combined with its own coloration, results…

adminApril 23, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

A Day At The Wave, North Coyote Buttes, Part IV

Once I reached the Wave and got over my initial wonder, I began to wander around and explore the whole area. For a photographer it is hard not to start taking photos as soon as one sets foot inside the Wave. Just like everyone else, I immediately shot some pics,…

adminApril 22, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

A Day At The Wave, North Coyote Buttes, Part III

The walk to the the Wave is really not all that difficult. There are only a few hundred feet of elevation gain, and it is only about 3 miles from trailhead to the Wave proper, so one would be hard-pressed indeed to consider it anything more than a moderate hike.…

adminApril 21, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

A Day At The Wave, North Coyote Buttes, Part II

The last 20 minutes of my flight to Vegas were crazy, with the plane dipping and bobbing all over the place in the wind. The steward seemed to enjoy it, stating that it was just normal flying conditions for Vegas when summer approaches and the weather warms up, so I…

adminApril 20, 2008

Arizona The American Southwest The Wave

A Day At The Wave, North Coyote Buttes, Part I

I have long heard comments from hikers and landscape photographers about the beautiful and bizarre sandstone formations of the North Coyote Buttes area of Arizona. I am not a serious landscape photographer nor am I a what you would consider a "desert lover". However, on a lark, I decided to…

adminApril 19, 2008

California

Route 66

One our recent desert road trip, we found ourselves on Route 66 for a while. We passed some seriously forlorn-looking old eateries, defunct and barely surviving service stations, and some funky little communities that look like they are ever-so-slowly fading away. It was strange to think that before the interstate…

adminApril 8, 2008

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives