Category

National Parks

Sierra NevadaTreesYosemite

Giant Sequoia Pictures

Many of my giant sequoia pictures are now on Photoshelter, which is the source of this nifty slideshow. Sequoia trees really are the most majestic of all plants. They are the largest (i.e., most massive) life forms on earth, and they are nearly the tallest (exceeded only by their cousins…
September 2, 2009
CaliforniaSierra NevadaYosemite

Photos of Glacial Erratic Boulders

Some years ago I posted a blog entry about photos of glacial erratic boulders on Olmsted Point in Yosemite National Park. Well, I was recently there and got a few more. Glacial erratic boulders are so named because they are erratic (i.e., differ materially from the naturally occuring stone nearby)…
September 1, 2009
CaliforniaSierra NevadaTreesYosemite

Giant Sequoia Tree Photo

My in-laws live year-round very near the south entrance to Yosemite National Park. It only takes a few minutes for me to drive in and reach the Mariposa grove of giant sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum), so I will often go into the park early in the morning and take a…
August 31, 2009
ElkNational ParksWildlifeWyomingYellowstone

Elk Photos

It's the time of year when the bugling of rutting elk echoes around Yellowstone National Park. Here is our collection of elk photos (Cervus candensis), all from Yellowstone National Park, most taken in the fall during the elk rut but a few in summer as the elk antlers are still…
September 1, 2008
National ParksWyomingYellowstone

Photo of a Moose in Snow

We found this moose (Alces alces) beside Soda Butte Creek, between the Lamar Valley and the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. A male moose, bull moose, on snow covered field, near Cooke City.Image ID: 19680Species: Moose, Alces alcesLocation: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
November 27, 2007
National ParksWyomingYellowstone

Madison River Coyote in Snow

I spotted this coyote (Canis latrans) before sunrise one morning along the Madison River on the western edge of Yellowstone National Park. I was looking for elk but the bulls with their harems were not out in the meadows, preferring the cover of the trees. This fellow caught my eye…
November 26, 2007
National ParksWyomingYellowstone

Photo of Norris Geyser Basin

Norris Geyser Basin is one of the principal geothermal areas of Yellowstone National Park. Loaded with fumeroles, steaming hot springs, geysers and other generally hot-as-hell nasty holes in the ground, Norris Geyser Basin is best seen on a cool morning when it billows forth steam. The two photos below are…
November 7, 2007
National ParksWyomingYellowstone

Photo of a Coyote Hunting Voles

The meadows around Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park are a good place to look for coyotes (Canis latrans) hunting voles. This coyote was found working the tall grass. He would stalk quietly through the grass, stop and listen, poise, leap high and and drop on his prey. Brutally…
November 6, 2007
National ParksWyomingYellowstone

Coyote at Sheepeater Cliffs

I usually stop once or twice at Sheepeater Cliffs while in Yellowstone National Park, hoping to photograph the yellow-bellied marmots that are found there. This time I was disappointed: it was too late in the year and they had gone to ground for the winter, and I could not find…
November 5, 2007
National ParksStoriesWyomingYellowstone

Watching Wolves with Laurie Lyman

Update 12/28/07: Wow! This morning Laurie was pictured and quoted in an Associated Press article about the trend of people moving to western states such as Montana and Wyoming, appearing in newspapers throughout the United States. Our main motivation for visiting Yellowstone National Park this past October was to find…
November 4, 2007
National ParksWyomingYellowstone

Yellowstone Deer Photos

In October I was in Yellowstone National Park primarily to see and photograph the elk rut. However, my daughter's 3rd grade teacher now lives in Gardner, MT and spends her time studying the wolves, so I made a several drives up to the Lamar Valley to see her and check…
November 1, 2007
National ParksWyomingYellowstone

Snow, Grass and Fire Trees

Near the Lower Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park is a stand of fire-scorched trees, or "fire trees" as our younger daughter named them during her first visit to the park five years ago. The ground surrounding a section of these trees is often steaming, hinting at the subterranean warmth…
October 31, 2007
National ParksWyomingYellowstone

Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces and Dead Trees

We spent time checking out the travertine terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, in the northwestern corner of Yellowstone National Park. Several thousand pounds of calcium carbonate, carried in solution from the hot springs that bubble up through thick limestone, are deposited onto the enormous terraces each day. As the terrace…
October 30, 2007