Sieur de Monts was a wonderful, unexpected part of Acadia National Park in Maine. There is botanical garden and a lovely forest with trails. We walked the trails a little while after sunrise; after the sun had some time to filter and highlight parts of the forest. It was quiet and peaceful as a forest should be.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
We recently visited Acadia National Park. Overall, I liked the park, but the area had more of the feel of a beach resort than a national park. It is served by Bar Harbor ME, a typical tourist resort town.
The Park Loop Road is a beautiful ride but much of the coastline is obscured by forest. There are several trails and if I ever go again, I need to explore those because I think I missed some scenic views. The weather wasn’t cooperative.
Cadillac Mountain is the go-to place for sunrise; the first place where the sun shines on the United States in the morning. I didn’t prepare well enough. I learned, several weeks ahead of time that reservations are required for any time of day to drive onto Cadillac Mountain. For sunrise, they open 20% of the 3:30AM slots several weeks ahead then open the remaining slots 48 hours in advance. I had a reservation in my sights but didn’t press pay fast enough so I lost it. I took all of 15 seconds but was too slow. I settled for sunset. It was quite nice but not spectacular, again the overcast skies. I did my sunrise on the Park Loop road.
Acadia has 4 units, Northeast which contains the Park Loop Road and Cadillac Mountain, the Southwest Unit which contains the lighthouse, Schoodic Peninsula which provides a drive along the coastline and Isle Au Haute which is available by ferry. Our trip was a good survey trip. We allowed 2 ½ days which wasn’t enough.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
When you drive through Badlands National Park, on one side of the road is prairie grassland. The other side is a wide, highly eroded valley. You are riding on the edge, the dividing line. Both sides were intriguing. The prairie was green but transitioning to golden brown, flat to the horizon. The valley is flat and desolate occupied only by scrub except where water flows through. Where the prairie meets the valley, the transition zone consists of beautifully eroded sediment layered in gray and rose-colored bands. The rock is crumbly, almost like dried mud. It is the results of how nature sculpted these erosional features that make the park interesting and beautiful.
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If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
Please visit my website, www.earthwatcher.us to see my collection of landscapes and wildlife.
Sierra Nevada Mountains at Daybreak; Big Pine, Death Valley Road, Big Pine, CA; APR 2021
I’m sharing a few more pictures from our trip to the Eastern Sierra last April. Four of the images were taken at the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, CA. (Alabama Hills National Scenic Area | Bureau of Land Management (blm.gov), @TheAlabamaHillsNationalScenicArea). The other is from Big Pine Death Valley Road.
I hope to go back to the Alabama Hills this fall because there are so many wonderful small vignettes to capture, and I am curious to see it at sunset as well as when some monsoons rains are falling over the Sierra as the backdrop.
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First Light on the Sierra; Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA; APR 2021Mobius Arch from the Backside; Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA; APR 2021Sunrise on Mt Whitney; Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA; APR 2021Lone Tree along a Desert Path; Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA; APR 2021
If anyone would like a copy of almost any picture in my library, for educational or research use, please contact me and I will happily share a digital copy with you.
Please visit my website, www.earthwatcher.us to see my collection of landscapes and wildlife.
We spent some time exploring Big Pine – Death Valley Road. Along the way, we found some interesting things: A beautiful forest of Joshua Trees, and a wonderful White-tailed Antelope Squirrel. All of this set against the scenery of desert mountains. It was beautiful trip.
Be aware though, if you decide to explore this road, we have read that is one of the most dangerous roads in the country. We found the route to be in good shape but there are some things to consider. We found a lot of tire shredding rocks. There are numerous washes that cross the route so it could be flooded, or the road surface washed out. With photography stops, it took us 7 hours to get from Big Pine to Stovepipe Wells.
This post shares some images from the section between Big Pine, CA and the entrance to Death Valley National Park. I’ll share images from Eureka Valley and Death Valley in a future post.
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Last week we took a day trip into the mountains. We travelled along RT 88 from Jackson, CA to Rt 89 and followed it over Monitor Pass and down to Topaz then returned. It is a beautiful trip through the Sierra Nevada. While we enjoyed clear skies, at places we could see smoke hanging over distant mountain valleys.
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I am sharing 4 images from one of my favorite local spots to photograph. I am drawn to the spot, just outside Folsom, CA, because it is an oak dotted rangeland typical of this area of California.
One of the images is a black and white version of another in the set. I thought it looked very dramatic in black and white.
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We recently spent a few days on the beach at Waldport, OR.
It is located in Oregon Dunes area of the coast. Just outside of town sets a
beach amongst a craggy, old volcanic lava flow. It is a beautiful beach with
many tidal pools left teeming with wildlife as the tide recedes.
On this visit, the birds really took center stage. We saw
some seals, but they were offshore and all I could see were heads bobbing. So,
they weren’t photo worthy. But we found some Pelagic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax
pelagicus); one with a chick on the nest. We found Western Gulls (Larus
occidentalis), many of which were recently fledged juveniles.
The Pelagic Cormorant is found along coastal waters and eats
fish and marine invertebrates. It roosts and nests on steep, inaccessible rocky
cliffs. It swims and dives for food.
The Western Gull is the common gull that you find on US West
Coast beaches. They like fish, marine invertebrates, bird eggs and jelly fish. They
will also scavenge on carrion and human refuse.
Our experience with the Western Gull brought some amusement. The juveniles were in the water and along the shore. When they wandered too far inland, an adult would chase after and send it back to the shoreline with the others. In the early morning, we even saw adults force the young into the tidal pools to splash and bathe. It was great fun.
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