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.All Trips / Central USA / North America / Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park’s beautiful Hayden Valley!
There are many beautiful valleys in Wyoming, but this one deserves a closer look. Hayden Valley contains the outflow of Lake Yellowstone, with its Yellowstone River continuing north to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, then on towards the Missouri River. The valley is named in honor of Ferdinand Hayden who did important early geologic surveys in the Yellowstone region.
The valley was known to pioneer trappers and explorers who made their way to Yellowstone Lake along the Yellowstone River. Today it's best known for a migrating herd of bison, which my wife and I have seen every time we've visited Hayden Valley.
(Bison herd, Hayden Valley)
If you're lucky you might spot a grizzly or black bear, fox, coyote or wolf. Elk,
“Pic of the Week”, July 2, 2021: Pinelands Trail, Everglades National Park
Pinelands Trail is located seven miles (11 km) from the southern park entrance. It's a fairly short trail, just 0.4 miles (650 m), and you walk on a pavement or boardwalk so it's easy to do. It's also handicap accessible.
I think this walk is a great way to experience this unique ecocystem of the Everglades up close. The ground is swampy but home to a forest which contains pines, saw palmettos, and assorted wildflowers -- quite a bit different than the "river of grass" which dominates this landscape.
There are many better places for alligator viewing than from this boardwalk -- to this end I recommend Shark Valley. We visited Pinelands Trail in December and there were
Jul 1, 2021
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“Pic of the Week”, May 14, 2021: Storm over the Everglades
The lifeblood of the Everglades is the frequent rain it receives. If you visit for a few days, you're likely to see some precipitation.
The storms I saw over the "River of Grass" reminded me a lot of those I'd witnessed on the Canadian prairies. Blowing in quickly over the flat landscape, dark and menacing. Dumping a lot of water in a short time, before moving on.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
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May 13, 2021
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“Pic of the Week”, May 7, 2021: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Banff National Park
It's not often that I've seen bighorn sheep traveling in family units -- father, mother and youngster. But that's exactly what we saw when visiting Banff National Park. Usually, in my experience, if you encounter bighorn sheep they travel in larger herds, often females and their young stick together, as do groups of males.
But this family unit was standing in the snow on a rocky outcropping overlooking a group of human admirers. The small one -- probably almost a year old -- was especially cute hanging out beside dad, before deciding to wander off.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
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May 6, 2021
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.All Trips / Alberta / Central Canada / North America
Scenes from Banff National Park in Winter
While the cold weather and especially the long winters can be a drag in Canada, there are some days when the beauty of the scenery almost makes it worth while.
Banff National Park is one of my favorite places in the world. My wife and I headed out there with our dogs a few weeks back (dogs on leashes are welcome in Canadian National Parks), and were rewarded with beautiful mountain landscapes.
Most of these photos were taken around Lake Minnewanka, the largest lake in the park, which was frozen sold. Lots of people were walking on the ice and, it being Canada, a hockey game was being played on the lake. The building in the middle of the ice is the
“Pic of the Week”, April 30, 2021: Green Heron, Everglades National Park
We spotted this pretty bird while hiking on a boardwalk in the Everglades. We almost passed by because it was absolutely motionless, watching for small fish in the shallow waters. A few seconds later its head darted below the surface of the water quicker than you could follow it, and it emerged with a small minnow, which it swallowed whole.
I'd never seen a green heron this close before and did a little research later. The bird is small for an heron (less than a half meter -- about a foot and a half -- long). Their range is quite extensive in North and Central America. They are characterized by a greenish-black cap and a greenish back. The bill is long,
Apr 29, 2021
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“Pic of the Week”, April 23, 2021: Crowfoot Glacier, Banff National Park
Crowfoot Glacier is located in Banff National Park, off the Icefields Parkway, about 32 km (20 mi) northwest of Lake Louise. This hanging glacier rests on Crowfoot Mountain, with Bow Lake nearby (see photo below). Its meltwater drains into Bow Lake, then on down the Bow River and ultimately to Hudson's Bay.
The glacier was originally named for its appearance of three claw-like ‘toes’. The glacier has retreated since the end of the Little Ice Age and lost one 'toe' by the 1940s, but the name remains.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
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Apr 22, 2021
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.All Trips / Asia / Sri Lanka
Gal Vihara, Sri Lanka
One of the most amazing sites in Sri Lanka is the Gal Vihara, which is located within the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I thought the Gal Vihara was unusual and interesting enough to warrant a more detailed blog. During my last visit I spent a full hour here, studying and photographing details of the carvings and just watching people.
This has long been a site of Buddhist worship and teaching. Gal Vihara (meaning ‘Rock Temple’) is an amazing collection of beautifully sculpted Buddha images carved from a massive granite boulder. The scope of the carvings and their beautiful detail never cease to amaze me. Hard to imagine the time it