Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
Photographs of the land and the environment
The constant bubbling of mineral infused, hot water leaves colorful, thin layers of sediment throughout the geothermal areas of Yellowstone National Park. The hot spring in the foreground of this photo reminds me of a lunar crater while the colorful cliff and distant steam behind it add to the other-worldliness of the scene.
The boulders you can see in the this photograph were most likely deposited by glaciers quite some time ago. Boulders like these are pretty common throughout the glacially carved valleys and meadows in Yellowstone National Park.
One of the geothermal features we liked best at the Mud Volcano in Yellowstone National Park was “Dragon’s Mouth”. The combination of steam and the deep, hissing and gurgling sounds that occasionally come from the vent make the name somewhat self explanatory when you’re there.
The sun hung low in the sky as I made my way toward the Grand Prismatic Spring, in Yellowstone National Park. I liked the strong contrast of the sun reflecting off the water and the silhouettes of the mountains and other park visitors.
Puffy white clouds fill the sky over the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.
The views of the Grand Teton range are spectacular enough on their own. Throw in a few blooming flowers in the foreground and it’s hard to imagine a better landscape opportunity.
The trees, silhouetted by early morning fog, make the houses seem small and almost insignificant. A neighbor’s porch lights offer the only evidence anybody else might be awake. Within an hour this scene will be transformed into a more familiar arrangement. It might be months or even a year before it looks like this again.
Animal tracks always catch my attention but they aren’t always very photogenic. These bird prints were on a beach along the James River. It would be impossible to identify the type of bird that left them but the deeper, wider prints in the foreground indicate the bird landed here and then hopped along the beach before taking flight. The early morning sun provided enough shade within the prints to make them stand out in the photo.
During a walk along the James River I noticed these cairns out among the natural rock formations. Perhaps they were put their by a paddler as a way to mark their take out point?
This photograph was taken on Hog Island Wildlife Management Area, along the James River, near Surry, VA. It was a cold February morning, just after dawn. While the entire scene looks wet, it was actually frozen. The sand along the shore was a hard as cement and the foam around the river stones had been turned to ice.