Bosque Goodness

Bird Rays



Magic Bosque Morn

Yellowstone Beats Bellagio

Cobalt Blue Sunset Bonus

Elective Sunset

Some images of the amazing sunset we had on election night in Colorado this week. One can only hope it's a good sign, heh.

Teton Superlatives

Teton Point Bliss



Moose Matinee

Days turn to Dusk

Cascade Canyon from Jenny Lake



Fountain Paint Pots Sunset

Pair of Panos

Here are a couple of panoramic images from our recent vacation to Yellowstone and the Tetons. More information on these amazing locations after the jump.

It's a must to view these large (click images), or if you dare go for the giant-sized originals hot-linked under each photo (3-4 mbs/ea-dial-up warning).

Sundown at the Medicine Wheel


Original Size


Castle Geyser Surreal


Original Size


The Top Photograph is from the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming, a place I hope to explore quite a bit more someday in the near future. We were attempting to visit the Medicine Wheel and were stopped on the account of deep drifting snow and light.

The Medicine Wheel is an important place to many peoples. From the Stanford Solar Center:

On top of the Bighorn Range in Wyoming, a desolate 9,642 feet high and only reachable during the warm summer months, lies an ancient Native American construction -- an 80' diameter wheel-like pattern made of stones. At the center of the circle is a doughnut-shaped pile of stones, a cairn, connected to the rim by 28 spoke-like lines of stones. Six more stone cairns are arranged around the circle, most large enough to hold a sitting human. The central cairn is about 12 feet in diameter and 2' high.

If you stand or sit at one cairn looking towards another, you will be pointed to certain places on the distant horizon. These points indicate where the Sun rises or sets on summer solstice and where certain important stars rise heliacally, that is, first rise at dawn after being behind the Sun. The dawn stars helped foretell when the Sun ceremonial days would be coming. The area is free of snow only for 2 months -- around the summer solstice.

The wheel has 28 spokes, the same number used in the roofs of ceremonial buildings such as the Lakota Sundance lodge. These always includes an entrance to the east, facing the rising Sun, and include 28 rafters for the 28 days in the lunar cycle. The number 28 is sacred to some of the Indian tribes because of its significance as the lunar month. In Bighorn's case, could the special number 28 also refer to the helicial or dawn rising of Rigel 28 days past the Solstice, and Sirius another 28 past that?

Still interested in learning more? Keep reading this article here.



The Bottom Photograph features Castle Geyser, which has some of the most impressive sinter deposits in the world. For more info on this impressive formation from Wikipedia:

The geyser has a 10-12 hour eruption cycle. The geyser erupts hot water for about 20 minutes to a height of 90 feet (27 meters) before changing to a noisy steam phase for 30-40 minutes.

It is also noted for the particularly large sinter deposits that form its cone. These have been likened in appearance to a castle. This appearance led Lieutenant G.C. Doane to name it Castle Geyser in 1870. The geyser is located in the Upper Geyser Basin a short walk from Old Faithful Geyser.

The sinter cone for Castle Geyser was dated to around 1022 using carbon-14 dating. This date is much younger than the presumed age of 5000 to 15000 years. A 3-D laser scan done of the cone shows evidence that this geyser has gone through four to five distinct stages to reach its current configuration.

Pair of Sunsets

Steamset



Fall vs. Sunset



On top from Yellowstone and below an HDR from Grand Teton National Park.

Flavors of Water

First Light on the Bend



Grand Prismatic Paisley



On top we see a view from Grand Teton National Park at Oxbow Bend on the Snake River right at daybreak. Below is a scene from the largest hot spring in the United States and third largest in the world: Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone National Park.

Day and Night

Firehole River Valley in Blue and Gold



Star Trails Over Tetons



The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is a trip to Oz complete with geysers, crazed colors and perfect Tetons.

From Jackson to Yellowstone

Last Twilight Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park




Crescent Moon Sunset, Yellowstone Lake




There's nothing quite like mountain twilight and a crescent moon setting into the sunset to create an opportunity to play with night photography. I most likely will blog a few more of my photos from our trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone that we've just returned home from, happy fall!

Bee Happy

First Flight

Snow Geese numbering in the thousands upon thousands take their first morning flight at sunrise. Flyout at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico during migration is something everyone should see! If you are lucky you will be rewarded with a beautiful sunrise for your efforts of getting up before dawn to be there on time. Bosque is an amazing place that has had some great success. In 1941, only 17 Sandhill Cranes used the refuge. Sandhills now number as high as 17,000 on the refuge.

Alien Emergence

A Dog Day Cicada (Tibicen canicularis) finishing up a moult, looking straight of the set of the movie Aliens. Cicadas are fascinating insects, with the Magicicada variety famous for it's 13- and 17- year periodic life cycle.

You can see the abandoned skin under the insect. Cicadas are incredibly beautiful at this "just reborn" phase when their wings are still so fresh. Their singing was nice too.

Please do view large to see the best details (click on the image).

Box Elder Creek at Lowry Range

This photograph I took when I was doing fieldwork last year at the former Lowry Bombing Range east of Denver. It's been pretty popular on Flickr,so I thought might as well share it here.

We Love You Wickett

The cat that has been with my wife and I since we met ten years ago died today. We found her coated in dog saliva with bits of white dog hair near her body. She was the greatest cat anyone can imagine and I have no words to express my sadness that she had to come to such an awful end. We have no kids, our cats are our family. We love you sweet soft Wickett.

New Star Trails

I finally got the chance to test my new digital SLR (Nikon D70) out on some long-time exposures for star trails. The moon set really early on Saturday night and I was in a place with low light pollution. I was initially cynical that it wouldn't be worth it on a digital SLR, but surprisingly if you use the special long-time noise reduction tool you can get usable results!

Here's one that was a bit more than 10 minutes long from night before last up at my sister's land in southern Colorado looking towards the Wet Mountains. You can see the light from the Milky Way emanating from above the trees on the middle right into the night sky. Make sure to view it large, since the photo is so dark it's hard to see at this small size (click photo to view large).

The Wrong Flower

A butterfly lands on a flower. A crab spider gets dinner. The crab spider often lies in wait on flowers, sometimes it pays off.

Hot Summer Flora

Happily these flowers continue to bloom in spite of the recent heat.

Cold, Wet and Super-Saturated

Saturated colors that is. We went on a rafting trip this past weekend up on the Colorado River in the Gore Canyon area. We rafted 12 miles down the river and spent nearly that entire time in the rain. There were a few who were cold, but I really enjoyed the day and especially enjoyed the intense colors the diffuse cloud-lighting brought out.

Here is the Colorado River at the mouth of Upper Gore Canyon where the river quickly turns into world-class rapids upstream from here:

On Sunday we decided to drive the scenic route home over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was quite the storm, with some pretty serious wind and cold. We had rain, sleet and mist all at the same time when I took this next photo. The hill with rocks in the background would disappear into the clouds every few moments while we were there.

I like the dark moody feel. Best viewed large (click on photo)!



Here's another from Trail Ridge (again, best viewed large) :

You were up for the sunrise, when?

Just wanted to show off this photo that just won an icon of the day prize over on Flickr. Woot!

A morning scene at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. This is just before the sun fully emerged. Bosque is easily one of the finest locations for bird photography I have been.