Hiking Big Sky’s Beehive Basin | a 7 Image Story Hiking the Beehive Basin trail in October makes for a beautiful day. It’s not too hot; not too cold. A little snow adds to the natural beauty of the land. No wonder Beehive Basin Trail has been ranked in the top ten greatest hikes in the world! As it winds through open meadows carpeted with wildflowers, it provides amazing views of the Big Sky Valley and Lone Peak.
The hike is considered moderate difficulty with a few steep climbs between flatter sections. The 6.3 mile trail starts at 7944 feet above sea level at the trailhead and climbs another 1300+ feet. Even though flat land visitors might notice the altitude a bit, a round trip hike should not take more than 5 hours, if you go all the way to the lake. It’s a beautiful day hike even if you don’t make it to the lake.
Looking Back As we started our hike, we looked back at our vehicle parked at the trailhead, Obviously, the terrain is rising already. We were the only vehicle in the rather small parking lot at around 2:30pm on a mid October afternoon. This trail is quite popular. Perhaps, October is a good month to miss the crowds. Up the Hill Up the hill we go. The incline is just over 200 feet per mile, but some places along the trail are steeper while others are almost flat. And remember climbing at elevations between 8,000 and 9,000 feet challenges some flatland folks. Foot Bridge No need to forge the river! This oe person wide footbridge keeps the feet dry while providing a nice vantage point.
Yellowstone NP Wild | a 7 Image Story Wild describes the essence of Yellowstone. It’s a vast wild place providing habitat where Bison, Wolf, Elk, Coyote, Pronghorn, and Bighorn Sheep as well as Bald Eagle and Raven call home. Life’s survival in wild Yellowstone is always challenging with winter being the hardest. Yellowstone is a land of fire and ice while beautiful and harshly wild. Yellowstone’s habitat is also beautiful scenery no matter what time of year. It contains contains 45 named waterfalls and hundreds of unnamed waterfalls. It’s not known for its rock formations, but it does have a few nice ones. Yellowstone’s thermal features keep the rivers from freezing in the winter and provide unique beauty year around.
American Bison This Bison image comes from Lamar Valley on a cold February afternoon. Notice his heavy winter coat to protect him from Yellowstone’s hard, long winter. Bison are year round grazers requiring water every day. They eat primarily grasses, but will also eat flowering plants, lichens, and woody plant leaves. In the winter, they sweep their heads from side to side to clear the snow. Bison lose so much weight from fall to spring just trying to survive the Yellowstone Winter, over nine percent of adult bison die during the winter.
The American Bison, also call Bison Bison, is our National Mammal and symbolic of the Great Plains. It’s largest land animal in North America. At one time millions roamed in herds across the grasslands of The Great American Prairie. A mature Bison stands 5-6 feet tall weighing 1,800 to 2,400 pounds. They can reach speeds of 30 miles per hour. Just like much of the Great American Prairie has gone the way of the plow; so most of the Bison have gone. Today, small herds are live in Canada and the USA; mostly in state and national parks like Wind Cave NP, Custer State Park, and Yellowstone NP. With about 5,000 Bison, Yellowstone NP has North America’s largest population of wild Bison and is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since the prehistoric times of the last ice age. Also, see American Bison | a 7 Image Story for more information and images of the American Bison.
Yellowstone River Yellowstone’s first snow of the year in mid November made for a great day to capture images along the Yellowstone River. A snowstorm had fallen the night before, covering everything in sparkling fresh snow. Actually, we only had a few minutes to capture this image between snow showers. Although it was midday, the sun was shining through a thin cloud layer softening the light. Blowing snow and the calming sound of water ripples from the river completed the experience. The Yellowstone River, flowing north out of the park, was not frozen due to the thermal features of the park. It does not look like much of a river in this image, but it becomes a nice size river as it travels further north. There’s nothing like Yellowstone in the winter. Yellowstone always provides perspective and introspection. Every time I go to Yellowstone, the experience changes with new vistas, wildlife, challenges, and accomplishments.
Coyote This coyote is taking a break from hunting voles during the first snow of the year in Yellowstone. Coyotes are very good at finding the voles. They can hear them in their underground burrows. Winter in Yellowstone can be harsh. The coyotes seem to be well suited Yellowstone’s 20+ below zero cold. For more information on coyotes, see Coyote | a 7 Image Story.
Yellowstone Rainbow A few rain showers in the distance yielded several rainbows. This rainbow ends near Mammoth Hot Springs and Mt. Everts on the north part of Yellowstone NP. It’s difficult to show the vastness of Yellowstone. Although Yellowstone is not necessarily known for its mountains, the rocks help put the rainbow in perspective.
Raven Portrait Ravens tend to hang around the parking areas in Yellowstone. Ravens are among the smartest of all birds and have accompanied people around the Northern Hemisphere for centuries by following their wagons, sleds, sleighs, and cars looking for a quick meal. Ravens are really quite amazing birds. They can fly over 20,000 feet. They adapt to a very wide variety of habitats including the harsh climate in Yellowstone. They adapt to living around humans quite well. They’ll eat a wide variety of foods. They even befriend wolves while still sharing in the wolves bounty. Yes, amazing birds!
Mammoth Hot Springs This Mammoth Hot Springs image was captured during a rain shower. Mammoth Hot Springs, in the northwestern part of Yellowstone NP, is a large complex of hot springs on a mound of travertine, a form of limestone, created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate. The spring’s energy comes from the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas. The hot water that feeds Mammoth comes from Norris Geyser Basin after traveling underground via a fault line. The water temperature at the spring hovers at about 170 °F (80 °C). Algae living in the warm pools have tinted the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green.
Elk Cow & Calf Yellowstone is all about its wildlife. It’s hard to miss the affection this mom Elk has for her baby; well her bigger baby now. Yellowstone has thousands of wildlife stories every day. It’s a real privilege to witness just one of those stores.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Yellowstone NP Wild.
Peck Butterfly House | a 7 Image Story The Peck Butterfly House contains hundreds of butterflies that fly, feed, and land in the enclosure. It’s part of the 385 acre Peck Farm Park which offers a visitors an opportunity to slow down and enjoy nature including a 19-acre wetland, nature & bike trails, and an observation silo. The butterflies are imported on a regular basic to keep the house populated. Although most butterflies are not native, occasionally a native species like the Monarch will be there. The house allows the photographer to capture many different butterfly poses.
These images were captured with a Nikon 1 V3 using a 30-110mm zoom lens attached to a 16mm extension tube. The V3 has a 2.7 crop factor which makes the lens a 81-297mm lens. Then, the extension tube also magnifies the image by allowing the lens to focus closer to the butterfly. The net effect allows close-up images to be captured without disturbing the butterflies.
Pieridae Butterfly The Pieridae family of butterflies contains around 76 genera and 1,100 species. Most species live in Africa and Asia with only 61 species in North America. Whites and sulphurs are small to medium-sized butterflies with wingspans ranging from 0.8 to 4.0 inches. Their flight is mostly slow and fluttering and they like to feed at flowers.
Julia Butterfly The Julia butterfly is a species of brush-footed butterfly family. It’s native from Brazil to southern Texas and Florida. With a wingspan ranging from 3.2 to 3.6 inches, it’s a fast flier. It frequents clearings, paths, and edges of woodlands where it feeds on flower nectar. The Julia butterfly is popular in butterfly houses because it’s very active and long-lived.
White Peacock Butterfly While Peacock butterflies are common in southern Texas and Florida. They are found near ponds or streams in fields or parks as well as roadside ditches. Their wing span measures 2 – 2 3/4 inches.
Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly These beautiful black bodied swallowtail butterflies can be found in most of the eastern and mid-western states. They inhabit wooded areas, swamps, parks, and fields where they eat nectar from honeysuckle, jewel weed, thistles, milkweed, azalea etc. With an wingspan of 3.5 to 4 inches, they are fun to watch in the butterfly house.
Gulf Fritillary Butterfly The Gulf Fritillary is a medium-sized butterfly with extended forewings. With a wingspan from 2.5 to 3.7 inches, it’s considered a “longwing” butterfly with long, narrow wings. Gulf Fritillaries are found primarily in the southern states like Texas and Florida; even Hawaii. It’s range extends from the southern states into parts of Mexico and Central America. They are found in mostly sunny areas near open grasslands, parks, and woodlands as well as butterfly gardens.
Zebra Longwing Butterfly The Zebra Longwing butterfly is common in Florida and part of Texas as well as Mexico and Central America. It’s Florida’s official state butterfly. They fly slowly and gracefully. Longwing butterfly adults are relatively long lived. Most other butterflies live only a few weeks, but longwings live for several months. Also, most butterflies can only sip fluids with their specialized mouth parts, but longwing butterflies can get some pollen and nectar. Their saliva allows them to dissolve the pollen to get the nutrients. Zebra longwings gather in roosts to spend the night and return to the same roost each night. For insects, they are very intelligent. They have a social order when roosting whereby the oldest butterflies choose the best places. Also, they remember where their food is located and return to the plants where they previously ate.
Monarch Butterfly The monarch butterfly, one of the world’s most recognizable butterflies, is known for its seasonal migration. Monarchs migrate from the United States and Canada south to California and Mexico for the winter. Monarch butterflies are native to North America with additional populations in Hawaii, Portugal, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. It has a lifespan of six to eight months. Its wingspan measures 3.7 to 4.1 inches. Monarchs have declined by around 90% in the last three decades due to the disappearance of milkweed plants.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Peck Butterfly House.
Oshkosh Seaplane Base | a 7 Image Story The Seaplane Base at the Oshkosh AirAdventure provides seaplanes calm waters to dock. It’s nestled in a picturesque cove of Lake Winnebago. Pilots and passenger can stay the day or pitch a tent and spend the night in quiet place far away from the hustle and bustle of the airshow. People often sit along the shore to watch the seaplanes land and takeoff. Sure, there are forums, workshops, and exhibitors related to seaplanes and amphibians. It’s just very low key and a great place to kick back after an afternoon on the Oshkosh flight line. A bus transports visitors between the AirVenture and the seaplane base.
Republic RC-3 Seabee Arrives This Republic RC-3 Seabee water taxis to a dock at the seaplane base. The soft evening light really makes the image. Seebees are not be the fastest planes in the sky. However, they make up for it in utility and beauty. Interesting seaplane if you don’t mind a 100 mph cruise!
Arrival Gets Tow For a float plane pilot, getting a tow to the dock must be the lap of luxury. Pilots land and takeoff outside the seaplane base cove, but still in protected water leading into Lake Winnebago.
Dehavilland Beaver The De Havilland Beaver may be the best bush plane ever to put on a pair of floats. It certainly captures the attention and the imagination of many pilots. This pilot can imagine flying along an Alaskan river or road in a valley between 14 thousand foot glacier mountains in a Beaver. The Beaver has become the gold standard for the bush flying with several hundred planes still in service across Alaska, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest.
Cessna 195 with Barn What a background for a Cessna 195 on floats! The family that owns the barn also allows the Oshkosh Seaplane Base to use their land and water for the seaplane base for the Air Adventure week.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Oshkosh Seaplane Base.
The Sunday Drive | a 7 Image Story When I was a young boy growing up on a Midwest farm, my parents often took a Sunday drive. It became a bit of a tradition. Now, we did not go every Sunday, but fairly often. Sometimes, the purpose was to “look at the crops.” Sometimes, it was to “just to get off the farm.” Sometimes, it was a short ride; sometimes a long ride. Occasionally, the Sunday drive took us all the way to Chicago’s Midway Airport to watch the planes land and take-off. Apparently, my parents were not the only ones to partake in this “tradition.” The Sunday drive was a relatively inexpensive way to showdown, spend family time, and enjoy the world around us.
Why remember those Sunday Drives now? With the world in crisis mode over the corona virus, states and even countries are issuing stay at home orders. It’s forcing us to slowdown a bit and value the simpler things in life. More people seem to be going for walks. Although the stay at home orders generally discourage travel by car except for the essentials, the slowdown somehow reminded me of those Sunday Drives. As some of the restrictions are raised, maybe the Sunday drive will make a resurgence. Or, perhaps a Sunday walk or bike ride will take its place.
Thru the Woods Spring is technically here. A nice spring snow shower made beautiful surroundings on my way to the grocery store this morning. The stay at home order does not say you must take the shortest route to the store. This route may be less traveled, but its beauty improved my mood for the day. On Gravel Roads The countryside in Montana contains numerous gravel roads running along old fence lines. Unless you live in a large city, back country, gravel roads aren’t all that far away for a lazy Sunday drive. In the Hills Arizona can get pretty hot in the summer. A nice Sunday drive into the mountains can show you breathtaking beauty as well as much cooler air. And in the winter months, snow and ski runs might great you at the end of the road. Over the Snow Most of us don’t live close enough to Yellowstone NP to go for a Sunday drive. Still, many of us live near hills and mountains. When covered with snow, they make a nice scenic day drive.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category The Sunday Drive.
Everglades | a 7 Image Story Everglades NP is impressive not by its majestic scenery but by it’s water. Its landscape is relatively flat. Moreover, the everglades is all about the water and swampy land. What’s under the water. What’s on the water and land. The Everglades spans 1.5 million acres in southern Florida. It has two distinct seasons; dry season (Nov – Mar), wet season (Apr – Nov). These images were captured during the dry season.
Everglades NP is the Florida Outback. Clearly, this environment is a Gator’s playground. The American Alligator remains the iconic animal of the Florida Everglades. It’s the top of the food chain in the glades.
Everglades | Alligator Portrait An American Alligator Portrait gets real up close and personal. The portrait image must be captured down on the ground; meeting the gator at his level. The 70-300mm telephoto lens set at 70mm is still 189mm after the Nikon 1 V1 2.7 crop factor. Yes, that’s still close, but not too close. Gators generally move rather slowly. They can really move fast. Keep a safe distance. And, remember you’re on the ground; maybe on your belly, capturing this image.
Boat-tailed Grackle The Boat-tailed Grackle is a strangely colored songbird found in the southeastern USA. It’s just one of over 360 bird species that frequent the Everglades’ warm, shallow water. Notice the tail of this male. Males have very long tails folded in the shape of keel of a boat.
American Alligator This American Alligator resides in the Everglades near Everglades NP. This 60+ year old gator is one of the largest in the area. He barely moved as we passed by his favorite spot to sun bath in an air boat. Gators must keep their internal body temperature at 82º F so it’s a water and sun life.
Wood Storks The Wood Stork is the only stork species breeding in the United States. Its late winter breeding season coincides with the Florida dry season when its fish prey become concentrated in shrinking pools. During the dry season, many Wood Storks could be seen in the Everglades.
Raccoon Wild Everglade raccoons greeted our air boat. These guys roamed around an old native American house site which is visited regularly. They seemed thinner than the fat raccoons seen around the farms in Illinois. This image is one of the nicer raccoon images I have ever captured.
Black Vulture The Black Vultures in Everglades NP seemed quite comfortable with humans as well as vehicles. This image was captured near a small lake along a road with other vultures close by. Although they have been sighted in Illinois, northern Illinois is not part of the Black Vulture’s range. This encounter was my first with a Black Vulture. They appear to have a bit more character in their face than other vultures. The Black Vulture is a fairly large bird of prey 22–29 in tall with a 52–66 in wingspan and weighting 3.5 to 6.6 lb. Its plumage is mainly glossy black while the head and neck are featherless showing its dark gray and wrinkled skin.
Sunset The Everglades is a land of great contrasts, savage wildlife and serene sunsets. Hope to go back again someday!
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Everglades.
The Badlands | a 7 Image Story The Badlands are truly inspiring. There’s something rather spiritual about Badlands NP. Perhaps, it’s the stark contrasts, the native American influence, or the large expanse of rock formations. Taking time to reflect on the grandeur adds perspective to life’s challenges. Badlands NP is one of my favorite places to photograph. There’s nothing like rising at o’dark thirty to capture the sunrise and morning’s nice light. It’s hard to decide whether to look for landscapes or wildlife or both. Badlands NP stands at the intersection of the Great American Prairie and the North American Great Plains.
Soundtrack from the movie Dances with Wolves; a musical score composed by John Barry.
Spring in Badlands NP feels like another planet for a Midwesterner. If you want to see the Badlands in spring green, travel between the last 2 weeks of May through the first 2 weeks of June, when the brown and tan landscape turns green. Also, it’s a great time see wildlife babies. It’s not green in the Badlands for long. Generally, I prefer the first week of June. Usually, the grass is green and the wild flowers are blooming. In a nice long weekend, you can explore much of Badlands NP.
In any time of year, the Badlands’ rock formations are distinguished by their vibrant red, tan, and white stripes. Each stripe represents a different layer of sediment brought there by rivers and seas, millions of years ago. Over time, the mud and grit hardened into layered sedimentary rock. After sedimentary rock formed, the White, Bad, and Cheyenne rivers carved the flat floodplain resulting in sloping hills, jagged cliff faces, and precarious spires.
Nothing says Great American Prairie like a lone tree on the rolling mixed grass prairie of the Badlands. Thunderstorms often rumble over the Great Plains during summer. While driving into the Badlands NP near the front gate, this storm became visible from the road. After pulling off the road, I just grabbed the camera, pointed it west, and ripped a burst of images. Luckily, one image captured the lightning strike. The great plains are known for their thunderstorms. Sure, it was a very lucky click to capture the lightning just as I was leaving Badlands NP.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category The Badlands.
Fine Art | a 7 Image Story My idea of fine art images consists mostly of black & white compositions with definite contrasts and contours. These images were converted to black & white from color since it makes better B&W images than shooting directly in B&W. Interestingly, when capturing each of these images, I captured them with the idea that they would end up being B&W. Since they were captured in raw format, each image required some post processing. These images mostly come from my travels through national parks in the American West. See more fine art in my Fine Art Portfolio.
Yellowstone There’s nothing like Yellowstone in the winter. Yellowstone always provides perspective and introspection. The experience changes on every new trip to Yellowstone with new vistas, wildlife, challenges, and accomplishments. My visit, when this First Snow mountain image was captured, was indeed very short; only one day. The park was officially closed except for the north entrance and the road to Cooke City through Lamar Valley. The mountain image comes from a place close to the north entrance. A snowstorm had fallen the night before, covering everything in sparkling fresh snow. The Yellowstone River, flowing north out of the park, was not frozen due to the thermal features of the park.
The Yellowstone Tree image came from a another trip in the fall. Ground water and steam runoff from Yellowstone’s thermal features periodically floods the area around these lodgepole pine trees; killing them. Several geysers can be seen steaming in the background. Then silica precipitates upon the dead tree trunks creating the white “bobby sock” trees. This silica slowly impregnates the wood and over time, could eventually petrify the wood. These striking trees stand tall against mostly clear skies.
The Hyalite Canyon stream winds down the mountain. As it gets wider and narrower, the flow gets slower or faster. Slow the shutter speed and time smooths the water’s rough edges. The mountain stream image was captured between wet snow showers. Slow down the exposure for the stream to blur and you get a simple, long click. After experimenting with a variable ND filter to get a good shutter speed, it occurred to me to make it a black & white image. The light coming off the blurred water will make good contrast.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Fine Art.
Hiking Big Sky’s Beehive Basin | a 7 Image Story Hiking the Beehive Basin trail in October makes for a beautiful day. It’s not too hot; not too cold. A little snow adds to the natural beauty of the land. No wonder Beehive Basin Trail has been ranked in the top ten greatest hikes in the world! As it winds through open meadows carpeted with wildflowers, it provides amazing views of the Big Sky Valley and Lone Peak.
