Landscape – Page 3 – Adventures Beyond The Lens

Sunshine on Resurrection Bay

February 26, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Alaska, Ressurection BayLeave a comment

Trips to Alaska can be a bit of a roll of the dice when it comes to the weather. During our two visits the the largest state in the union we have been fairly lucky, with only two days of hard, cold rain, a couple days with some showers mixed in, and the other days nice and sunny. Not everyone is so fortunate. This photo was taken in Seward just before beginning an evening kayak trip in Resurrection Bay. The sun was shining, the sky was for the most part cloud free, and the mountain peaks across the bay had just a touch of snow on their peaks, even in mid-August. Being our first full day in Alaska, it seemed so normal, the scenery so beautiful that it should always look like this. Except it doesn’t. Not at all. On the kayak tour with us was a couple who had moved to Seward two weeks earlier. This was their first day in Seward that it didn’t rain. The first time they had seen the sun the entire time they had been there. The first time the mountains across the bay weren’t hidden in the fog. As the old saying goes, sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. When it comes to weather, this is certainly the case.

Resurrection Bay in Seward, Alaska on a sunny afternoon.

Instant waterfall in Switzerland

February 24, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Bernese Oberland, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, WaterfallLeave a comment

This day was one of the relatively few days that the weather failed us while traveling. We had awoken early in the morning and taken the funicular from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp, then hiked to Mürren, with plans of taking the cable car up to Schilthorn. Unfortunately, Schilthorn was hidden behind the clouds with the exception of a very brief time when the sun came out, just enough to get our hopes up before the clouds rolled back in. Instead, we continued our hike to Gimmelwald, then down to Stechelberg, a beautiful hike through the Swiss countryside that was for the most part pleasant but at times dampened by the intermittent rain. We arrived in Stechelberg and found the bus stop to take the bus through the valley back to Lauterbrunnen, then made the not so wise decision to walk through the valley, as it did look quite nice and it seemed as though the rain had stopped. Wrong. Fifteen minutes or so later the skies opened up and we were caught in a torrential downpour with no place to take shelter and no choice to continue our walk to Lauterbrunnen soaking wet. The one positive was that the heavy rain caused tons of waterfalls to instantaneously appear on the cliffs on either side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. I managed to quickly snap this photo of this waterfall without getting my camera too wet.

Waterfall in heavy rain in the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland

Waterfalls in Rocky Mountain National Park

February 22, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Wild BasinLeave a comment

Rocky Mountain National Park is a stunning national park. The highlight, of course, is the mountain views, as the name suggests. The park also has its fair share of waterfalls within its boundaries, and while none of them match the awe inspiring views of the many panoramic vistas the park is known for, several waterfalls within the park are either easily accessible or along popular trails. This photo was taken during a hike in the Wild Basin Area, a popular hiking area which often runs out of parking spaces by late morning. We arrived in the late afternoon after a strong rainstorm had passed through, so we had no problem finding a place to park as the pouring rain had scared away a fair number of hikers. A quick side note: good rain gear in invaluable in places like Alaska and Colorado with unpredictable weather, with the proper gear a hike in the rain is no problem, without it the hike can get miserable pretty quickly. We hiked as far as Ouzel Falls before turning back and along the way I took a picture of this waterfall that I quite like.

Waterfall in Rocky Mountain National Park

Bryce Canyon

February 21, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Bryce Canyon National Park, Hoodoos, National Park, UtahLeave a comment

Bryce Canyon National Park is one of several great national parks in the state of Utah. One of the appealing things about Bryce Canyon is that it is a relatively compact national park and you can see the highlights in a single day (or an afternoon and the following morning, as we did) and not feel like you missed too much. This is good since there are many other great national/state parks a stone’s throw away. Bryce Canyon is known for it’s hoodoos, tall irregularly shaped columns of rock. The Bryce Amphitheater (pictured below) is filled with an impressive collection of hoodoos and several amazing hiking loops to get down into the canyon and get a closer look at the hoodoos. This photo was taken from the top of the Peek-A-Boo loop hike in the late afternoon.

View of the main amphitheater of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.

Cows in Switzerland

February 20, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Cow, Hiking, SwitzerlandLeave a comment

If you explore rural Switzerland, you’re bound to hear the sound of ringing cowbells. The cows in Switzerland seem to live a good life, at least from what we saw, with plenty of space to roam in the Swiss countryside and each with their own cowbell. If you hike, you are likely to see cows along the trail, just enjoying some grass, as the cows seem to get plenty of freedom. This cow was along a trail near the town of Grindelwald, busy having lunch, and paying no attention to us as we walked by.

Hiking through the Grand Canyon

February 20, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Arizona, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park1 Comment

As I mentioned in a previous post, it is a 14 mile hike from the north rim of the Grand Canyon down to the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon. It is a long, steep, challenging hike that begins in the cool morning air while it is still pitch black (if you’re smart) and ends in early afternoon heat that is likely to top 100 degrees. If you’re really crazy, the 14 mile hike isn’t 14 miles, it’s 15.5 miles, because three quarters of a mile off the main trail, tucked in one of the many side canyons, there is a beautiful waterfall named Ribbon Falls. This photo was taken just after completing our detour to Ribbon Falls, where we had enjoyed the shade, cool water, and beautiful views. The only downside was that it meant that the sun was high enough in the sky that by the time we returned to the main trail all shade was gone, but it was well worth a little extra sun to begin the second half of our hike feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

Lonely boat in Puerto Morelos

February 17, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Beach, MexicoLeave a comment

This photo was taken while walking along the beach in Puerto Morelos, Mexcio. There really isn’t anything that remarkable about the photo. The boat isn’t all that interesting, the sky isn’t very interesting, but the color of the water is nice but nothing special for the Caribbean, and the beach itself is pretty but other than having quite a bit of seaweed, there is not anything that exciting about it. It would be better if there was a little separation between the top of the boat and the horizon. But for some reason I really like this photo. Maybe it is just that it captures the moment of being there really well and brings me back to that day walking along the beach. Whatever the reason, in spite of being a rather unremarkable photo, I really like it.

Boat in the water along the beach in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

Grand Canyon sunset

February 13, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, National Park, Sunset1 Comment

While the scenery down in the Grand Canyon is wonderful, the most iconic views are from the rim of the canyon. The views are great all times of day, with the shadows in the canyon constantly changing with the angle of the sun. The National Park Service operates a great shuttle system to get to the scenic viewpoints on the south rim, which helps control the traffic during the busy season, while the more remote north rim requires driving along narrow winding roads to get to the best viewpoints. This sunset photo was taken from the south rim, we got on the shuttle without any plan of where we were going and had the decision made for us when the shuttle stopped at this viewpoint since it was almost sunset. The sun hitting the canyon walls was as warm as it appears in this picture, and the walls being lit by the sun really contrasted with the valleys deeper in the canyon that were already quite dark.

The importance of a beautiful sky

February 11, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Colorado, Lake, National Park, Rocky Mountain National ParkLeave a comment

A great sky can make or break a photo. Especially when it comes to sunrises or sunsets, the clouds need to be just right. There can’t be too many clouds, there can’t be too few, and they need to be high clouds, not low clouds. During the day, a solid blue sky can be nice but a handful of big white, puffy clouds can give a photo some pop.

This photo is of Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. The lake is beautiful with mountain peaks in the background, snow in the valley between the peaks even in August, and a mix of trees and boulders surrounding the lake. The hike to get to Emerald Lake from the Bear Lake trailhead is moderately challenging and the trail passes a couple other nice lakes along the way. On the day we hiked to Emerald Lake, unfortunately, the sky was filled with clouds the entire day. The weather was otherwise nice and the hike was wonderful. This photo is just missing a beautiful sky to take it from being a nice photo to a really good photo, but it’s still one of my favorite photos from one of the best hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Between the avalanche barriers

February 8, 2019Posted in LandscapeTagged Hiking, Männlichen, Switzerland, Wengen1 Comment

This photo was taken while on a hike in the Jungfrau region of Switzerland, from Männlichen to Wengen. A hike that was never meant to happen. We had taken the train to Jungfrau, the “Top of Europe” during the morning, hiked from Kleine Scheidegg to Männlichen, and planned to take the cable car down to Wengen. However, when we arrived in Männlichen at a little after 5 p.m. we realized that the cable car had already stopped for the day and the only way to get down to Wengen was to hike. We found the trail, a narrow, steep trail that wound back and forth between the avalanche barriers and began our hike down with rain clouds in the distance. While the hike was not part of our plans and the weather did not look ideal for starting a long, difficult hike, the views were absolutely stunning. Fortunately, it did not rain, as this was not a trail to be on in wet conditions. We hiked down and down until we emerged from the barriers and were rewarded by a slightly less steep trail which disappeared into the forest before finally emerging into town.