Turquoise Lake

I took a great hike up to Turquoise Lake (near Lindbergh Lake) in early august.

Beautiful rock outcrop near the top of the hike.

There is a huge rock outcrop on the trail that has features such as ripple marks, mudcracks, and this one that shows scratches in the rock gouged out by glaciers during last ice age (geologists drool over this stuff - oh OK I drool over a lot of things (usually my pillow), but this is definately one of them).

This is another lake near Lindbergh Lake called Crystal Lake.

Pebble Creek and Trout Creek

Me and Ma went to pebble creek in Yellowstone park to find wildflowers - we hit it perfectly. Had a great sunny day (except for the hour of lightning, hail and rain right after lunch). Had four stream crossings where we put on our sandals - except the last one when Ma just walked through in her boots. This hike was done three days after a grizzly killed and ate part of a guy in a campground 10 miles from this spot - Ma was a little nervous but I felt good since I'm still faster than Ma.

Acres and acres of wild flowers in the pebble creek meadow

Paintbrush and a little snow in the pebble creek meadow

This one is for Anne, a ladybug on Arnica on the beartooth highway

Sunrise on lupine near fire lookout on beartooth highway

Beautiful fuscia paintbrush on Beartooth Hwy.

Me and Ma did a short hike up Trout Creek near Helena. Lots of wildflowers, but the prettiest flower was this weed, thistle.

Mid-Fork Salmon River Trip

We got a float permit for the Middle-Fork of the Salmon in mid July. A seven day 100-mile float through mostly wilderness (a couple of backcountry lodges break up the wilderness). This is on the way to river looking at Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, ID.

The cluster of boats on a typical launch day on mid-fork Salmon

Todd and boat damage after hitting rock in Pistol Creek and ejecting all his passengers

Will in Marble Creek

Scott getting a fun ride in Tappan Falls

Connie in Tappan Falls

Veil Falls, a great waterfall to stand under on a hot day.

Miles, the obsessive compulsive wonder dog

The gang at the end of the trip (Cam, Will, Chas, Meredith, Scott, Janice, Connie, Todd, Will, Suzanne, Jake, Eric, Jeff)

Tetons and Glacier

I took trips recently to the Tetons and Glacier nation Park - here are some pictures (the captions are working right - they dont stay next to the correct picture, so you'll have to match the comment to the correct picture)

These flowers (sugar bowls and balsamroot) were right in the campground.

More of those flowers

Got a great shot of the tetons at sunset - the mosquitoes were bad laying in the dirt trying to get the flowers in the picture.

It was a cold and rainy weekend in Glacier (40 degrees on swiftcurrent pass at noon), but it did clear up enough to get this double rainbow.

The paintbrush were everywhere and very vibrant colors

More paintbrush

Red Rocks waterfall on Swiftcurrent trail

Saw this wheat field on the way home

Spring in glacier

Got up to glacier on a nice weekend in june - saw this black bear on north shore of lake mcdonald

saw this eagle on the shores of lake mcdonald

I got to ride the going to the sun road to the top about a week before it opened for traffic - so i was able to stop anywhere and take pictures

Going to the sun road

One of the bigger drifts on going to the sun road

Proof that I made it to the top with my bike! The snow is up to the roof of the visitor center.

Saw this on side of road - a spring that was growing very green algae (and a fly).

Death Valley - March 2010

I went to Death Valley this spring. My first sunrise wasnt so great from Dantes View, but the weather got better as the week went on. I missed the flowers by a couple of weeks, but still lots of pretty areas to explore.

first day I did a hike to some sand dunes - view from tallest dune

marble canyon

barrel cactus in Marble Canyon

the salt flats (282 feet below sea level)

this was really cool - this divot in the volcanic rock caused by teh waterfall (when the water is flowing)

Some great colors at Artists Palette

Sunset on the Mesquite Sand Dunes

The end of the hike up Falls Canyon

Sunrise at a place called Zabriske Point

A view of the lowest (-252 ft) and highest (11,000+) points in the park.

Sunrise (a better one than the first day) from Dantes View - about 5,000 feet above the salt flats

A few hikes had water in them - this water fall was in Willow Canyon

A view down valley in Willow Canyon

Didn't see many flowers, but there were a few!