311. Glacier National Park (2): East Glacier

Okay, you’ve got to use some imaginations here. I really don’t have any good picture. It was a dark, cloudy day. Yet, I am compelled to tell you about East Glacier. The Two Medicine area in East Glacier is spectacular! This part of the park is much less unknown than West Glacier. But it is no less remark. I loved the pyramid-shaped mountain peaks. There was no one. I hiked more than 10 miles in the mist without seeing a single soul. The pristine nature almost brought tears in my eyes. I can only imagine how beautiful it is when the sun shines.

I am planning to return in the fall when I am on my way back from Canada. Not too many places that I am so eager to revisit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

310. Glacier National Park (1): West Glacier

Glacier National Park is my last stop in the US before going up to Canada. I’ve been to this park many years ago. Obviously I loved enough to revisit it again. In three days, I have hiked more than 35 miles, yet I’ve only seen a tiny part of the park. In fact, the most famous road in the park, Going-to-the-Sun, is only opened the first 16 miles.

It is still very early in the season. The park is so quiet, especially early in the morning. All I saw was pure nature—lush green trees, snow-covered mountain peaks, pristine lakes, and countless waterfalls. All I heard was bird chipping and water rushing down the hillside. The only imperfect part was the weather—it was mostly cloudy with brief breaks of sun.

 

 

 

309. Wildflowers

Wildflowers just started blooming in the area (Victor, ID to Jackson, WY). Nevertheless, I’ll still share the few I’ve found with you.

 

308. Targhee National Forest

Targhee National Forest is huge, extending from ID to WY, even in a small section in UT. The pictures here were taken from part of the Targhee NF near Driggs, ID (Horseshoes Canyon and Teton Canyon).

I love the area. It is closer to where I am staying. There were hardly any people. I had the whole woods, forest, and mountains to myself! And, again, since it is on the west side of Grand Teton Range, it is great for late afternoon shot.

 

307. Grand Teton National Park (4): Cloudy Days

The weather hasn’t been the finest around here for a while. It has been cloudy or rainy for days. I did hike, almost every day. But I don’t have too many good pictures to share. Here are a few from a cloudy day.

 

 

306. Grand Teton National Park (3): Sunset over the West Side

Grand Teton Range is no doubt spectacular. However, Grand Teton National Park isn’t the best place to take late afternoon pictures. The mountain range runs from north to south, and the National Park is on the east side of the mountains. It is great for early morning shots. But in the afternoon, the sun shines directly behind the mountain (great for silhouette, but it is not my favorite type of picture).

The west side of the mountain range doesn’t belong to the National Park. There are several small towns in the Teton Valley along the west mountain range (in Idaho). I have been to Grand Teton NP twice before, and like most people, I didn’t have time to see the other side of the mountain. Since I’m here for a while, I decided to explore the west side of Teton Range. I drove to all those small towns and I was amazed how gorgeous the view is. It is no less spectacular than the NP itself. And I was right—the west side of the mountain was wonderful for late afternoon shot. 🙂

 

305. Grand Teton National Park (2): Targgart Lake Trail

Taggart Lake Trail isn’t too long. But the 4 mile loop is spectacular; it will take you to right in front of the lake overlooking the majestic peaks of Grand Teton. I have hiked the trail many years ago. It was in the end of May, yet the trail was mostly covered by snow. I was glad to find only half of the trail was snow-covered when I hiked this trail again a few days ago. This winter was unseasonably warm in the area. Good for me. But with drought, it may not too great for the farmers or ranchers in the region.

By the way, the drought isn’t just a problem for California as we hear constantly in the news. While I drove up from AZ, I was surprised by lack of water in some of the lakes in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. Some of the smaller lakes were completely drained! I could only see the blue dot on my GPS. 😦

 

 

 

304. Grand Teton National Park (1): An Overview

Grand Teton is another favorite National Park of mine. I have visited a couple of times before. The spectacular mountain range and the serene lakes left an intractable impression. The last time I visited the area, I had a chance to attend a photography workshop in one afternoon. I was so torn between taking a hike and attending the workshop. I wanted to do both. I wished I would be in both places, splitting myself like those people in fantasies. 🙂 Just in case you are curious—hiking won the day. Now I am happy I’ll be in Victor, ID, which is about 30 miles from Grand Teton, for a whole month. Yeah…

 

303. Surprised, and Delighted, by American White Pelicans

Henry’s Lake State Park is about 20 miles west of West Yellowstone. I debated whether to visit it since there are a lot to see and to do in Yellowstone National Park. Eventually I decided to take a quick look. If it’s not good enough, I thought, I was just going to leave. It wouldn’t take too much of time to check it out.

Wow, I am so happy I went! My mouth dropped and eyes opened wide when I had a first glimpse of the park. The blue lake is nice, but what attracted my attention was the white birds, lots of them, on the lake! I couldn’t even identify them from the distance yet. However, I was just so intrigued to see so many birds, no matter what they are.

It turned out that they are American White Pelicans. I learned later on that they are migrating birds, just passing by on their way north for the summer. I was lucky to see them.

With yellow/orange beaks, White Pelicans are very photogenic. I spent the whole afternoon taking hundreds of pictures of them. The sun was warm; the water was blue; the birds were so strikingly pretty; no one was there—it was a great afternoon spent in a State Park.

302. Yellowstone NP (8): Geysers and Hot Springs, One More Time

These pictures were taken from the areas between Madison and Old Faithful. I just love taking pictures of hot springs. Hope you will enjoy them as well. 🙂

Fountain Paint Pot

Punch Bowl Spring

Black Sand Pool

Black Opal Spring

Black Diamond Pool

Sapphire Pool

Rusty Geyser

Artemisia Geyser

Gem Pool

Morning Glory (my favorite!)

Sunset Lake