It is said that an early explorer in the region we now call Death Valley led his mule to a spring-fed pool to drink. The mule refused as the water was briny despite being miles from the sea. From this simple event Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, earned its name.
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In 1914 a volcano in north eastern California, Lassen Peak, blew its top. Its outbursts continued for three years but it now lies dormant, at the heart of the national park that bears its name. Much of the park is wilderness, but a road runs north to south through its western section, giving access to many trails and vista points.
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Clouds can look beautiful, enhancing any photo of the sky. They can inspire us to see animals, palaces and more hidden in their shapes. And they can give us welcome shade on the hottest of days. But clouds also bring storms, rain and snow. They turn a summer picnic into a dash for shelter, and they hide a view you climbed a mountain to see.
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The Periodic Table tells us that our world is made up of 118 elements. But the elements of nature are different from chemical elements. They were used to simplify the complexity of nature and matter by ancient people.
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Where do the seeds of an idea for a trip start? Maybe in a book or TV programme or a fellow blogger’s post? Maybe a friend comes back from a holiday full of enthusiasm for the place(s) visited? Or maybe you have memories of a place you loved and want to return to, having left so much of it as yet unexplored? For us California was such a place.
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I have always been drawn to the sea, especially at its wildest. As we made our way along the northern California coast on our recent road trip I delighted in trying to capture its power through my photographs.
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It is relatively easy to photograph a landscape. It doesn’t move as wildlife does, it doesn’t object as a person may do. But to photograph a landscape and be happy with the result is much more difficult. So often the grandeur of what we see fails to translate itself to the image and we are disappointed that the result doesn’t stir in us, or in others, the feeling we had when we were there. But we keep trying!
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Mono Lake is a graphic reminder of the consequences of human activity for the natural world. In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) began diverting water from Mono Lake's tributary streams, sending it 350 miles south to meet the growing water demands of Los Angeles. The impact on the lake was dramatic.
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The granite dome of Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park has been cut with 350 steps linked by short steep slopes. From part way up I looked out over the Great Western Divide. This mountain range in the Sequoia National Park has several peaks reaching well over 13,000 feet (3,962 metres).
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Wildfires are a natural part of the forest ecology. They play an important role in clearing out dead vegetation, stimulating new growth, and creating habitats for certain species. But human activity is affecting this pattern, whether through global warming) which makes fires more common and more extensive) or fire starting, whether accidentally or even deliberately.
