Pool on Conasauga River
This long, run forming a pool is off-trail within the Cohutta Wilderness, Georgia, about 2 miles from the north Conasauga River Trailhead. The river has pooled up before a short cascade.
This long, run forming a pool is off-trail within the Cohutta Wilderness, Georgia, about 2 miles from the north Conasauga River Trailhead. The river has pooled up before a short cascade.
This bend is off-trail within the Cohutta Wilderness, Georgia, about 2 miles from the north Conasauga River Trailhead. The river is slicing across hard, exposed granite.
The most satisfying parts of volunteering with a Forest Service Trail Crew (specifically the amazing Cohutta Wilderness Trail Volunteers) is the direct connection between work and result.
Salaam Springs (aka “The Pond”) is the main only water feature in Atlanta’s Grant Park. It’s not huge and it’s more of a stormwater catchment than a landscaped lake TBH. However, it was re-built & re-landscaped a few years ago with a viewing deck, a working water fountain, and native plants around the edge.
Conasauga River in Georgia’s Cohutta Wilderness, Chattahoochee National Forest
Boiling Springs Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park is exactly what the name says. It’s absolutely fascinating to see. It’s accessed via a short hike up the Warner Valley. Also, the Pacific Crest Trail goes right by it!
I stopped by Lithia Park in Ashland, Oregon on my way Crater Lake National Park. First off, they have the loveliest city park. It’s great. Second, they have a small but perfect Japanese Garden (I’m a huge fan of Japanese Gardens). But third, near the Japanese Garden, they have a full-grown Sequoia tree!
On my visit to Redwood National Park, I learned that Redwoods generally grow in a grove around a “mother tree” – so you’ll often get this cluster of tall trees around a mega tall tree…or a giant shaded circle where the “mother” used to stand.
One of my favorite parts of flying is getting a true birds-eye view of the pattern of a large metro area. I found Northern California’s land use to be absolutely fascinating.
The Golden Gate Bridge has reached a rare status as a global icon—a distinction few places on Earth will ever achieve.
On my trip to Redwood National Park, I learned that the story isn’t really about the Redwood trees – it’s about the entire ecosystem, which is both under threat and at the center of conservation efforts today.
I took this photo atop Cinder Cone in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
In Lassen Volcanic National Park, there is a trail headed up past Drakesbad Guest Ranch to Boiling Springs Lake. It goes through the Warner Valley, which is something out a story book…that has also been recently hit by a wildfire. The creeks, grasses, and trees are all just idyllic even with the burnt up trees.
Sequoia sempervirens, known as the Coast Redwoods of California, are the most majestic & most perfect trees on Earth.
Banana slugs are a hilariously adorable resident of the Pacific Northwest. On my trip to Olympic National Park and Redwood National Park. I was carefully looking for them in their perfect habitat. Never saw one. But then this guy shows up right at our door step in our cottage parking lot near Willow, California.
I first saw “Fantastic Lava Bed” on a map of Lassen Volcanic National Park and was like “ok, that’s a funny name” – but yeah, they totally live up to their name. They are huge, scenic, and quite fantastic!
The Elk Meadow in Redwood National Park was, only a few decades ago, a giant paved lumber yard with trucks, oil spills, giant cranes, warehouses, and piles of felled old-growth Redwood trees. Now, the National Park Service has helped nature along and the land is a fully restored meadow with bubbling creeks and Elk grazing in the distance.