*Look Below for Photo Descriptions*
In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the creation of a new concept, a National Park at the Yellowstone River Valley of the Wyoming Territory. This set aside a protected area for both Americans and people from all over the world visiting and enjoying the wilderness areas of our country. Today, this one park has expanded to 59 National Parks as well as 117 National Monuments that can be found throughout all regions of the United States.
Through family trips when I was a kid, and travels as an adult I have calculated I have been to twenty-four of the National Parks and sixteen of the National Monuments. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, I did not have a camera with me to photograph most of these. The fortunate part is experiencing them and creating a life long emotional connection with the beauty of nature. It also allows me to revisit many of these places with a photographer’s point of view which excites me very much.
This past decade I have visited a number of parks with my camera and have plans to visit many more. Just the past two Octobers, my wife Beth and I Airbnb’d a Teardrop Trailer (Yes, you can do that!) and we camped and explored for a week at Olympic National Park in Washington State and then this past year I took a solo trip to my state’s only national park, Crater Lake for a wonder filled few days. Both were great trips searching for sea stacked beaches, lush rainforests, a deep blue volcanic lake, and epic mountain vistas. And even though the camera did not dictate my travels, going to photo worthy locations is always a perfect way to spend a day.
But I also want to say how important our National Parks and other public lands are to our nation. We need to love, respect, and care for these great institutions as much as other public places we hold dear such as libraries, schools, and museums. And it is just as important to preserve them now as it was in 1873.
During our government shutdown at the end of 2018 into the beginning of 2019, some took advantage to trash or desecrate our parks through vandalism or driving onto fragile habitats that could take a generation to bring back. This saddens me greatly. These parks say a lot about who we are as a nation for visitors from around the United States as well as people from around the world. To reference an earlier post, what I don’t want to be photographing is a remembrance of scenes that have gone away forever.
Let us unite to make a difference.
#1 – From my visit in 2010 to Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington State.
#2 – From a 2016 “photo nerd” trip with my photographer son Jayce where we went to four National Parks and one National Monument in the states of Utah and Colorado. This is from the entry point of Arches National Park in Utah. This place is called “Park Avenue”.
#3 – A shot from 2018 to Olympic National Park. This is from Third Beach near LaPush, Washington.
#4 – This is also from 2018 as Jayce and I escorted my 90 year old parents on a cruise to Alaska. This is from the deck taking in a scene just outside Glacier Bay National Park which is the size of Connecticut but almost exclusively only accessible for viewing by boat.
#5 – One of my favorite shots of a trip to Yosemite National Park in California also in 2016. I was inspired by the great Ansel Adams to try to come up with a unique shot of this so often photographed area. I loved this one because of the February winter framing of the tree of Half Dome.
#6 – Another shot from our “Photo Nerd” adventure, this time from Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. This historic and scenic place showcases the abandoned cliff dwellings of the Pueblo Indians who for unknown reasons (most likely draught and warfare) over 700 years ago.
#7 – Still a third National Park from the same trip, this time in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. This shows the epic drama of Island in the Sky.
#8 – From a school journalism conference trip to our nation’s capitol Washington DC. The iconic statue within the Lincoln Memorial in a National Monument.
#9 – Another National Monument that felt like being in a smaller National Park. This is from the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado.
#10 – If you ever want to go on a great highway, visit North Cascades National Park in northern Washington State. This is from a visit in 2010 on a very overcast day, but still very beautiful. This park also has great backwoods hiking. #11 – From my most recent trip in 2019 to Crater Lake National Park. It is formed from a caldera (not a crater) from an ancient volcano Mt. Mazama and is the deepest lake in North America.
#12- From the Hoh Rainforest are of Olympic National Park. We benefitted from a very nice sunny day, but this would be great in any weather. It was like walking back through a land of dinosaurs (minus the dinosaurs).
#13 – The final park in Jayce and my 2016 park quest, the Great Dune National Park in central Colorado. This shot does not capture the true size of these dunes. Living in Florence on the Oregon Coast for many years I know dune area, but I have never seen such immense mountains of sand.
#14 – This shot is one of the most often photographed scenes from the west, Mesa Arch from Canyonlands National Park. What you don’t realize until you go to this spot, is that you are sharing the space with like 40 photographers each kind of pushing their way in to get the shot. And that was even with Jayce and I getting up and being there at 5am in the morning in the dark. Still very worth it.
#15 – Another from my 2016 trip to Yosemite. I was fortunate to be there just after it had snowed and got this great leading line shot of Yosemite Falls.
#16 – I could go on forever posting shots of these wonderful parks, but this will be final one for this posting. This was another from my most recent trip to Crater Lake National Park. But this is a view from the rim looking south to Klamath Valley. Sometimes what makes these parks unique is the beauty found not only what is in front of you, but also what’s behind you.
