Where the Bison Roam

October 19th, 2020 Today we masked up, teamed up and explored Grand Teton National Park with a private guide. Cloudy skies provided a moody background of diffused light as we continually scanned the landscape for wildlife. We didn’t see everything we had hoped to, but what we did see was remarkable in one way or another — size, volume or

Wild Wyoming

October 18th, 2020 As I said in my Instagram post today, we’ve traded in the tent and upgraded the campfire. This is the last major stop on my birthday road trip around the southwest U.S. Tonight we saw meandering deer and a beautiful sunset just beyond the balcony. Tomorrow we head to Teton National Park, in search of wildlife. Cross

Pando

October 16th, 2020 Yesterday after our hike into the slot canyons, we departed at 5:00 p.m. and drove north from Grand Staircase-Escalante on Utah’s Highway 12. We were in search of camping, racing against the light as we found ourselves amid yet another region of spectacular vistas. The highway climbs through a magnificent stone valley with a river running through

Coral Pink

October 13th, 2020 Two stops on today’s leg of the journey: Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and Zion National Park. The light was bright and the sand was fine at the dunes — finer than granulated sugar; the kind of sand you see in an hourglass; a light tint of coral pink. This state park is an anomaly hidden

Photos of the Day: Horseshoe Bend

October 12th, 2020 Happy Canadian Thanksgiving and Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day! Today we’re at Horseshoe Bend for a quick look over the edge. This graceful curve in the Colorado River started forming about five million years ago, carving a gorge in the sandstone 1,000 feet deep. The top is tantalizing with beauty and terrifying with height. Except for a few

Condors at Navajo Bridge

October 11th, 2020 We departed the Grand Canyon today, intending to head to Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon but with tribal lands closed until January we had to change course. No problem! We’ll save these experiences for later. Instead, we diverted to Lake Powell where we inquired about camping with a mere three minutes to spare before closing and ended

Rock Bottom at Badwater Basin

October 8th, 2020 We’re standing at rock bottom — 282 feet/85 meters below sea level at Badwater Basin in Death Valley. Badwater marks the lowest point in North America. A wide and salty trail leads out to the basin but the heat of the morning, even in October, keeps us from straying too far. We follow this with the Artist’s

Sand Dune Sunset in Death Valley

October 7th, 2020 Day one! We depart at 8:00 a.m. and drive to Death Valley on a route we’ve not taken before. The views are as scenic as they are educational — a lesson in volcanic geology. The austere landscape of western Nevada looks surprisingly like Oman with its high desert brush and rocky peaks. We arrive in the early