Milky Way over Tiny in Torrey

 

This tiny home in Torrey, Utah was our base camp for 4 days during our trip to southern Utah back in November.  Very thoughtfully planned and constructed, we absolutely loved this beautiful little home. It was very difficult to leave this place and we can't wait to go back. We were hoping this would be a nice place to enjoy the dark skies and boy was it ever!  The Milky Way looked glorious and was perfectly positioned to get a nice photo with the house. This was my first experience staying at an Airbnb and it set the bar VERY high! 

Sun Halo over Wauswaugoning Bay

 

A beautiful scene along my way to work recently.  It was a chilly morning and this sun halo looked glorious over Lake Superior and the Susie Islands. 

Pine Grosbeak Shadow

 

While driving along Old Highway 61 in Grand Portage recently I saw a few pine grosbeaks.  Most of them were flitting around in the trees and weren't really presenting themselves for any good photos. This one, however, was hopping around all over the roadway and eventually he stopped and posed right in the sunlight between two shadows.  I thanked him for giving me such a nice photo then continued on down the road. 

Snow Monster

 

An interesting find in the forest after the recent snow storms!

Busting Drifts

 

'Tis the season once again for plow truck photos!  Long-time followers of my photography know that photographing plow trucks in action is something I get rather exited about 😄

High Falls after Two Blizzards

 

After receiving almost 20 inches of snow in the past week, High Falls in Grand Portage State Park is looking quite beautiful!

Bald Eagle Morning

 

There was a lot of avian activity on the Bay Road this morning. Lots of ravens and several bald eagles were picking at something on the beach.  I couldn't get close enough to tell what it was without disturbing the birds but they were definitely snacking on something. There were 3 mature bald eagles and one immature bald eagle along with at least a dozen ravens. I was able to get some photos that I was pretty happy with... I think my favorite is the immature eagle sitting atop a tree.  What a great way to start the day!

Moonlit Campsite on the North Rim

 

One month ago today we were camping on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and what an experience it was!  We had spent the majority of the day driving down a very rough and remote dirt road to get to this location and only saw 2 or 3 other vehicles along the way. 

Our dispersed campsite was on BLM land just outside of the boundary for Grand Canyon National Park. When we arrived at the campsite we couldn't believe our eyes as it was literally right on the edge of the rim!  The first thing we did was take a walk south along the rim.  The views were indescribably beautiful. After our walk we set up the tent and our camp chairs then waited for sunset to arrive. 

The sunset was amazing, as desert sunsets often are.  The clouds to the east over the canyon lit up like wildfire as the sun was going down behind us. Not long after the sun went down the stars gradually came into view. We headed into the tent to relax for a while and wait for the sky to get darker. After a couple of hours the view of the stars over the canyon was unreal.  The stars were so crisp and clear that my camera was actually able to autofocus on them. The moon was very low on the horizon now and the last bit of moonlight was illuminating the canyon below. After the moon went down we settled back into our sleeping bags for the night, still in disbelief at where we were and what we were experiencing.