Parks – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #367 – Everyone should see this

September 30, 2025Posted in National Parks, PhotographyTagged Everyone should see this, Grand Canyon, ladyslipper, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge37 Comments

We are happy to have Joanne of Joanne Mason Photography as our guest host this week. She writes: “This week’s challenge is to share some photographs of things/people/places that are inspiring and that you want to share. Tell us the circumstances of your photograph and why you want everyone to see it.”

When I first read Joanne’s challenge the first thing I thought of was the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The majesty of the Grand Canyon must be seen in person to appreciate. Photos can’t portray the feeling of awe when seeing this natural wonder.

According to the Grand Canyon National Park website: “Entirely within the state of Arizona, the park encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homelands of 11 present day Tribal Communities, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—a mile deep canyon unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors from both north and south rims.”

I was 8 years old the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. I saw it again in 1985 when we took our children on a trip from Georgia to see it when they were 10 and 14. Both trips were to the south rim of the canyon. I don’t remember my feelings when I was 8 but I remember the feeling of wonder I had when seeing it as an adult.

The third time I saw the Grand Canyon was in 2006 when we were on our first RV trip in our fifth wheel. We camped just outside the National Park on the North Rim of the canyon and drove to the park to walk along a trail along the rim. Again I had that feeling of wonder when looking at the vastness of the canyon. All of these canyon images were taken on the North Rim. The Colorado River can be seen at the bottom of the canyon in the featured image.

Leeanne included a beautiful gallery of orchids in her post. She didn’t include any ladyslippers because she didn’t have any photos of them in nature. She asked us to feel free to post photos of ladyslippers in nature if we had any. Leeanne, these ladyslippers from a trail in Itasca State Park in Minnesota are for you!

Thank you to everyone who responded to Tina’s City Mouse/Country Mouse challenge last week. Be sure to check back on Saturday, October 4 at noon Eastern Time when John will be our host.

I hope you will join in for this week’s challenge. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Joanne’s post Lens-Artists #367 – Everyone should see this

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

Every Day is a Gift

Sunday Stills – Paths and Trails

June 18, 2025Posted in Nature, Parks, Photography, State ParksTagged National Outdoors Month, Parks, Paths, Photo Challenge, Sunday Stills, trails14 Comments

June is Outdoors Month and this month Terri’s Sunday Stills challenges are all focused on the great outdoors. This challenge is Paths and Trails in the great outdoors.

I more of a wanderer than a hiker but I enjoy being out in the great outdoors. I like to take my time wandering on a scenic trail or path looking at the trees and searching for birds, wildlife, and wildflowers. The featured image is from the McKenzie Head Trail at Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington. The following are a few others that I have enjoyed.

We read the warnings and started on the trail anyway. We turned around after rattlesnakes were sighted on the trail in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas.

The trail leads to Landscape Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.

Swamp Trail, Silver Springs State Park, Florida

Boardwalk Trail at Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia

Shared Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge Sunday Stills Paths and Trails

Landscapes in the Great Outdoors

July 5, 2024Posted in National Parks, Nature, PhotographyTagged great outdoors, Landscapes, Sunday Stills13 Comments

Terri wraps up her Great Outdoors Sunday Stills photo challenges with the challenge of Landscapes.

America’s National Parks are some of our greatest treasures. Our national parks, monuments and preserves feature many different types of landscapes. The header image is from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, America’s most visited national park. I’ve included a few different landscapes from around the United States.

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington

Polychrome Overlook, Denali National Park, Alaska

View from Glacier Point Road in Yosemite National Park, America’s first national park

Shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Landscapes of the Great Outdoors

Happy Birthday United States National Park Service

August 25, 2023August 26, 2023Posted in National Parks, NatureTagged Get out and explore, National Park Service Anniversary8 Comments

The National Park Service was established on August 25, 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson to manage our nation’s national parks. Today there are 63 national parks and many more national monuments, national historic sites, and other national areas managed by the National Park Service.

In 1872 Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming became our first National Park. The header image above is of Lower Yellowstone Falls.

New River National Park in West Virginia is our newest national park. We visited there when it was known as New River National River.

New River Gorge Bridge, New River National Park, West Virginia

During our years of wandering we have visited many of these wonderful national areas. In 2016 I posted about the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary. Since then we have visited national areas in two of the United States Territories in the Caribbean.

USVI National Park, St. John, United States Virgin Islands

San Juan National Historic Site, Castillo San Crostobal

The U.S. National Parks offer many opportunities to get out and explore natural areas, see wildlife, visit historic sites and monuments, go paddling, go hiking, go camping, and much more. Find a park near you at National Park Service and get out and explore!

Shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills: Let’s Celebrate Something

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #162 – It’s all about the Light

August 27, 2021Posted in National Parks, Photography, SunriseTagged Everglades National Park, Its All About the Light, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion National Park22 Comments

For this challenge our host Tina has asked us to explore the magic of light.

To help celebrate this week’s anniversary of America’s National Parks I am focusing on images from three of the National Parks we have visited.

Sunrise in the Everglades is always a special event. The following images were captured at sunrise from the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park. The sky put on a beautiful light show as the sun rose over Florida Bay.

The next two images were taken two years apart at Many Curves Overlook in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. The sun was shining in the spring of 2011 when I captured the image on the left. We returned in the summer of 2013 when I captured the image on the right.

Next we go to Zion National Park in Utah. I captured the following two images of the Watchman peak while waiting for sunset. As the sun was setting a full moon was rising.