Ok, the photo is nothing spectacular, but it’s a window into what you will see if you hike the Kīlauea Iki Trail. You’ll descend through rainforests onto and over a solidified lava lake, passing a still-steamy cinder cone along the way. It’s a cool trail I’ve written about that’s been published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler as part of the Traveler’s “Trails I’ve Hiked” series.
To read the article and see the photos, click on the image above.
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Filed under Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hiking Trail, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Trails I've Hiked
Great Basin National Park is a high-elevation park. So here’s a trail I’ve hiked that helps to acclimate one to the elevation and dry atmosphere. And my article has been published in the National Parks Traveler.
To read the article, click on the image above.
As for this image, I hiked to Stella Lake during a hot, dry summer season in this national park. As such, Stella Lake looked more like a pond with a “bathtub ring” of wood debris around the edges. It was still beautiful out there, though, and it’s definitely a hike you should consider if you visit this national park located within basin and range landscape.
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Filed under Great Basin National Park, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Trails I've Hiked
Every national park has an iconic trail. Some parks have more than one. At Big Bend National Park in Texas, such an iconic trail is the Lost Mine Trail. Have any of you ever hiked it?
I’ve hiked this trail and the article I wrote for the National Parks Traveler’s “Trails I’ve Hiked” series is published in today’s edition of the Traveler.
Click on the image to read the article.
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Filed under Big Bend National Park, Hiking Trail, Lost Mine Trail, National Parks, Trails I've Hiked
If you’ve ever revisited a favorite spot in a favorite park during different seasons, times, weather conditions, you’ve probably noticed how these different conditions can change the look of the scene (and your resulting photos).
My latest photo column has been published in the National Parks Traveler, and it’s all about these differences.
Click on the image to read the article.
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Filed under National Parks, Photography, Photography In The National Parks
There’s a series occasionally published by the National Parks Traveler called “Trails I’ve Hiked.” I recently wrote about hiking the Cinder Cone Trail in Lassen Volcanic National Park and it’s published in today’s edition of the Traveler.
Click the image to check out the article. Maybe you’ll want to visit this national park and hike this trail. There are certainly fewer crowds along this trail than along other popular ones in the park.
This image is an iPhone shot I captured during my hike back down the steep, unconsolidated pumice and volcanic ash trail after spending time at the Cinder Cone summit. In the distance, on the upper right corner, you can see Butte Lake surrounded by the black blocky rock of Fantastic Lava Beds. Butte Lake is where this trail begins, so I had a little bit to go to get back to my vehicle.
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Filed under Cinder Cone Trail, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Trails I've Hiked, Travel, Travel and Photography
When you look at other people’s national park photos, are there some images that it feels like you are literally being pulled into the scene? That’s the invitation of an intimate composition, and today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler has published my latest article about those photo invitations and the elements comprising an intimate composition.
To read the article, click on the image above.
Regarding the image, it was photographed some years ago during my stay at Stehekin, Washington, located at the head of Lake Chelan within the North Cascades National Park Complex.
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Filed under National Parks, Photography, Photography In The National Parks
It’s Trivia Tuesday folks! Did you know there are now 424 units within the National Park System? These units cover more than 85 million acres in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. With so many units, there’s plenty to learn, which is why I pen a monthly quiz and trivia piece for the National Parks Traveler. Sure, you know a lot about your job role where ever you work, but how much do you know about national parks?
Click on the image above to go to the quiz.
The image you see here is of Spruce Tree House in Mesa Verde National Park. True or False: it’s the largest cliff dwelling in the park. To find out the answer, go to the quiz and look at the bottom of the piece. But, wait, why not just test your knowledge by looking at the entire quiz first, then reading the trivia, *then* checking the answers. You might learn something new with which to impress friends, family, and co-workers.
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Filed under National Parks, National Parks Quiz, National Parks Traveler, Trivia Tuesday
It’s #TriviaTuesday folks!
What you see in this image is a part of what is known as a “sun halo.” It’s an atmospheric phenomenon, which is an event created by the interaction of sunlight or moonlight with the atmosphere, water, rain, clouds, dust, or other particulate matter. The belt of Venus, a rainbow, crepuscular rays, anticrepuscular rays, the Northern Lights – those are all atmospheric phenomena and I have written about photographing them in my latest article published today in the National Parks Traveler.
Just click on the image above to be taken to that article.
This image was captured during a hike along the Carroll Rim Trail in the Painted Hills Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon. This trail is the longest trail (maybe a mile one-way) in this particular unit and worth the hike up to the top for a 360-degree view.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under Photography, Photography In The National Parks, Trivia Tuesday
It’s the last day of #volcanoweek so let’s start today off with a volcano quiz question.
Brokeoff Mountain (far right in this image) in Lassen Volcanic National Park is a remnant of the much larger and broader ___.
a) Mount Tacoma
b) Mount Tahoma
c) Mount Tehama
d) Mount Assiniboine
That’s one of the quiz questions in my latest quiz and trivia piece published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler. Why not click on the image above and go on over there to test your national parks knowledge, read the trivia, and maybe even learn a little something new.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under National Parks, National Parks Quiz, National Parks Traveler
It’s nearing the end of #volcanoweek and it’s also #FunFactFriday . Oh, and the National Parks Traveler has published an article I wrote about volcanos and volcanic features in units of the National Park System as a Feature Story. It’s sort of a trifecta for me, I guess. Check out the article by clicking on the image above.
As for this image of Kilauea volcano, it was captured in the very late afternoon during a 2017 during a photo tour I attended. Kilauea volcano, in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, is a shield volcano, like Mauna Loa. Shield volcanoes are actually the largest volcanoes in the world, although they do not exhibit that high, conical shape of stratovolcanoes, which we tend to think of as the highest. No, shield volcanoes look like warriors’ shields – a bit convex on top where the summit is, with broad, gentle, rounding slopes fanning outward.
Copyright Rebecca L Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography
Where The Trails Take You Photography 
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