Category Archives: National Parks

August 1, 2020 · 7:19 am

Becoming a Voyageur

I ran into an off duty park ranger at the historic Kettle Falls Lodge in Voyageurs National Park. After we exchanged pleasantries, discovering we were both from a St Louis county in two different states, and joking about the St Louis Arch becoming a National Park, he asked, “Why did you come to up here? Let me guess – you have a list?” He continued to complain to me that the people of the lists just stop at the visitor centers and get “passport” stamps and never really see Voyageurs. He shook his head slowly.

Of course I have a list. This is my 50th National Park out of the current number of 62. My group had rented a boat and were seeing the park. I don’t think the ranger noticed. He may have just wanted to preach a bit. He finally sped away in his speedboat equipped with dual 150HP motors leaving us to slowly explore the park in our 50 HP powered, dinted pontoon boat. Pre-Cambrian rocks 2.8 Billion years old

Sunset in northern Minnesota. 48.6 degrees north latitude.

Time to “wake” up

Bracket Fungi

The Precambrian spine of North America

Voyageurs from St Louis MO to St Louis MN

Kettle Falls Beauty

Voyageurs met at this portage site for hundreds of years

The electric generator of the dam

The sideways attitude of Kettle Falls Bar

Tiny islands tiny ecosystems

The loons watching the people

Gulls stand like sentinels – no wake please

Ash River Visitor Center

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Filed under Art, National Parks, Photography, Travel

Tagged as canada, lakes, National Parks, voyageurs

July 3, 2020 · 9:00 am

Indiana Dunes & Sky

Being socially conscious and finding safe places to explore, I discovered a little oasis in Indiana.

Blue Skies Over Lake Michigan

Easier going down to the lake than coming up.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

192 feet may not seem very high, but hike it.

Such interesting discoveries

The 61st National Park – my 49th

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Filed under Art, National Parks, Photography, Travel

Tagged as beach, National Parks, sand dunes, state parks

June 21, 2020 · 10:01 pm

Sand Creek Sadness

This is the only National Park Land that uses the word massacre in it according to the Ranger. It focuses on the mistakes the US made rather than spinning the story to make it less bad. And this one is …bad. The US took responsibility for it and called it heinous. They promised reparations to the survivors. 155 years later – no reparations.

Captain Silas S. Soule, one of the two officers who refused to participate in the unprovoked killing of kids, women, elderly and the men, wrote a detailed report that was used by congress to figure out what happened. Soule was then killed in the streets of Denver. Even though the killers were identified. No charges were filed.

Hundreds of innocent Cheyenne and Arapaho were butchered and the soldiers took their scalps and genitals back to Denver to celebrate. They were given a heroes welcome. Down the road from the slaughter, the people named a city after the military leader in charge. Chivington, CO still exists.

I drove back to Missouri in a subdued mood. Saddened by all of this.

These are the true plains of Eastern Colorado – where the Buffalo once roamed

The United States Government decided NOT to sugar coat this story

The 750 Cheyenne and Arapaho were trying to live in peace on the little land that they had remaining.

They were told, fly this flag – you will not be harmed

Besides the death and mutilation, the entire Cheyenne and Arapaho nations suffered from the trauma

These letters resurfaced 135 years later.

No Charges for Anyone. No prosecution for a single person.

The sadness permeates the ground

The bodies are buried there – it is a sacred site

The flowers remember

The plants still mourn

It’s an ongoing tragedy still affecting people today

This area of Colorado was sheltered a large group of Chiefs and their people

I cannot imagine the horror as people tried to hide, tried to flee, and tried to fight

This chief and his wife survived

…changed forever…

This peace delegation was destined to die

I shed tears of sorrow centuries later

At least the Park Service has provided this memorial for us to remember. We must not forget.

Images from the Plains

Some people say that Kansas, Oklahoma and Eastern Colorado are a bit boring, a bit flat, and a bit desolate. I guess it depends on where you look…

singing on high

Osage Hills OK

Coneflower on the Marais des Cygnes KS

Marsh along the Arkansas River

Short Grass Prairie of Colorado

Tall Grass Prairie of Kansas

In the Prairie

In the Marsh

Pronghorn in Colorado

Sing in the shrubs

Great Sand Dunes NP

The Marsh of Colorado

Sand Creek

Rainbow over the Little Sahara OK

Deer on the Move in the Sangre de Christos Mountains

Killdeer in New Mexico

Great Sand Dune NP

Where the Old World and New World Collide

Sand Dune Joy

Sand Creek Sadness

Off the Coast of California

Before the days of Sheltering in Place. February 16th, 2020. From St. Louis to LAX – Three days to see National Park #47 for me.

One thing to do in LA

iconic?

A leisurely stroll

fantastic service

From the Pier

To the Channel Islands

A Forest in the Sea

Sea Urchin

Time suspended

Eternal Spring

For another day

The Spine of a National Park

Sunset on the Pacific

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Thousands of Dolphins

Arches and Spires

Sunset in Ventura

Category Archives: National Parks

Becoming a Voyageur

Indiana Dunes & Sky

Sand Creek Sadness

Images from the Plains

Off the Coast of California

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